I spent two nights in Athens and except for going to the base of the Acropolis a couple of times I didn’t do any exploring. I was here not that long ago and although there were probably things that I didn’t see back when I was here before, there wasn’t anything that I felt that I must see. So anyway, I have left Athens this morning for Delphi. In fact that’s where I am right now.

My bus left Athens at 10:30 and got to Delphi about two hours later. It was a good trip, we only stopped for a break and other than that it was a straight drive here. Delphi is an ancient city/ruins that is next to the city of Delfi… I think that’s the way it is at least. The road signs coming here all said Delfi, but the signs to the ruins said, Delphi. Delfi is a quaint little city that is nestled on the side of a mountain. It’s main street is just wide enough for one row of parked cars and one lane for moving cars. The streets wind around like a lot of other cities in Europe, but this has that “tourist” feel that sometimes I hate, but other times I love. This time I love it. My hotel is on the main street, my balcony, where I’m writing this entry, overlooks the street. It’s just a really nice place.

First thing that I did after checking into the hotel was to head to the ruins of Delphi. Delphi isn’t that far from the city, in fact the reception at the hotel said it’s only one kilometer away. Delphi rests just like Delfi on the side of a mountain and for that matter, on the same main road. I was kind of excited to see the ruins, but just like Pompeii I felt a little bit underwhelmed when I walked through it. The Greeks do archeological sites in a very strict way. If you’ve read other posts last year, or was it two years ago, when I mentioned that Jordan lets you wander anywhere you want to go. In those posts I also mentioned that it makes things a little bit more fun to search the site for something that others possibly haven’t seen. The Greeks aren’t that way, they rope off everything and limit nearly every possible deviation from the main trail. This method makes it almost like you’re in a zoo, you stay on the path and look at things from a distance. So I digress, the site had a few interesting buildings, such as the treasury and the stadium. And just like Pompeii, I’m glad that I went it was interesting.

I didn’t mention the heat. It was hot today, the kind of hot that you feel like you’re being burned when you’re in the direct sunlight. It would have been perfect if I were on the beach or maybe next to a pool, but hiking up and down hills I started to wear out. So on the way back I stopped at a little shop near one part of the ruins and went for an iced tea, but first asked how much. He told me that it was 3 Euros, so I declined. I understand, and for the most part don’t have any problems with upping prices for tourists, but I just don’t want to spend about $5 for a can of iced tea. As I was walking away the guy started to get a little “upset” with me. He tells me that, “…this isn’t a grocery store.” He also informs me that the view is worth the extra money. I apologized several times, but even as I was out of the shop I could still hear him saying things behind me. Oh well. ☺