Delphi - the 'navel' of the universe
Part of the trip -
Delphi - the navel of the Universe
An overview of Delphi in Central Greece - the 'centre/navel' of the Earth.
I'd arrived fresh off the boat in September 2008, all buoyed up to teach Greek kids in a small provincial town in Central Greece - 2.5 hrs from Athens.
The town,
Levadia near Delphi was beautiful and incredibly, well, "Greek" if that doesn't sound too daft (because obviously a small provincial town in middle Greece with not many foreign tourists is going to be "Greek").
Anyway - I digress: this post is about Delphi.
Having weekends free from teaching and having explored all there was in the small town of Levadia, I decided one weekend in October to take myself off to Delphi. I was luckily only a short bus ride from the 'centre of the Universe' and therefore set off one Saturday morning bright and early.
Well, boarding the bus was the first 'experience.' You see, there WERE empty seats, but people liked to sit themselves on the aisle and place their bags on the window. By the time I, the sole passenger from Levadia board the bus that's come from Athens, most people are asleep. I tap a snoozing Greek lady gently on the shoulder - she ignores me. I tap a little harder - she turns away from me, so I squeeze past her to get into the window seat.
At this point she lets off a stream of Greek at me (very loudly) and I can only imagine she was telling me to go to another seat (remember, I hadn't been there long). Still, I persevered and managed to sit in that window seat - and politely passed her handbag to her with a sweet smile.
This beginning to the day did not spoil the experience of Delphi.
The bus meandered its way up mountain passes and through the town of Arachova - located at the foot of Mount Parnassos and reputed to be the 'Mykonos of the winter months.'
Delphi loomed in good time - about an hour after leaving Levadia, probably even less actually. After disembarking and studiously avoiding my bus companion, I made my way back along the road to the archeological area. Not being one for museums, I chose instead to make the most of this beautifully warm and cloudless October day and wander up to the ruins and old Olympic site. And what a beautiful reward for my efforts!
Delphi is famous for the worship of the God Apollo who slew a python that lay protecting the 'Navel of the Earth.' Was there REALLY a special energy I could feel emanating from the place, or was it the blood pumping through my veins through the concerted efforts of walking uphill?
The early equivalent of the Olympic Games were also held here, known as the Pythian Games, they started in 776BC and occurred every 4 years.
Take a look at my associated images (that I'll try to tag here) for a look at this beautiful ancient site.
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