Greece-Delphi

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We spent a leisurely morning in Olympia, and started our drive to Delphi. It turned out to be about a 3 hour trip. First to Patras, where we took the new bridge across the Gulf of Patras to Central Greece.

We stopped for lunch in a beautiful seaside village called Nafpaktos. Not much mentioned in guide books, but clearly a great place to hang out for a few days.  We actually felt that way about much of the coastline we drove to Delphi. Cove after cove of sandy beaches with azure and turquoise water.

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The road headed inland for the last 10 miles, climbing from coastal Itea through a plain of Olive groves and spectacular cutbacks up a steep mountainside.

We arrived in Delphi about 3PM on a *very* hot day. We visited the Delphi museum, but were told we couldn't pose in photographs with any of the items. Irene did her best to sneak some pictures anyway.  Most impressive to me was the metal work...a life-size silver bull for example. And also amazingly detailed sculptures. After the museum, we visited both the Sanctuary of Apollo and, later, the smaller Sanctuary of Athina down the road.

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It was easily over 100 F during the climb up the hill to the top of the Sanctuary of Apollo. The views were fantastic, and we were also able to drink from a hillside spring. Very refreshing on such a hot day.

That night, we stayed at the Hotel Hermes in Delphi. The hotel is situated on the mountainside with a panoramic view of Itea, the Gulf of Corinth and the valley below.

This was our last night in Greece...the next day was back to Athens for an afternoon flight to Paris.