Knowing only the direction of the sea

Wednesday, January 5th 2011

Woke up at 7, showered, let Rachel sleep in her "cave" until 8:30. Funny how she likes to create a cave of blankets for herself while I "burrow." I was surprisingly productive this morning -- sending out a bunch of SAY emails. Perhaps the mountain air revived and inspired me. Went to the same café next door for breakfast (tried to go to another first but we can't tolerate so much cigarette smoke in one confined space!). We had our fresh yogurt from the terra cotta pot, tea and these huge homemade croissants that arrived via dumbwaiter from below. After a very leisurely breakfast, which lasted until almost 10, we checked out of Hotel Sibyllia (the two young boys at the front desk looked exactly like their father who had been working there yesterday). They pointed out the hiking trail to Kirra and helped us store our luggage on the very narrow stairway. 

Then we headed down the road toward the Sanctuary of Apollo. Before we reached the entrance, there was a giant "flock" of cats eating crumbs around the café table like pigeons! First we entered the archaeological site and started the 700 ft climb up the Sacred Way, the pathway that all pilgrims used to journey up towards the Oracle. Passed by ruins of columns where vendors once sold last-minute votives, offerings and trinkets. Reminded me of the pathways leading up towards the templed in Kyoto with all their vendors and mochi shops! Rick Steves guided us along the way, thought sometimes we paused for extra tidbits of information from the tour groups. There were some old treasuries along the way where city-states left treasures, loot, and souvenirs from battle to thank the Oracle for helping them achieve victory. There were also several pedestals where statues were once placed to honor Apollo (those remaining statues are all in the museum now). Lots of ionic columns, and remains of white and black marble -- pilgrims always brought their most precious marble stone. I liked the giant ionic column. The polygonal wall was also pretty cool (sort of like Incan walls -- rocks were fitted together perfectly without any mortar). The wall had without earthquakes perfects intact (even though Greece is the most seismically active European country!). Saw an "ompholos" -- a conical stone monument whose name means "navel" -- it was supposed to mark the center of the earth. Since Delphi was considered the center of the world, it was also the starting point of history, the Greeks believed. Then we ascended to the Temple of Apollo. The few remaining columns (made of a reddish stone that seemed to be the same stone as the surrounding mountains) were SO massive--it was incredible. The temple was the 3rd and the largest temple to be built on this site. Opposite the temple entrance was the giant altar of Apollo where pilgrims sacrificed goats and other animals (100 bulls were sacrificed at the start of every Pythian Games!). In the back chamber of the temple's "cella" (interior) was the Oracle, who sat in a bowl perched on a tripod (funny--I imagine it as if she was a witch sitting in her own cauldron haha). There was a hole in the temple floor right below her, and that's where the ravine bubbled up. Interesting that the Romans vacillated between preserving the Sanctuary (ie. Emperor Hadrian) and looting it. Around 400 CE, the Roman Emperor closed down the sanctuary altogether (along with other pagan worship sites). The site was covered up by landslides until the late 19th century when excavations began.

After circumnavigating the Sanctuary of Apollo, we wended up the staircase to the theater, where song contests were held in honor of Apollo. Theaters are semi-circular while stadiums and athletic venues are more "u-shaped." Rachel and I agreed that if we were ever in the audience of the theater, we'd probably be way too distracted by the incredible scenery in the backdrop to pay attention to the performance. The theater was remarkably intact too, which was pretty cool. Archaeolgists think the Bronze Charioteer statue (now in museum) stood at the entrance to this theater. There were LOTS of cats who purred and meandered along the steps. We continued climbing up and up, enjoying the view, which became more spectacular with each ascending bend in the road. We then entered a forested area and, slightly winded at this point, stumbled across the giant stadium where the Pythian Games were held every 4 years. The stone steps seated 7,000 people back in the day (we were surprised that so many spectators could make it up so high, and even more surprised that athletes would trek up so much before their competition! getting up to the stadium was exertion enough haha). Rachel and I both enjoyed the fresh mountainous air and both felt reminded of Yosemite -- the huge rock face that stood before us could be likened to Half Dome..

Then we visited the museum as it was starting to sprinkle a bit. Lots of little bronze statues and figurines, a very cool sphinx of naxos (I didn't realize the sphinx is made up of 4 animals: legs of a lion, body of a wolf, wings of an eagle and face of a human...) The twin Kouros statues made me laugh -- they are identical twins (rare in Greek statue work) who pulled their mother 5 miles in her chariot so she wouldn't be late for the women's athletic games. They were rewarded for their heroism by "death by blissful sleep" in the Sanctuary, so the legend goes. Perfect for Anna and Laura :)

The metopes and pediments from the sanctuary were cool and told stories like the judgment of Paris. Some things were really well-preserved because they had been covered in a layer of protective dirt from landslides. There were many statues of athletes and a statue of Emperor Hadrian's lover boy (who tragically drowned in the Nile...). Definitely the most amazing piece was the bronze charioteer. He had a very intense gaze-- some say his "stunned amazement" depicts the mood of the Greeks after they defeated the Persians... It was cool how he was holding reins for horses which had been lost in the rubble -- very ghostly. The sculptor was obviously very talented -- letting the folds of the fabric curve above the belted waist but letting them fall in very straight lines below -- the charioteer looked very upright and poised but not unrealistically rigid. 

After the Archaeology Museum, the sun was shining so Rachel and I went looking for the hiking path which Rick Steves promised was 100m from the Hotel Acropole. After a few wrong turns, we found it and began our descent down the rocky but grassy mountainside like the billy goats we saw. Actually, we heard their goat bells first (didn't even know goats wore bells!) and suddenly we realized we were in the midst of hundreds of goats! They swarmed around us, staring at us with small slit eyes and then darting off to strip bark off a tree or nibble some fruit. They left their droppings everywhere, and the cacophony of sounds from their clanging bells was almost dizzying. Rachel and I got a little weirded out by some goats and their very strange horns -- we made similes to describe the various shapes, which ranged from horns like our morning croissants to horns like screwdrivers (all the better to drill into us and attack us) and horns like Pippi Longstocking pigtails. What would be the evolutionary or functional advantages of these different horn shapes?? We were also a little disturbed by the gobble tufts hanging from the goats' necks -- like teats in the wrong place? Gross... Once we passed the goats, we kept checking behind us to catch glimpses of Delphi and imagine what it would be like for the ancient greeks who carried the marble up to the site of the sanctuary way back when. We stopped at a little church and sat on a beautiful ledge to eat our apples, gazing out over the silvery green olive groves beneath. Talking about our routines at Stanford, our past family travels, Castilleja, things we want to do at some point -- all the good stuff that hiking inspires. We decided the view had so many different colors of green that the word "green" was insufficient to encompass them all. We kept looking ahead to the town of Kirra, glowing in the sunlight and perched on the shore. Funny how we could walk so far, not knowing anything about our destination but knowing only the direction of the sea.

Finally we reached the olive groves. We came across old farmers on ladders whacking olives from the branches into nets spread on the ground. They didn't seem to speak English, but they kindly smiled and pointed us in the direction of the path when it periodically disappeared into the thick wet grass. Wending our way under the olive trees, we agreed that the color and shape of the trees reminded us of "Our Day With Thee" -- the olive branches like a "crown of silv'ry hair" of an aged person. Something very peaceful about the sound of goat bells and birds chirping and the graceful gnarliness of the olive tree trunks. Eventually we came upon the sleepy town of Kirra. I wonder if that's where the names Kyra and Kira came from? Who knows. We loped along the seaside, spotted a very cute couple way off in a distant rowboat, and began our hunt for a lunch place. Most things looked closed -- clearly, this is the off-season for tourists. But we found a little taberna open right on the water (continuing our streak of meals with fabulous views). The host was a little surprised to see us, but set up our table with the usual big paper napkin, salt and pepper, olive oil and cutlery. We opened up the menu with big plastic pages and pictures of dishes, and we decided on "mountain vegetable salad" and "shrimp saganaki." Saw the host scrubbing some giant leafy green vegetable that looked like it had just been uprooted -- our salad was very fresh. Saganaki apparently is the word for a cooking pan -- our shrimp saganaki turned out to be big prawns in a tomato and cheese sauce -- very delicious, especially with our fresh bread. We were the only customers in the whole place and I think in the whole town, but the food was still very fresh and tasty. Listened to some American pop songs as we ate -- as usual.

After lunch, we ventured out in search of the bus that our guide books had mentioned could bring us back to Delphi. We first asked a convenient store shopowner where the bus  stop was and he pointed us down the street. We waited at the curb which we thought was a bus stop for a while. A bus came by, we stepped in an asked, Delphus? but he waved us out of the bus indicating that the bus went in the other direction. So we crossed the street and tried hailing the next bus -- but that driver sped past and stopped at the next block to let out a passenger by some garbage dumpsters. We ran behind the bus, waving and yelling but he totally disregarded us! Dismayed and deflated in energy, we turned back to wait a little longer and try to find the actual bus stop. The shopowner (who had probably watched the whole episode in amusement) came out and walked over to the actual bus stop (probably thought we were idiots haha). It was right next to the dumpster bins, with no indication of that actually being a bus stop... typical. So there we waited for the next 20 minutes, during which time we learned a few more letters in the Greek alphabet to decipher the surrounding signs and wonder how the name 'Greece" came from the Greek word "Hellas." A question for the Oracle (or Wikipedia) for sure. Eventually we caught a bus, but soon realized that it only took us to Itea, the next coastal town. there we had to buy another ticket to get us to Delphi, but that bus didn't leave until 5:45, and it would be the same bus that would continue on to Athens. Clearly this was unacceptable, because it was only 4:45 and we needed to get to Delphi before 6pm in order to retrieve our luggage. We sat in a café to brainstorm over tea and hot water. Rachel thought up ways we could get a local person to let us hitchhike up to Delphi, but eventually we decided to try a taxi. Our barrista offered to order a taxi for us but couldn't reach his driver friend, so we walked out to the taxi stand and got an elderly taxi driver to give us a lift. 20 euros to get up the mountain, 16km. Definitely worth it to avoid missing the last bus back to Athens haha. Drove by a town halfway up the mountain called Crissa; our driver was very excited that we came from California (he chortled at the idea of how expensive it would be to take a taxi from California to Kirra), and he told us that the aquaduct that we had crossed while hiking brings water 320 km to Athens. Luckily we arrived in Delphi at 5:30 with plenty of time to get our bags and hang around the bus station until 6:15 when the bus rolled into town. Watched some street cats duke it out under a car with lots of high-pitched screeching. So happy to board the warm bus, warm up our hands, set down our heavy bags (lugging laptops around is heavy haha) and sleep for a bit. Rachel wrote a poem about our day -- so cute! It was probably my favorite day in Greece. Absolutely idyllic scenery, hiking, astounding views, kindly people helping us along our journey/odyssey, seaside towns, fresh air, Rachel's good humor and the natural tranquility. 

When we arrived in Athens, it almost felt like coming home. We arrived at 9:15pm, then boarded a bus to go down Loisson street, then the metro from Attiki to Evangelismos. Tried to get into that Michelin-recommended restaurant for the 3rd time in a week but they were so crowded they turned us away. We did get a reservation for tomorrow night though! Then trekked back to the Metro to go to Acropoli, and finally sat down to dinner at 10:30pm. Even though we ate at a touristic café, the food was good and service was friendly. And, most importantly, it was only a 3 minute walk from the hostel. When we finally got back to the hostel, we had the privilege of lugging our suitcases out of temporory storage and back into room 10, our old room. I crashed immediately at 11:30pm. We have the lower bunks this time. 

Again though, definitely my favorite day in Greece. From the mountains to the sea and back to Athina again!