June 23 - Delphi

We left Athens this morning and headed to Delphi. As we left town, I really noticed how much graffiti covered the buildings. I had seen it, but I guess I just overlooked it. It's everywhere and really detracts from the beauty of the city.

The other thing I noticed, and asked about was that the city dogs were gone. In past trips we saw the dogs which literally belonged to the city. The were fed and cared for by people in the city. This time I didn't see one, although it appears the cats may have taken their place. I asked our local guide for the Acropolis about the dogs and she said they disappeared during the pandemic. People were not able to feed them and they either died or moved elsewhere. So sad!

Today is another HHH day. The last I checked the temperature was 106. I don't want to know what the humidity is, but I can attest that it feels like a sauna. The students are troopers and they are not complaining. 

We spent the morning on the bus. As we left the city, the landscape started to resemble home. Farmers were gathering hay in the fields (by Hand, with a truck). And, there were lots of fields of corn.

But, as we moved farther away, we were soon in the mountains. The roads took a criss-cross pattern to bring us to the archeological site of Delphi.

We spent a couple of hours exploring the ruins of Delphi. Our guide was good and explained all about Zeus and Athena and the Oracle. We sat in the area that was considered sacred, which contains the stone that marks the believed center of the earth. We also saw the theater and reconstructed treasury.

                         The center of the earth

After lunch, we were back on the road to Kalabaka, which sits at the foot of Meteora: tomorrow's destination. Along the way we made  a brief stop to see a memorial to Leonides, the great Greek general. 
Along the way I saw a road sign I hadn't seen before: wild boars??????
Our first glimpse of Meteora 

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