The end of shipboard pampering

Today’s post is really about 2 days ago or what seems like forever.  We arrived in Piraeus the port in Athens. Today we opted for an optional excursion to Delphi. We will have a car in a few days but Delphi is north and would be some what out of the way. After arriving on the bus I am very glad we did not drive. It was approximately 3 hours from the port and traffic going in and out of town was crazy. Of course this meant another early day. So far we have not had a leisurely morning or day. Every day has been full to the brim

The trip to Delphi allowed us to see the country and topography. The central of Greece is farm after farm. It is near the base of mount Parnassos and overlooks the Gulf of Corinth. It is undoubtedly spring break and there are school students everywhere. Many groups and tourists. Glad to have a guide to clarify what we are actually seeing and some of the history behind what happened at Delphi. I think the mystic is now lost on me.  The process is once you have been selected to have an audience and ask the oracle your one question, you deliver your sacrifice and pay the fee.  The you ask the question. There is a high priestess (Pythia) present who is breathing and sniffing some sort of hallucinating vapor, she goes into a screaming trance then when she falls asleep the messenger of Apollo of his underlings “ translates” the answer.  To me it seems like you could forget the Oracle and just find an Apollo messenger and get a straight answer.  Clearly these were the guys with the political muscle.   They actually are making the political decisions. It is an amazing place to be able to visit that people from 2500 years ago frequented.

The end of the day after returning to the ship we have dinner, have to pack because we leave the ship in the morning. Before we leave we are back to our favorite bar and it is like visiting with old friends. We hope to meet them again as they have signed up for two more tours.   We finally get to have a leisurely breakfast and then we are on our own.