Itea and Delphi

21 October 2008





A good wind all day brings us early enough into the port of Itea to anchor off the beach for a swim and sunbathe before going in to tie up in the “marina”. This is yet another great facility – we go and see the Port Police while we are here to get our transit log stamped, so have to pay for the privilege. Three nights is E15.40.

We plan to spend the next day exploring Delphi which we can see in the distance in the mountains and feel quite a bit of anticipation of the treat in store. We have a chat to some French people on a yacht moored nearby and they have already seen Delphi but are going off on a 3 day excursion to Meteora, another ancient site which is (sort of) accessible from here. This is a group of monasteries perched atop high pinnacles of rock which soar upwards to great heights.

22 October 2008

We catch the 8.45 am bus to Athens which drops us in Delphi about 20 minutes later. It takes us a little while to figure out that we have to walk right through the village and out the other side to come to the ancient site which we spend the morning exploring.

This is the ideal time to visit as the air is crisp and clear, and the majesty and grandeur of this setting high up in the mountain pass envelopes us in a feeling of absolute awe. There are only about 20 buses of tourists today – apparently it gets very crowded in the high season and would be unbearably hot as well.

We had thought that after all the ancient sites we have seen this year on the Eastern Med Yacht Rally, we would not be able to absorb any more, but we find Delphi truly amazing and tragic too. We wander around trying to imagine this place full of people living their daily lives, our impressions consolidated after viewing the incredible quality of the exhibits in the Delphi Museum, all excavated from the site and displayed in a way that we are able to view them from all angles and very close up for example…

The Sphinx of the Naxians – 570 BC 12.5 metres high
Argive Twins Kleobis and Biton carved from Parian marble and dating back to 580 BC – 2.16 m high
Pentelic marble columns, height 13m, of three young girls dancing
….And much, much more….

23 October 2008

We have the bit between our teeth and Richard is off the boat early and trying to organise a rental car from here to get to Meteora, but it does not work out. The afternoon is spent provisioning in the excellent supermarket we find, passage planning for our next stage and lazing in the cockpit in the afternoon sun with a drink in hand, reading and relaxing.