Delfhi – believed in ancient times to be the centre of the earth

We are currently doing some more wild camping down by the sea at Pachi (N37.97313 E 23.36137), overlooking the tiny island of Salamis.

Sonny, the motorhome in his spot for the night and enjoying the cool sea breeze

We left the marina at Itea early this morning to travel the short distance to Delfi.  We got there at 9am and it was already busy with tourists already! 

The ancient site of Delfhi is set in a beautiful natural setting, framed on all sides by the Parnassós Mountains (a popular ski resort for Greeks).

Delphi

For over a millennium a steady stream of pilgrims converged on Delphi to seek divine direction in matters of war, worship, love and business.  For a small fee, they would submit their questions inscribed on lead tablets, and the Pythian priestess would chant her prophecies from a tripod positioned over the oracular chasm. Delphi became one of the major sanctuaries of Greece, its oracle widely regarded as the most truthful in the known world.

Entering the Sacred Precinct (Temenos of Apollo) you come to the foundations of memorials and treasuries to the Temple of Apollo, where gold, bronze and painted marble figures once stood, some of which are now housed in the museum.

Treasury of the Athenians

Athenian Stoa on the right – which housed trophies from an Athenian naval victory of 506 BC.

Approaching the temple of Apollo

The Temple of Apollo, dates from the mid-fourth century BC.

The Temple of Apollo with the Tripod of Plateans on the left-hand side. 

The Theatre, built during the fourth century BC had a capacity of 5,000 seats and is associated with Dionysos the god of ecstasy, the arts and wine who ruled Delphi during the winter when the oracle was silent.

The Stadium is situated high up in the pine groves and was levelled in the 5^th century BC to a length of 178 metres, and seated 7,000.  It is where they held the Pythian Games, held in honour of Apollo every 2 years after each Olympic Games.

Inside the Delphi’s museum are collections of sculptures spanning the Archaic to the Roman eras.  Along with pottery, friezes and various treasures.

The Sphinx of the Naxians (565 BC) – body of a lion, wings of a bird and face of a women.

A collection of friezes of the gods

Marble figures

The colossal Dancers Column and on the left the Marble Omphalos. 

The Omphalos was found northeast of the temple of Apollo.  According to mythology the Omphalos marked the centre of the earth, the point where the two eagles released by Zeus from two opposite ends of the world eventually met at Delphi.

The most famous exhibit is the Charioteer, one of the few surviving bronzes of the 5^th century BC.

The Charioteer

Leaving Delfi at just after 12:30, temperatures had reached 38°C so we headed south to the sea to enjoy a nice cool dip in the beautiful clear sea waters!  Tomorrow we move on to mighty Athens.

Sally x

The amazing sights of the Meteora

We are currently wild camping on a marina not far from the ancient site of Delphi, where we will visit tomorrow - (N38.43150 E22.42129).  A drive of 140miles (225 kms) south from the Meteora.

Sonny, the motorhome parked up for the night.  You can just make him out on the far right-hand side!

Our window view for the night, watching the boats come in and out and me blogging!

Stopping in the mountains for the last couple of nights has had its benefits, the overnight temperature drops to around 14°C and it is so peaceful.

Eating at the Taverna, I had my first Greek ‘Greek Salad. It’s everything you get from a Greek Salad outside of Greece but the Feta cheese, olives, tomatoes and dressing were the best I have tasted!  Mel went for a Pork Souvlaki and some homemade chips, washed down with some Retsina!

Eating outside the taverna near Metsova.  We had to wear trousers and jumpers as it was that cool!

Europe’s last semi-nomadic people, the Vlachs have lived in the Pindhos mountains for centuries and many in and around Metsova. They bring their flocks up from the plains to graze in the mountains and you hear the sound of the bells around their necks before you see them.

Leaving the Taverna, we travelled along the Katára pass.  At 1694 metres, it is the only high-altitude paved road across the central Pindhos Mountains, linking the regions of Epirus and Thessaly.  As we entered the pass it said ‘Enter at your own risk’.  I gave Mel a worried look and he just said “it will be fine, it can’t be as bad as some of the remote roads we’ve travelled on in Morocco”.  So, we carried on and were so glad we did, the drive was fantastic and views spectacular.

The Katára Pass winding through the Pindhos Mountains

This centuries old route twists through the mountains and in places there were a lot of fallen rocks and patchy roads - a lot like Morocco and Italy!

Where's the road gone!

We only met a couple of cars on the road coming the other way, as most take the Via Egnatia expressway.  Approaching Kalambáka, the incredible Meteora rocks come into view.

The Meteora

We parked the motorhome up outside Hotel Arsenis (N39.708639 E21.654353), where we would be spending the night (an official motorhome stop) high up in the Meteora.  The somewhat eccentric owner came out to meet us, gave us a map of the Meteora and for the next 10 minutes told us how much he loved the English and Scottish people and how Alex Ferguson was his hero! He said we could stay the night for free if we had one of his 'mamma's' dinners that would be served at 7pm prompt, who were we to refuse!
We got the scooter off the back of the motorhome and visited the monasteries, perched on top of the Meteora.

To access the monasteries there are steps that have been carved into the rock in the early 20^th century and most have about 200 steps down the ravine and 200 back up to the top!  Until the 1930s the only way of reaching most Meteoran monasteries was being hauled up in a rope-basket or by retractable ladders.

There are only 6 that remain open to visitors and even then not all are open every day. The only one we didn't visit was Agios Stefanos.

Varlaam Monastery was our first stop - with the winch at the very top that they used to pull the monks/people up in the rope-basket. There are only a handful of monks left at this one.

Varlaam Monastery

Each monastery pretty much contains the same things so we just paid to go in the biggest and highest one.

Megálou Meteórou (AKA Grand Meteoro) is the highest of the monasteries – with a climb of about 100 steps down from the road and a further 300 steps from its entrance. 

Grand Meteoro

The pretty courtyard

The museum is really interesting, taking you through the Greek history with rare icons and costumes through the ages.  Just after taking this I got told off as you aren’t supposed to take any photos in the museum!

The Cellar

The Kitchen with its bread oven and soup-hearth

Roussanou – is a convent founded in 1545 with sheer drops all around and today houses about a dozen nuns.

Roussanou

Agios Nikolaos

Agia Triadhos famously featured in the James Bond 1981 film ‘For Your Eyes Only.

Agia Triadhos

Last night we eventually managed to photograph a Cicadas, we have heard them a lot in Italy and now in Greece.  The constant whirring noise on the trunks of trees can often drive you mad!

Cicades

Happy Weekend to you all!

Sally x

Ioánnina, Vikos Gorge and the Pindus Mountain range of Greece

We have only been in Greece 3 days and have fallen in love with the country already.

The 19:30 Anec Superfast Ferry took us from Bari Port to Igoumenitsa, arriving at 5.30am (Italian Time) - 6.30am (Greek Time). 

Being escorted out of Bari Port by a little tug boat

On board camping was quite an experience.  Hook-ups come down from the ceiling to plug your electric in and then you use everything like you were parked up on a site.  Gas is forbidden to be used for safety reasons.  We had a good place with a sea view for the evening and a lovely cool sea breeze with the motorhome door and windows open.

View from our Sonny (the motorhome) for the night

The Italians behind us decided to take the ‘camping on board' a step further and got out their camping chairs!

Security was very lax getting on and off the ferry.  There were no passport checks either end, we only had to show our tickets to get on and then once into Greece you drive straight off the ferry and you are away.  No wonder there are so many terrorists coming through this way!

When we got off the ferry it had been raining and was a cool 23°C.  We certainly were not complaining having endured temperatures of over 40°C the last few weeks in Sicily and Italy.  We filled up with fuel and LPG, as there was a station as soon as you leave the port.  Fuel is so much cheaper in Greece than in Italy, only €1.20 p/litre and in Italy on average we paid €1.30.

We only have 3 weeks in Greece before travelling into Bulgaria.  It is such a big country so we have decided to just explore the North and Central parts of Greece in and around the mountains.

7.30am and we are in the mountains

Enjoying our first coffee/breakfast stop in Greece up in the mountains.

Driving down on of the winding roads we had to swerve to avoid this tortoise crossing the road.

Road sign says beware of cows crossing, but we think it needs a 'beware of tortoises' crossing!

Greece isn’t really geared up for motorhomes in the way that France, Italy and Germany are, as nobody owns them in this country.  They have very few campsites and the ones they have are mostly on the coast.  Some of the towns have recently put in motorhome parking spots but they are very basic and only a few have fresh water taps and somewhere to dispose of your waste.  We have discovered that Tavernas let you park on their site and provide you with all the facilities for free if you take a meal in their restaurant.  So that’s what we will be doing a lot of!

Armed with a Greek phrase book we have been practicing some basic phrases but so far the Greek people we have met speak better English than the Italians so that’s good!  The alphabet is a bit like the Cyrillic alphabet - so glad I remembered most of it from my Bulgarian days!

Our first stop leaving Igoumenitsa was the lakeside town of Ioánnina.

Lake Pamvótis

It is associated with locally infamous Muslim Albanian hero/villain Ali Pasha (known as “the Lion of Ioánnina”.  He frequently attacked the Ottoman authorities and engaged in appalling acts of savagery against his Greek subjects but for some he is remembered as a defier of Istanbul, the common enemy.  There are some stone-built mosques and Ali Pasha’s citadel.

Our first night was spent 850m above sea level overlooking the beautiful Lake Pamvótis and Ioánnina in a little village, Ligkiades (N39.69065 E 20.88856).

Time to add the Greece sticker to the map on the back of the motorhome!  Our 10th country/principality visited in 7 months.

Map showing where we have travelled with Sonny, the motorhome.

From here we headed towards the Pindhos Mountains, known as the Zagóri and visited the Vikos Gorge.  It is the world’s deepest canyon and made its way into the Guinness Book of Records in 1997. With walls almost 1000m high in places.

Vikos Gorge

The inside of the Monastery of Saint Paraskevi, built in 1412 on the steep rock overlooking Vikos Gorge.

Mel decided to take the risk to head on deeper into the gorge - I didn't!

Leaving the gorge we spent the night at a motorhome stop in Kalpaki (N39.88535 E20.62354)

Mel loves this country because every time you order a drink in Greece you get some free food - meze style.

Enjoying a beer in Kalpaki

This morning we set off from Kalpaki and headed to Metsova.  The route we took zig-zags through the mountain with some stunning scenery.

Or you can take an alternative motorway route (Via Egnatia expressway) through 60 tunnels!

Via Egnatia expressway

Metsova is a small touristy Alpine town, with lots of wooden souvenirs made from the Olive Tree wood.

Some 'old men' carved faces in trees

A 30 minute walk south of the town, down a steep ravine takes you to the old 14th century monastery of Saint Nikólaos.

and a reminder on this tree that we are in ‘brown bear country’!!

We are currently parked up outside a Taverna 1,390 metres in the Pindos Mountains near a ski resort , for the night (N39.78083 E21.16222).

Tomorrow we head to Kalambaka and to see the Meteora.

Sally x