The first stop on our final day of touring was to the Parliament Building to watch the changing of the guard.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
The changing of the guard happens every hour, on the hour. Thonos wanted to make sure we saw this, so it was slotted first, before we headed out of town for our day trip to Delphi.
Athenian Guard
Guarding Tomb of Unknown Soldier
New Guards Arrive and Inspected
Changing of Guards Ceremony
New Soldiers On Guard
As soon as the ceremony was complete, we were off on our day trip to Delphi. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get there. But, when we arrived in Delphi at 10:30 a.m., we found there were special holiday hours. As this was Good Friday, they wouldn’t open until 12:00 p.m. So, we chose to walk around a little village we had passed through, stopping for some delicious hot chocolate in a little coffee shop.
Walking through Village
Once we felt we had eaten up enough time we found our way back to Thonos in his yellow Mercedes taxi. We went back up to Delphi and stopped at the free sites. We looked down on the ancient gymnasium. No one was allowed down on the actual site, but from the road Thonos pointed out the areas where there had been a running track and where boxers and wrestlers practiced (of course, nude) before cooling off in a circular pool.
Ancient Gymnasium
Up the road a little more was the Castalian Spring. There is an entire myth how this spring began from a tear of a person who had committed suicide anciently. This spring is where pilgrims cleansed themselves before consulting the Oracle.
Chris
Chris and Caleb both took a refreshing drink from the spring.
Caleb
Down the hill from these two sites was the Sanctuary of Athena Pronea, where there is the Temple of Athena.
Temple of Athena
Thonos told us a myth about this, explaining how an earthquake and rockslide had brought a large rock to rest in the middle of the temple. It was still there when the site was excavated.
Temple of Athena
Finally we reached the top of the hill where Ancient Delphi is. This is where the Greeks regarded the centre of the world . . . some refer to it as ‘the navel of Greece.’
It was amazing to see how many of these ruins were treasuries for all the Greek city-states.
Treasury of the Athenians
Ancient Writing
More Preserved Writings
The Temple of Apollo was here as well, where the Oracle lived and watched over the eternal flame.
Temple of Apollo
Temple of Apollo Foundation
As we continued up the hill, we saw the well-preserved theatre. As we observed it from the base, a couple tour guides found the ‘magic place’ to stand and talk so all around could hear as it was amplified.
Theatre
Still further up the hill was the stadium.
Stadium Sign
The stadium is said to be the best preserved in Greece and did look pretty amazing.
Stadium
On the hill we had a great view of the valley and the Gulf of Corinth. To entertain themselves on the way back down the hill, Chris and Caleb started playing with the panoramic setting on the iPhone. As I scanned from left to right, Chris would go behind me to the other side of Caleb, who was the centre of the pictures. So after the panoramic pictures was taken, Chris was on both the left and right side of Caleb. To not make it look like a mirror image, Chris put his jacket on before re-entering the shot. The two could have gone on forever experimenting . . .
Panoramic Experimenting
We finished off by going through the museum, where they had artifacts excavated from the site. It wasn’t overly big so we made it through pretty quickly. The highlight was probably toward the end when we saw the Bronze Charioteer. We recognized it at once because it was one Thonos had told us about the day before. It was the last display so must be the museum’s prized highlight as well.
Bronze Charioteer
Our two days with Thonos had ended, and we were so grateful for the wealth of knowledge he was . . . and for navigating the busy city for us!
Boys with Thonos
And just like that our trip to Greece was over. It was a great trip with Caleb and it was great to spend time with him one-on-one (or one-on-two?). Chris and I realize there probably won’t be many more times when he’ll crawl into bed with us in the morning to cuddle or take my hand as we’re walking down the street. This will be a special memory as time continues to march on and our children continue to grow up.
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