Internet Cafes not so Easy to Find

It has taken me nearly two hours to find this internet cafe. There are not so many now since nearly everyone accesses the internet on their smartphones, witness nearly all the students on this trip. But I kept asking directions and each succeeding one was more specific and suddenly there through the window I saw computers! Chalk one up for persistence.

We have done so much since I wrote last. The first big excursion was to Delphi, site of the Temple of Apollo and the Oracle of Delphi. It seemed like we were at the top of the world and indeed we were not on the very tallest peak in Greece, but nearly so. We were at 5000 feet and the village of Delphi has put up more modern buildings to house the people who come for the ski resort about 15 kilometers away, which they tell us is at 6000 feet. The sacred worship place at Delphi was discovered in the early 1900s and when the excavators found inscriptions related to Delphi, they realized what a find they had, but in order to excavate the large area, they had to literally move the people who lived atop the completely covered ruins to an adjacent hillside, where now exists the village of Delphi, named after the site.

The site itself in built into the side of Mt. Parnassos, in terraced levels, so one is always climbing up. There were many inscriptions which survived so we know that people from all over the world, as it was known then, came to Delphi to pay tribute at the Temple of Apollo, and to seek prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi. She sat in the grand Temple on a tripod stool to receive her petitioners and offer her pronouncements. There were Treasury buildings to collect the tributes, grand covered stoas or covered walkways, but one is mesmerized by the ruins of the Temple. It is so huge. The largest of the pillars that remain standing, must be 40 feet high. We know from writings of travelers who visited before it was destroyed that a great statue of a man on a horse, probably gilded and decorated stood atop the pillar. All items of value have long since been plundered over the years since the 5th century BC and one of the tallest pillars, that once held a tripod, was removed and taken to Constantinople and still stands there to this day. Above the Temple of Apollo is a good sized amphitheater cut into the mountainside where people listened to various orators. I managed to make it to a wall above the amphitheater where I had a tremendous view of the peaks across the valley below and the morning sun lighting their eastern slopes.

Leaving Delphi, we went through Arachoba, through streets so narrow, again we marveled at the skill of the bus driver navigating our huge bus. I wish we had stopped in Arachoba; I saw some wonderful rugs for sale there. Shortly we were at the top of the mountain and going down the serpentine roads to the valley below and continuing our way north towards Thessaloniki. Up to this time, any fields of wheat or produce were small, 5-10 acres. So I was surprised when we began to come across large plains between the peaks and finally to plains so large the peaks receded in the distance. Here the fields were very large, 30-50 acres. I could not tell all that was being grown but wheat and or oats and beans, for sure. They baled their hay in small bales, wrapped once around with plastic and about one third the size of the bales of US farmers. But of course no need for more wrapping as the climate is moderate. I never saw any cows and all of Greece imports its milk, so I expect that the hay is sold, but I wonder where. I had many agricultural questions but this was an archeological study, not an agricultural one, so I had little opportunity to satisfy my curiosity. I will just have to come back sometime and talk to the farmers in the villages. :-)

More tomorrow  - if I can find this place again, and if I have time. Not sure what time, but we leave Thessaloniki tomorrow and go to Vergina.