May 6 - Delphi & Arachova

First beach today - woohoo!

We left Olympia this morning - heading for Delphi this afternoon. We're driving along the coastal road and it's just amazing.

We stopped in Patras for a cup of coffee in the town square and everyone caught some sun.

We boarded a ferry from Rion to Antirion across the Gulf of Corinth, and stopped to take a few pictures at Nafpaktos (the loveliest little town I've seen yet!).

The pretty little town of Nafpaktos

We stopped for lunch at a gorgeous taverna right by the water. George and Sonia introduced us to bread with Greek olive oil and balsamic vinegar - fabulous. We all ate up quickly and headed for the pebble beach to put our feet in the water and lie in the sun. Truly heaven!

The water calling us from the lunch table

We're about to start climbing up to Delphi now so I'll go and watch the beautiful views. Delphi is high atop Mt. Parnassos and we're currently low on the coast - it's going to be an interesting ride!

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My turn! - we have arrived at Delphi, and let me say this...WHAT A RIDE! The bus ride was awesome to say the absolute least. The scenery was incredible.

Half the people on the bus (there are only 15 of us - and 50 seats) slept the entire time, and they missed plenty. Sonia and George (our new pals!) didn't have the parts....perhaps a little too much dancing last night? Anyway, I digress...

The ride up to Delphi

The roads that wind through the mountains are petrifyingly narrow - at the best of times. And when you add in the style of driving here.........well.........you get the picture. These roads wind up and through the mountains, with hairpin turns (and I DON'T use the term lightly) every mile or two. Once in a while, the side of the mountain would seemingly swallow up the edge of the road, leaving us a view of nothing but a 3,000 foot drop to the valley. I pressed my face to the window, but could see NO road, NO shoulder, NO kidding!

After saying a silent prayer of thanks for Tassos, our skilled driver, it was time to admire...the view, the mountains, life in general. A ride like that will do that to you. I could go on and about this leg of our journey, but I won't. We will never forget it, I assure you.

We arrived at Delphi a few hours later and sat down to a quick lunch - time to start sight-seeing. Delphi will be a two day stop, so after a long journey we visited the lower Sanctuary of Athena. The ruins were truly spectacular (as the pictures will show) and with the mountains as a backdrop it was an awesome sight.

Sanctuary of Athena at Delphi

Following the visit was a short stop in beautiful Arachova for some shopping. This was not souvenir shopping. Our guide, Effie, informed us that here we would find the place to purchase unique jewellry - with four great stores side by side. Or, if we preferred, a marvellous store selling beautiful local products; leather goods, hand-made carpets, tapestries, tablecloths, you-name-it. We had been planning on buying a nice ring for Jane but the first stop for the group was the leather store. There begins one of the more humorous stories of our journey...

The store had some of the most amazing leather, rugs, etc. that we had seen. For example, Sonia tried on a beautiful mink coat priced at 1,500,000 drachmas. That equates to $7,500 US, so she put it right back on the rack - clever girl...right. It should be said, that a discount of 10-20%, depending on the purchase, would be given to the tour group. Not bad, huh?

Well, of course the salesman was impressed with the fact that Jane and I were the first ones to greet him in his own language, so he was eager to shower us with his attention. As luck - or fate - would have it Jane decided to heed his advice and try on a coat. This was no ordinary leather coat, mind you, it was made from antelope and fox. It came in many colours, the pelts were imported, and local craftsmen took over from there.

With the entire group voicing their preferences as to colour, we finally decided on green. This is one mighty fine coat and everyone agreed that it looked terrific on her. Jane raved about it's comfort and warmth. It should also be noted that the temperature was about 50oF (we were at an altitude of 960m and it was very windy). The story's not so funny so far, huh?

The famous Arachova coat

Perhaps it was the thin mountain air, or the fact that you could virtually reach up and touch the clouds that were rolling in (really), but both Jane and I were suddenly consumed by a case of brain-lock. After negotiating a price, which we quickly converted in our empty heads to Canadian currency, we could not even think of passing up this bargain. What a deal! Since our deal involved cash, the cousin of the proprietor was summoned to drive me to the nearest bank. Two withdrawls later (idiot!) I returned.

After paying and walking out, Jane realized that we had converted the exchange rate incorrectly, and for a terrifying few seconds had no idea how much money we just handed over. Why so pale, hon? Well, we just payed three times the price we thought. Fortunately, a vacation bonus and an ample sense of humour were with us. We decided to share our story with the others, and for the rest of the day I was the brunt of many jokes. All in good fun - it livened up the day. Everyone loved the coat on Jane and it will always remind us both of one of the most memorable days we've ever experienced.

Moving on....after dinner at our hotel...Sonia, George, Colleen, Tony and Marie joined us in a search for Metaxa (mmm, good!). The new friends that we've made on this trip have really added to the experience. What a bunch!

Tony painting the Sanctuary and
Colleen investigates the stranges shop ever

During our quest, we stumbled upon an Antiques shop crammed with the most incredible and odd assortment of items ever seen in one place by any of us. What a treasure trove - we could have poked around all night - but we were on a mission! So after about half an hour, off we went. It was indeed an unforgettable store, and we will return someday I promise.

We found an empty taverna where we spent a very enjoyable hour or two drinking local Metaxa. While exchanging addresses, we all complained about our own governments' ineptitude, Bill and Monica, Kosovo, in other words... serious stuff. After our league of nations debate, it was now quite late. We left the taverna and slowly staggered up the steep hill, turned left and even more slowly continued up a second hill, twice the size.

The happy gang finds Metaxa

By then, Tony and I were lagging behind, and he shared one of his many humorous thoughts with me. This one had to do with him approaching the centre stone at the theatre of Epidaurus - only realizing the significance of his location after realizing he needed to pass wind. He commented that he knew how a fish felt, wanting to avoid a standing ovation from the hundreds in the stands. I nearly wet myself listening to his story and found it even more difficult to climb the hill.

Another great view from the room

What a character, what a night.

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