Delphi: the Centre of the World 

DAY 2: Delphi

After hitting two ancient sites and an idyllic seaside town on my first day in Greece, I decided to spend day 2 driving north, with Meteora as the final destination, but Delphi as the first stop.

I had a rough start with Google maps directing me on and off the freeway, repaying tolls repeatedly (and crying and yelling at my partner a little bit (sorry Reece)). Life got easier once I was well and surely on my way. Compared to the citrus-tree ridden landscape of the Peloponnese, the new route blessed my eyes with a snow-capped mountainous landscape.

I stopped in Arachova, a small town which clung to the side of a mountain with rustic homes and ski-clad holiday-goers. I visited a small boutique and the owner gave me a free shot of her homemade ouzo- a sale tactic which seemed to work as I left with my own bottle. After, I ate gyros while looking down at the outstretched valleys. If I was going to ski in Greece (if I liked skiing that is) I would happily settle in this town for a week.

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Just ten minutes down the road from this pit-stop was Delphi. The ancient site is significant in the political, commercial and religious histories of Greece. While human settlement can be traced back to the Neolithic period, legend has it that Zeus himself designated the site. It flourished from the 8^th century BCE as centre of worship for Gaia, the goddess of fertility, until the first century AD under the control of Roman Emperor Nero. It slowly lost momentum with the rise of Christianity and was looted by Constantine the Great. Basically, Delphi has been touched by great moments and figures of history and, on this day, I got to let my feet touch its earth and join its history (in a minute way).

In just a shirt on the sunny day (a relief after two months of NYC and European winter), I explored fervently. The site was perched up against the mountain, steeply  overlooking vast valleys. The Temple of Apollo, amphitheater and sports arena where the Pythian Games, the precursor to the Olympics, were meticulously preserved and their presence still declared stately status the area once possessed. It was, after all, once considered the centre of the world.

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I felt an empowering connection between place, time, memory and my position in this paradigm. While being gobsmacked, a group of schoolgirls from NYC talked loudly about their bronzer and squat-asses until one of them mumbled, “This place is kind of cool?” before snapping that their tour guide should shut up. My perceptions of place, time and memory were instantly shifted from romantic to ironic. Once upon a time, Zeus sent out two eagles to find the centre of the world and they met upon the land where we stood. In the present moment, however, it was the centre of an annoying field trip, undermined by the importance of the aesthetics of an American teenager’s cheekbones and arse.

Unfortunately, due to my map mishaps earlier in the day, I only had an hour on site before it closed. I still had a little time for the on-site museum. During my visit, I truly wondered what Britain’s claim that Greece can’t look after their cultural artefacts is founded on. The museum dignified, through design, lighting, object selection and wall text, the historical and cultural significance of the site.  Detailed reconstructions of evacuated artefacts, such a gold fragments of a 6th c BCE bull, gave me a new-found appreciation for conservators. The Charioteer of Delphi, with his eyes still painted and standing proudly, reinforced my belief in the natural preservation of time. Recently, I visited the Hellenic Museum in Melbourne and saw a recreation of the Charioteer, and was brought back to the experience of visiting Delphi.

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After this, I soldiered on for several hours (and several more thanks to Google maps) to Meteora, where I settled in for the night at Zozas Rooms.

Read previous posts on my Greek road trip here and here. For more on my travels in Asia, the US and Europe, see my travel diary. Subscribe below to be notified of my future posts!