It’s “Clean Monday” today, the first day of the Orthodox Greek lent. Last night was the last celebration, and today begins the cleansing and fasting. It’s also a day that people fly kites and unofficial first day of spring. 

The main stop today was Delphi, a small community that has developed around the archeological site of the famous oracle. There is an arch further down the hill from the main ruins that was the original entry point to the oracle’s place. Our guide for the day was Penny, and she was really great. 

The main site was really neat. There is a reconstructed building near the bottom. The next level up is the temple. There were other oracles, but Delphi was arguably the most famous and powerful as the location was harder to reach. On the side of the temple were words of wisdom like “Be true to thyself” and “remain balanced.” The next level up featured a cool amphitheater, presumably for music and theatrical performances. The audience would watch the performers with the majestic valley in the background. How cool would that be?

The whole site had been buried underneath a development of homes. Excavators found the archeological remains of the site deeper than basement level, and there is still a great deal of area to be excavated.

Next to the ruins is a museum which features the many interesting and valuable artifacts found buried at the site. It was super interesting and brought to life a lot of the context for the mythical literature I used to teach. Our guide shared a lot of wise sayings from the oracle times. At one point she shared “Always the answer you get is based on the questions you ask.” I’m not sure if that was from the oracle or from her, but it is wise! 

Back in Delphi, we took some drinks out to the rooftop deck to watch the sun set. Then we headed to our group dinner at a local restaurant.