Greece: Day Three

It was 104 degrees here yesterday, and after spending the entire morning on a beautifully scenic bus ride, we toured the ruins of the temple and oracle at ancient Delphi. As I'm sure you all know, a long, long time ago, Delphi was a special sanctuary for the Greek god, Apollo, god of the sun. People would come from all over the country to ask the oracle (a woman) a question about the future. That was after leaving sacrifices and offerings for Apollo, natch.

We visited the ancient temple and oracle site today, and then we took a LONG UPHILL walk to the Stadium, where the athletes would participate in special races, called the Pythian Games. Brent decided to be crazy and run the whole length of the stadium, which I got on video. Let's not forget, it's over 100 degrees, we've just monumentally exerted ourselves on this huge walk, and then Brent decides to RUN the 100 yards. I'm actually surprised I didn't have to administer CPR...which I probably would have enjoyed.

Then we walked back down and visited a museum with all kinds of statues and relics from the Temple at Delphi. After that, we went to see a temple nearby dedicated to the goddess Athena and the gym where the athletes would practice their skills. It was all very awesome, and there were times that I was able to imagine people and activities of long years past taking place here. But...it was so hot that at times it was hard to focus and enjoy.

So then, we came back to the hotel, very hot and exhausted, so we went swimming. Had supper, did a little souvenir shopping, and went to bed. We're so old.

Also, on our three-hour bus trip from Athens to Delphi this morning, we stopped at a rest area, and I bought a copy of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." In Greek! We won't be able to read it, but it will look cool!

Today, we're off to ancient Olympia to see where they held the ancient Olympic Games. Brent will probably run in the stadium again

Cheers