Delphi and Meteora

After  a week long spring break and getting back into the groove of shool, it's back to blogging....about my January/February break with Nate!  A few people read my blog, but another reason for me writing this is so that I have a record of all the places I traveled to while in Turkey.  It's coming down to my final weeks here and there are still places that I want to see while I can.  I never thought I would have the opportunity to travel like I have been able to these past two years, and I always want to remember it as something special I got to do.  So the blog goes on....

From Athens, Nate and I took an overnight trip to see two important historical and spiritual sites in Greece, Delphi and Meteora.  The first stop was Delphi.  We took a two hour bus ride through the mountains and olive groves of Greece to get there.  It turns out most of Greece is covered with mountains, which means lots of windy and narrow roads.  Delphi is an important spiritual center for the ancient Greeks.  This is where ancient priests and priestesses would make their prophecies for people who came to see them.  Each city-state had a treasury built at the site for all the statues and offerings people brought to hear their fortune.  The Pythian Games were also held here (similar to the Olympic Games, but not quite as big of a deal).  Built in the mountains, this is a very beautiful and special site to the Greeks.

Treasury for the statues and gifts from Athens

The wall on the right contains inscriptions of the names of slaves who were freed at Delphi

Having fun exploring and taking it all in

Temple of Apollo, the sanctuary where oracle made her prophecies.  There is a spring underneath that emits an hallucinogenic chemical that "helped" the oracle.

A beautiful sunny day at the Temple of Apollo

Nate and I at the theater

Stadium where athletes practiced and participated in the Pythian Games

The modern day city of Delphi

From Delphi, we continued on to Meteora.  We arrived late at night and continued on our tour the next morning.  Meteora is home to six Eastern Orthodox monasteries built onto the top of gigantic sandstone rock pillars.  The monks built their homes here because it was difficult to access, making it more remote and peaceful.  The buildings were constructed in the 1500s and 1600s.  An UNESCO heritage site, these monasteries continue to be homes for monks and nuns.  The landscape is truly spectacular and magical.

Bell tower at the monastery of St. Nicholas

Posing in front of the crazy rock pillars

On our way to the second monastery, we stopped to take some photos...

Not a bad place to live if you're a monk!

One of the bigger monasteries of Meteora

Monastery of St. Stephen, the second of two places we visited.  Now it is run by nuns.

St. Stephen's from another perspective

One of the little churches at the monastery

Both Delphi and Meteora were very special places to visit, and for me was the highlight of our entire time in Greece.  Pretty cool to see two UNESCO sites in two days!