Delphi 11 January.

‘ The earth moved under my feet’….

(It is dark, around 6 am,,,,actually cool….( for me sleeping that is unusual) . Marc is lying beside me on the bed…..and I feel him shake and shudder. I think to myself….he is dreaming….I will wake him up shortly…
Then a voice beside me says….’ The building is moving ‘…and he rises from bed and rushes to the bathroom for shelter…his instincts from earthquake training USA….forces him to jump to the best structural advantage….
Where am I,,,,??
I am still lying in bed…in the dark…..alone…!!)

Yes the ‘earth moved’ for Lyndell and I this morning! Not in the way you might think being in our holiday …but actually physically moved!!

We awoke to the sensation of the bed shaking. Lyndell thought it was me having a particularly ‘active’ dream but the sound of the hangers in the wardrobe rattling told me that it was the WHOLE room that was shaking and I said exactly that, “Lyndell, the room is shaking.” I got up and went to the bathroom to turn the light on and to investigate. By this time the shaking had stopped – maybe 30-45 seconds in all. No other sounds. No loud bang. No explosion. No subsequent sirens. The waterfront outside was quiet. Nothing to explain what may have caused the whole building to shake so we surmised it was a small earth tremor … Lyndell’s first and something I had not experienced since being a 12 year old in Los Angeles.

Lyndell thought I had abandoned her to the centre of the room for the sanctuary of the bathroom. Yes, I did go to the bathroom as the safer place to be but the degree the building was shaking and no evidence visually or audibly that the building was starting to crack up meant that I did not feel I had to alarm Lyndell and drag her scantily clad body into the bathroom.

(It was quite alarming actually…we were on the fifth floor if this building, there was only one floor higher than us and when you feel the whole room shaking….and it is a definite shake…..it was quite scary,
I had not imagined earthquakes or tremors in Greece….I knew about California etc…but when I stop and think,,,,a lot of the Ancient Greece fell down through earthquakes…..and because in the last few days we have seen the evidence of what is left..I should have thought.more that yes ,there would be earthquakes and tremors in Greece..it is just not listed as part of the usual travel advisory notices!!!!)

When we checked out, the receptionist did not say anything so maybe they are used to them. We have since checked the internet and there was a magnitude 3.3 earthquake in the Patra area at around the time we experienced it and there has since been several tremors between Zakynthos and the mainland in the subsequent 24 hours. Just as well we got off the island (we were on the fourth floor there) and have moved on from Patra (we were on the fifth floor there). Overall, it was an interesting experience even though Lyndell briefly thought I was abandoning her to her fate.
(A good story to tell. -anyway.)

Leisurely start to today since there was no way we would beat the tour buses with a two hour drive ahead of us. Only 100kms by road but after the initial short cut of crossing the Corinthian Sea on the longest cable suspension bridge in Europe (at a toll cost of 13.20€ … $20AUD) like an oversized updated model of the Golden Gate Bridge – the rest was winding roads – broad but winding.

This brings me onto a discussion of roads and driving in Greece … There are lots of narrow roads wide enough for one and a bit cars. Of course, the ‘bit’ becomes problematic when two cars find themselves approaching each other – one will have to dive for any slight widening in the road that may be available so the other can pass often with only centimetres to spare. Some roads would be wide enough but with cars parked on both sides (sometimes even with cars parked on both sides facing you making you suspect incorrectly that you travelling the wrong way on a one-way street) there is only room for one car straight up the middle and hope no one comes from the other side.

Wider two lane roads exist and are usually quite well maintained. Here the road rules change. The idea is that you travel with one set of wheels inside the emergency stopping lane. This provides room for other cars to pass you by straddling the middle dividing line irregardless of on-coming traffic or the prescience of double lines in the middle since there is now room for three cars across. Of course, this is assuming that the traffic heading towards the passing car sees it and makes sure it is over far enough to make the space AND assumes, there is no-one passing that on-coming traffic as well using the same assumption that three cars can fit. In the latter case, and we did see this happen on more then one occasion, everyone just observes the impending catastrophe, moves over a little more and narrows the margins between cars passing at 100+km/hr to a few centimetres and you can fit four cars abreast on a two lane road. Of course, this only works provided one of them is not a truck or bus or there suddenly is a tractor or little scooter in the emergency lane meaning that space is no longer available. In these cases the whole deal is off and sensibly one car pulls back to create space. It is a little ‘hairy’ getting used to since as a driver, even in situations where you do not think any sane person would be passing you including on curving mountain roads with minimal forward visibility, you still have to keep an eye on your side mirror to make sure someone is not actually doing exactly that and you will have to make adjustments to suit.

No need to have road rules on toll roads since they are practically empty, even on work days ?the locals are saving where-ever they can? Overall, except in the cities, there are not that many vehicles on the road ? also a result of the economic downturn since the petrol price is as expensive as it is in Italy but earning capacity is much lower?

Another issue is no-one seems to follow speed limits, not even approximately nor are there many road signs indicating what the speed limit is. Not a problem until you see a speed camera … What speed am I supposed to be doing? I just got in the habit of dropping to a ridiculously slow speed whenever I saw a speed camera and had not seen a speed limit sign in some time.

Motor bike riders rarely wear helmets and even fewer bicycle riders. The motor bikes also seem to have their own rules including going through red lights if they see the way is clear. We followed one chap down a narrow street and daren’t try to pass him. He was weaving right and left across the road due to the fact that he was busy texting with one hand while riding thus having to look down a lot rather to watch where he was going (we also noted he had no helmet).

The road-kill is different here. Mostly cats and an occasional dog although I did see one badger. No livestock although we did see a cow tied up on the side of the road in a town …in a driveway!!!

The number of cats is not surprising given that they are everywhere in feral proportions. Today we had a bite to eat at the museum cafe. Instead of pigeons or seagulls hanging around for crumbs, the place was overrun with cats trying to suck up to tourists for a feed! They are obviously wized up on human ways. We even saw one use a pedestrian crosswalk the other day. Not so curiously there seems to have been a lack of birds other than the occasional bird of prey – not surprising why! Much as Lyndell likes cats, she was not going to pat one.

Back to today’s story of our journey.

Delphi was everything we hoped for. A sanctuary dedicated to Apollo and quite grand in its time. More has been reconstructed then at Olympia and therefore it is easier to see how it may have looked when the presence of its oracle made it not only made it another centre for fourth yearly games (the Pythian Games started in 582BC so not as old as the Olympic Games) but capable of having significant political influence through the priests’ deliberately ambiguous interpretations of the oracles rantings.

Delphi also had its own theatre, although not as big as at Epidavros, a stadium, at the top of the hill so any athlete that competed had to be fit enough to still compete after walking up there,( we were definitely puffing ) as well as several treasuries containing the offerings to the temple by the various city-states. The museum was great as well with several nearly intact statues as well as multiple smaller artefacts in excellent condition. Some of these smaller objects reminded us of the souvenirs that you can buy outside tourist destinations but in this case, they were votive offerings that pilgrims could buy in the agora to give to the temple.

Interesting that after Greece fell to the Romans, the Romans respected the sanctuary and even repaired parts of it but its power was already waning.

(As one blogger put it, if you were visiting Greece and were time poor, see Delphi over Olympia. We spent three hours there and thought it all worthwhile. We saw all of the site despite it all being on an extremely steep hillside and my swollen ankle only just allowing me to get a shoe on. Hopefully I Still managed ALL the steps with never a complaint.
It was difficult and hard going because there’re was a lot of steps up the side if the hill..and then down again,,,but again, I could not just sit in the car and not see it….just a pain .and despite my ankle .it truly was a amazing experience and yes Delphi is much better than Olympia. So hard to describe in terms of words and images…even our photos will not do the site justice,,,again more history and timelines to try and place into perspective…and how they lived ….it has given me so mic or insight into the last…from a general outlook and a religious….Christian outlook .
What I liked was the fact that the females were actually an important part if Greek history…( not being sexist at all but woman have been repressed from the dark ages onwards and it was interesting to see how they revered their woman in Ancient Greece, even building temples to them.)

The rest of the day was travelling three hours to Kamaplaka near Meteora. Sounds easy but again lots of hill climbs and long descents but also on nice broad two lane roads where the ‘rules’ as mentioned above apply. One curious corner, we did a full 270deg turn to lose height – never done that before.

(I did not envy Marc driving…..it was very windy at some points and he had completed so much of the driving today in windy roads……I just held my breath tight and held on tight….did not look over the edges once!..much better then way !! )

The hills are rocky with poor rocky soil and do not support even goats. In many ways, the hills are reminiscent of the McDonnell Ranges in Central Australia or parts of Arizona in the USA with cliffs of light tan-brown to yellowish sedimentary rock with bands of red terracotta all pushed up at various angles. You wonder how any great civilisation could have grown up here but as we passed further north the land opened into large fertile plains where they obviously crop dry-land cotton and ?wheat. Down south it had been olive trees, an occasional orange grove and then more olives. In fact, on leaving Delphi we had looked down at the area behind Itea and it was one vast sea of olive trees with the occasional pencil pine poking through. At least we could see some broad acre agriculture that could possibly be economical to farm.

(But then, this was where we saw our first ‘shanty town’ of tins shacks and tents housing otherwise ‘homeless’ people. Houses with no running water but the barrels outside shack doorways filled by a hose as their ‘water supply’ lots of rubbish surrounding and through the camp. Sad and we do not know the history of these people – dispossessed or itinerant?
This was so sad to see. Greece is certainly, poor by our standards and the economic depression which has forced these people to live under these conditions is sad. I was really shocked by the shanty town ,,,on a major road,,and it seemed to go on and on for many blocks….dirty, water everywhere, rubbish everywhere, tent like structures, tin shed like structures….no proper housing that I could see…..combining this with the child begging in the middle of the major road, it made me see another side if Greece altogether, I said to Marc I can understand why the people of Greece are angry( when you see it on the news) ….sadly , what the tourist ‘see ‘ are the lovely Greek Islands …and not the reality if how some grecians are now living, we have had our eyes opened a lot this trip.)
On the topic of rubbish, there is a fair amount of rubbish on the sides of roadways. Garbage bags, plastic bottles, usual trash. The occasional heap suggesting people just dumped their household rubbish rather than take it to the tip (? too expensive).

As for evidence of growth: Interesting that we saw lots of new Orthodox Churches that have obviously been recently built – even in small hamlets …? an attempt at a ‘stimulus package’ by the church? We also saw several buildings from houses to shops that have been built or partially built and then abandoned … ? when the money ran out? A whole shopping mall empty and abandoned. So far the only place we have seen evidence of people with some discretionary buying capacity has been on the island and then only in the main township.

Our guest house for the evening in kalampaka is newly built so obviously there are times when the money does not run out. It is VERY nice and we are going to enjoy slowing down for a couple of nights and not moving on. Tomorrow, the monasteries on the mountain tops … Ah, more steps for my sore ankle!

By the way…do you know that when we watch Greek television…all you get is programs in Greek ??

Yes, it’s all Greek to me!!!!!