Tom’s photo of Delphi above.
Today was the the longest drive we’ll make. I did all the twisty-turning stuff from lunch at the sea to the bridge. Tom took the last hour and a half through farmland. (He did the first, too, from Delphi to the sea. I will post the route later because it was awesome.)
There’s much to convey, but I’m so tired. Tonight is likely an outline.
—The trip from Delphi to the sea took half an hour of hairpin turns, plus our first ever 360. (Over the bridge and then under the bridge.)
—Lunch was our most expensive meal so far. Two fresh fish. We plus some firefighters were the only people in the restaurant. We were pulled back into the kitchen to choose our fish. It was the first restaurant we encountered where English was very sparse. And here’s a travel tip: not being able to communicate will always cost you more than really being able to communicate. No one ripped us off – it’s just that in all the excitement we ended up with two fishes instead of one, which would have done just fine.
—Tonight’s hotel is the Pelops, and it’s wonderful. Less expensive than the night before but twice the charm and room size. Perhaps it’s because we’re on the Peloponnese now, but whoa. Happy sleeping. (Soon…)
—Dinner was amazing with nearly-full moon, a propane warmer, and a spectacular mixed grill for 9E, which we shared. Photo when we get home.
The thing that surprised me the most today (besides that fact that I can still drive a stick and take hairpin turns at a speed that made my travel companion grab his door) was how much I enjoyed the museum at Delphi. The good stuff is in the museum, and if you have an imagination (waving) you can figure out how the temples were constructed with the states/reliefs that have been preserved. So much was a surprise. The silver and gold work, including a large bull. There was a perfectly preserved bronze charioteer. But the thing that had me stopped for a bit was carved ivory brought in from Asia to honor the cult deity. The second part of that is that carved ivory looks a lot like charcoal after 2,500+ years. I have a photo that I’ll put up when I revisit everything.
Today was a very good travel day. And we’ll get up and do it all again tomorrow.
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