M So we arrived in Delphi at about 4pm and found our hotel that the guidebook (Let's Go) recommended, which was a great deal. We headed off to see some of the small ruins that are free to look at and are open until 5:30pm. The main site and museum, like everything here in Greece during the winter, close at 3pm. We walked the beautiful road to the site. There were mountains all around us and the road looked over into a huge valley. As we got up to the site an elderly man came up to us and said that it closed at 5:30. We smiled and said thank you, then he proceded to follow us around the ruins. He tried to tell us about the place, but he spoke almost no English. He would rattle off in Greek throwing in an English or even a Spanish word here or there then say "understand?". If we said no he would repeat in Greek what he just said getting frusterated with us until we said yes we understood. We were very weary of him and tried to separate from him at one point, but he yelled "come come good picture" while waving his arm rapidly at us to follow him. He then showed us a place that really was a good photo spot. We were just waiting for him to say we owed him for the "tour" he gave us, and at one point Jes snapped a picture of him in case we needed to show police.
Of course there was no one else around, as no one other than us is crazy enough to travel in February. But lucky for us it turns out that he was just a friendly old man who worked at the sight. We left him with a wave as he fed some of the stray cats that are all over the ruins. There are an unbelievable amout of stray cats all over Greece.
The old man told us "museum tomorrow closed". So we thought we should check it out. We walked over to the museum and sure enough there was a sign stating that Thursday January 31 it would be closed. Aparently the Arch Bishop of the Greek Orthodox church died, and his funeral would be on Thursday. Not only would the museum be closed, but all state run places like banks, schools, post offices etc. would be closed. We had come all that way just to see the famous museum and site, so we would have to either miss out, or change our plans.
We walked back and took it easy. The head cold I got from Jes was getting worse so we enjoyed a meal at the local pizzeria and then headed back to our hotel room to watch t.v. The great thing about Greece is that there are always shows on in English with Greek subtitles.
We woke the next day and decided to stay in Delpi an extra night and cut out Meteora. It was nice as I was not feeling well, and was able to enjoy a relaxing day. We decided to go to Itea, a town down in the valley beside the Corinthian sea. We walked to the bus station, only to find the next bus left at 1pm and we had just missed the 11:00 bus. So we hiked to the top of the little town. Exhausted, we rested and looked at the view that was really no better than from down below. lol
Then as we headed down we followed what we thought was a hiking path. We saw these little boxes with rocks on them. It wasn't until we were almost on top of them that we realised that they were indeed full of bees! We got out of there as fast as possible, and headed back to the bus stop. Luckily without any buzzing friends.
At 1pm we were at the stop ready to go. 1:05,1:10, 1:15... no bus. We were seriously considering hitch hiking when the guy who runs the bus stop showed up. He asked us where we were going, and we said Itea. He said the bus comes at 1:15 then went inside, got the portable phone from his desk, and proceeded to cross the street and get a seat in the cafe/bar next door. We decided to wait a little longer. Finally at 1:30 our bus pulled up. 20 minutes later we got off at the small seaside town of Itea. It was quite beautiful.
We walked along the coast, then sat on a bench over-looking the water and basked in the sun.
The temperature was in the high teens, maybe even twenty. We walked some more, then like usual when we have nothing else to do, we hit an internet cafe, which was good as my head was stuffy and I felt very weak. We planned to leave in time to get the 5:45 bus back, but the bank machine we had taken money from only gave us 100 euro bills, and the internet cafe would not take it. So Jes went off in search of another bank machine while I waited, and waited, and waited. Jes finally came back. He found one, but I had the travel money card in my purse. So he tried his regular bank card which we were told would not work in Europe, and sure enough he was able to take out money without problems. A miracle??
Unfourtnately by the time Jes got back it was 5:45. We went to the bus station, but this time the bus was on time and we missed it, and the next bus was at 8:45. So we went in search of a place to eat. Almost everything was closed, like most places in mainland Greece at this time of year it was a ghost town. I was getting desparate for a bathroom, when we finally found a fast food place. We had some dinner, and stayed afterward chatting for as long as we could, but finally felt we should leave. We found a supermarket to warm up in as the temperature had dropped significantly. We killed as much time as we could there, then went to hang out at the bus station.
It was 8:35 when a bus pulled up, an early bus? I was inside when Jes saw it. He ran out and asked if it went to Delphi and yes it did. I came running out and noticed he didn't have our back pack, which had our food and my purse in it. I asked him where it was and he calmly replied "I guess I left it at the table over there at the station". Luckily I found it beside the table he was sitting at, and just in time as a homeless guy was staring at it. We were glad the bus wasn't late and that we had caught it as it was the last one to Delphi that night. But, as the bus drove up the street, it started to do a large U-turn, and sure enough it went back to the bus station we were just at. It pulled up there at 8:45. Right on time. We had rushed for nothing. We had a good laugh at ourselves then went home, as I needed to sleep.
The next day we headed out to see the huge ruins of what was once thought of as the center (or navel) of the earth. They say that Zeus released 2 birds one from the west one from the east, and they met in Delphi. The ruins were neat, but without a guide you really have no idea what you are looking at. We were very thankful to have watched "Driving through history" while in Romania, so we knew the stories behind it. The museum of course had a little more info, and all the interesting artifacts from the ruins.
After the museum we went back, got our bags, and were again at the bus stop for the 3pm bus to Thessaloniki. That bus was also late, but only by about 15 min. We met some backpakers from France and chatted with them. It was a 6 hour bus ride, and I hit the peak of my head cold. I started to get a pretty bad fever. Jes fanned me with a pamphlet while I sat with a t-shirt on while everyone else was in jackets. We finally stopped for a break, we got some cold bottled water and I stepped outside where it was cold enough to see our breath. Then we cooled my head with water and fanning. The fever broke just before we arrived. Which was great as we were off again, backpacks and all trying to find a hotel. Again were no hostels, but our guide book recommended a cheap hotel. We found it and with Jes doing a little bartering upgraded to a room with an on suite bathroom and tv for only 5 euro more instead of15 euro more. It was definately worth it. Another night watching tv and resting. We prayed the cold wouldn't last, and continued to use the medications we had picked up from local pharmacies.
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