Goodbye Greece

Last day in Greece, so, so sad. We've had a marathon (ha!) day, though, so we have definitely fit in everything possible. We spent last night enjoying the sunset over Santorini and a nice, quiet dinner. Every night at about 815, hundreds of people scramble to the west end of the island and literally crawl all over one another to see this amazing sunset, as the sun passes into the Aegean over the Greek isles. Unfortunately, there is not enough smog in the Peloponnese to get the real good reds and purples of a Birmingham or Atlanta sunset:














End of the day in Santorini.


We had to wakeup super early to catch a flight from Santorini to Athens. We were joined on the flight with 150 very old and very slow midwesterners, so that was an adventure in an of itself. We made it to the Athens airport and rented a car, though. Our intention was to head northwest to Delphi, the religious center of the ancient, pagan world, home of the famous oracle. This time our ride was a tiny red Peugeot, just barely big enough for the two of us and our two suitcases. I took the wheel, Windsor took the maps. Not sure whose fault it was, but we would spend the next 3 hours on a wild goose chase for the oracle, taking us well into the mountains of Greece, in an absolutely beautiful, yet absolutely frustrating drive:














Bo behind the wheel. Frustration level is about a 9.7 at this point.


We did finally make it to Delphi, though, and we got some great ruins in. The oracle was housed in the ancient temple of Apollo, which is in fairly good shape on this enormous archaeological site. If you needed to know the future, you'd head to Delphi, make a sacrifice, and then go into the oracle, who would be a young girl who would breath the natural vapors which came out of a fissure in the earth, she would scream something incomprehensible, and the priests would tell you your future. Generally, the oracle was not very specific or helpful. Ancient literature is full of stories where a general visits the oracle, asks if he will win in battle, and the oracle replies "There will be great victory today"- Thanks oracle.














Bo with map and guidebook in front of the temple of Apollo in Delphi
















Windsor in front of the Thelos, a temple in lower Delphi. Notice the mountains in the background. Delphi is perched on the edge of these mountains, just above the gulf of Corinth. It is absolutely breathtaking (and when I say breathtaking I mean when you walk up and down all these hills in 90 degree heat, you are gasping for breath).




















Bo posing on the Via Sacra, the road that leads through Delphi.


Well we got back to Athens eventually (via a much better route home) and we had one final night on the town. We did a bit of shopping (some of you are getting terrific presents- sorry Charlie, the Gerrard jersey was out of our price range, especially after having to send you that $100), and then we had one final meal of kebab and beer (terrific):




















Bo on the town

Tomorrow's another long day, but we should be back in Hotlanta (that's what the kids are calling it) around 5:45. We're sad to leave, but we've had an amazing time and are excited to share it with others. If anyone's still reading, thanks for paying attention to our blog. There are lots more (over 500) pictures to share, so we'll get them to you soon.

Bon Voyage (or, uh, however you say that in Greek. Have I really studied the language for the last 4 years?)