Friday, 7 April 1978

Warm, very cloudy, some light showers at Delphi

Another 7.00 am pick up. Visit to Delphi – 156 km –  about 3 hour drive. A large amount of climbing. Through some large plain areas that are very well cultivated and heavily cropped. Much of the area is irrigated. As we reached higher up into the mountains areas we drove through quite a number of villages where the houses are built right to the road. The bus driver’s do well to get the buses through the streets.

Some very mountainous areas just before Delphi and a lot of reconstruction work is taking place to shorten and re-route some of the climbs.

Types of columns used at Delphi

Rebuilt columns at Delphi

The rebuilt Treasury at Delphi

Visited the ruins of the Temple of Appollo and a large amphitheatre. Immense columns. Many treasury areas where people would leave gifts as they came to visit the Oracle at Delphi. Dates back to 4th-5th century BC.

Museum – statue of the charioteer, a bronze casting in excellent order. Fine detail of face, hands and feet. Only the lower hind legs, tail and some parts of the forefeet [of the horses] were found.

Fine detail on all the friezes that decorated the temple buildings.

Back to town at 7.00 pm. Elsie has been looking at leather coats. Found a small shop in the arcade where a fellow makes his own coats. After much taking on and off, Elsie decided on a coat. As it was floating at the back hem they said they would take it in at the seams – time 7.45 pm – would be done by 8.15 pm! Couldn’t get that done in Australia. Had to wait about 10 minutes when we got back. Now a coat – less 4500 dr (about $112.50).

The young fellow managed English very well. He had been to Canada and brought back his patterns from there. Had taught Greek in a Greek community school. He had a dictionary handy and used it to find “hesitate” which he needed to express a particular thought.

Amstel Beer 28 dr – Elsie needed a gassy drink so we had a small bottle. Very light – like a hip beer used to be.