Day 13 – 1/23/2020 – Heading for Delphi

Today will be bracketed by sun photos. Here’s the sunrise over breakfast this morning:

Shortly after this was taken we boarded the bus and left Olympia headed for Delphi.

Along the way we crossed the bridge over the Corinth Bay. An engineering marvel the bridge is almost 2 miles long and is one of the longest of its type.

Shortly after crossing the bridge we stopped for a “technical stop” and to grab snacks and/or lunch. Then we were on our way again.

the climb up to Delphi follows the coastline and provides exceptional views of the mountains and water.

Arriving in Delphi we proceeded directly to the museum. We started by viewing a Roman era mosaic floor that was found on the site and reconstructed at the museum.

Inside the museum we viewed interesting artifacts found on the site including:

A votive bronze shield from the 8th c BC

Seashell carved as a Siren; Phoenician; 8th c BC

Stand for a ritual basin; 1st quarter of 6th c BC

Figure in the upper right shows Odysseus or one of his companions tied under the belly of a ram escaping from the cave of Polyphemus; 2nd half of 6th c BC

Neckless with gold beads in the shape of lion heads

Column of the Dancers; an offering to Apollo; ~330 BC

Omphalos – marker of “the center of the world.” According to legend Zeus released two eagles at opposite ends of the world. Where they met was identified as “the center” or “the navel.” They met at Delphi. Recent theory among archaeologists is that the omphalos originally sat atop the Column of the
Dancers.

The Charioteer – one of the few large-scale bronze Roman sculptures in existence. This sculpture was saved because it was buried in rubble from the earthquake of 373 BC; 480-460 BC

They kicked us out of the museum at 3:00 so we made our way back to town and got checked in to the hotel.

The next event was a “check-in session” with the profs and the students. They dealt with a number of questions and observations that students had made thus far in the trip. Then it was time to walk around town for a bit before settling down to dinner.