Sacred places

Yesterday was the first of our marathon daylong trips out of Athens. We decided to start off with the Delphi trip, as that never fails to blow students away. And it did its job, despite the heat and some logistical challenges (broken-down bus, unexpected changes to openings & admissions policies, difficulty keeping our large group together). And while visiting Delphi is like seeing an old friend, as is so often the case the most memorable experiences were the new ones (or at least, ones we haven't had in a long time).

We were clever and left earlier in the day this year for the long drive up to Mount Parnassos, to beat the heat; most people caught up on sleep during the first part of the trip. By the time we got to the chaotic reststop and elbowed the yiayias and papous to get some coffee and pastries, we were awake and ready to go. With an excellent student presentation on the bus about the Oracle--kudos to Robin--and my streamlined comments about the site, the group was well prepared. We purified ourselves at the Kastalian spring, and made our way up into the sanctuary.

We stopped for the requisite group photo in front of the Temple of Apollo, and some reenacting of a scene from "My Life in Ruins", which earned a barked "stop the theater" from an irate guard. [Side question: when were Greek museum and site guards told that protecting the dignity of the monuments from the foolishness of tourists was part of their jobs? These things have stood for about 2500 years--a little playacting in front of them isn't going to harm them.]. Then we continued up to the theater and stadium, still closed to protect it from the desecrations of tourist feet. We came down, sorted out issues with the bus, toured the museum, and made our way down to the sanctuary of Athena. By the end we were blissfully hot and tired, and hungry--so much so that several students tried to swipe ripe figs from a nearby tree. I was shocked to learn how many students have never had a ripe fig; hopefully they'll be ripe by the end of our trip (the figs, that is, not the students).

Hey, lighten up, it's just an homage to Richard Dreyfuss.

Here's the evidence that Les made it all the way to the top of the site. She says we walked about 8 miles on this day; she has the pedometer to prove it.

In our replacement bus, we made our way to Arachova. We realized that we have been there almost as often as anywhere in Greece outside of Kolonaki and Aghia Paraskevi, but it is always lovely to wander its narrow streets. We made our way to a restaurant recommended by George Daskalakis, To Archontiko; and to our great delight, George and Gerasimo (the students' RA in the dorm) were there, with another group. George had even reserved tables for us. The lunch was fabulous--Leslie and I always try to order things we never had, so we had the house salad with frisee and pomegranate seeds, roasted vegetables with a balsamic glaze and melted cheese, and the local version of coq au vin, with rooster (mine took a while--I think they had to chase down the rooster in the back).

Here's a nice view of Arachova. I'll leave the pictures of food to Leslie.

Our strength restored, we did a bit of shopping, then hopped back on the bus, for the trip to the monastery of Osios Loukas. Les and I went there about 19 years ago on an ASCSA trip led by John Camp. I had dim memories of it; but the reality was beyond beautiful. The church itself dates to the 9th-10th centuries, and has wall paintings nearly that old. The monastery is incredibly peaceful, set in an isolated valley. Going from Delphi to Osios Loukas inspired lots of thoughts about how sacred places keep their holiness, even after pilgrims are replaced by tourists. Actually, many of the students may have been more struck by the body of the revered person--a former abbot, maybe, or the Osios himself?--kept in glass in the church.

It pretty much illustrates the term "numinous."

The kids were total troupers--they mainly enjoyed hanging out with the students. Ellie is on a systematic campaign to wrap all of them around her finger.