A Day in Delphi

We're heading to Delphi! But first, a little Greek history. Delphi is known for the site of the Delphic oracle, which is a major aspect in Greek Mythology. During Ancient times, people would walk all the way to Delphi (aka pilgrimage) in order to pay tribute to the god Apollo. That's a lot of walking! Thank goodness we took a bus (but we still walked a grand total of 9 miles today... mostly uphill too!). Oh! Speaking of buses, on our two hour drive from Athens to Delphi we stopped about halway in at Greek rest stop, and boy was that an experience!

When I first walked in I was expecting a small store similar to rest stops in the US, but man, was I wrong. The store was bigger than I expected with a variety of different snack foods and drinks available. But I didn't pay much attention to that. You wanna know why? There was a delicious assortment of mouthwatering pastries right as you walked in. The only thing that I was able to recognize was the baklava, and there were multiple kinds of it (I was very tempted to get one of each). But since you can get baklava back in the states, I decided to try something else. But that's easier said then done though. There were so many new and scrumptious looking treats that I stood there trying to decide for a good 5 minutes.

In the meantime, people were pouring in this place, and they weren't exactly being nice about it. With the little room available, people were pushing and shoving their way around. No "excuse me" or even "sig-no-me." Even when I was standing in line to use the restroom, several, yes several, older Greek ladies just walked right in front of me. At first I thought maybe they didn't want to put up with an American in their area or something (being as I was the only tall blonde there) so I let the first few slide and remained in my place "in line." Then as more and more women started barging their way through I gave up and left to get help. Luckily a friend came with me for my second attempt, and this time I knew what to expect. I stood tall and made sure to get in when I could (this time I was successful!).

Relating back to some of our readings, it all makes sense now. According to a site regarding Greek etiquette, the people here don't have much of a personal space which explains several of the nudges I received this morning. Also in our "Cultural Dimensions of Expatriate Life in Greece" book by Mr. Drake, he talks about how this rowdy behavior is almost obligatory when in crowded places. A common saying that could be used in this situation would be "nice guys finish last," (Drake, ) and in this case that would be me :(. I'll get the hang of it soon though! 

After hiking up and down the hills of Delphi and taking lots and LOTS of pictures (did I say we took lots of pictures?). We stopped in town for some shopping and lunch at a place recommended by a local here in Greece. Fortunately I sat at a a table that knows the good stuff to order, and I got to try a bunch of yummy stuff! Like roasted vegetables with cheese on top (veggies are super fresh here), stuffed peppers, and a Greek take on a burger (they don't serve it with a bun, but still yummy!). After that we did a little shopping around. Most of the stores had the common touristy stuff, but then we passed by this store that caught my eye. Everything was hand made here and each item was very reasonably priced. I picked out a few things and went to pay when Dr. Kaplan mentioned taking a picture, and something unexpected happened, the owner motioned me back behind his work bench and had me pose as if I was the one making all the cool trinky dinks in his store! Then he came out and joined a picture with me :)

Overall today went pretty well. I got my pastries fill (which by the way were very delicious!), I made some good purchases, and I was able to make friends with one of the locals. What more could you ask for?