If only Delphi’s famous oracle could have predicted what the city has turned into… A tourist trap! What was once the "belly button of the world” (“center” would be a more literal translation), the actual town of Delphi now exists only because of the archaeological site down the road. In other words, it is mainly comprised of restaurants, hotels, and of course, souvenir shops where visitors can purchase overpriced mini architectural replicas of the stone arches and temples. We arrived in Delphi in the afternoon, but instead of napping, I decided to explore the town with a few others. We strolled to the end of the city, past all the 20th century additions until we stood at the bottom of the ruins.
I didn’t even bother taking a picture of the view. Olive trees stretched for miles into the distance, filling up the mountainous valleys and hills, while the jagged cliffs that reflected the red sunset dropped steeply into the valley. I stood on the fence and stammered about the futility of cameras in a scene like this, only to look over my shoulder to find that the cameramen had caught my declaration on film.
I pointed down the steep incline to show them something worth filming: a shepherd—with sheep! And a wooden staff. I would have thought the scene was taken straight out of an old movie (or the Bible, for that matter), except for the cigarette the disgruntled teen was puffing away on. Our group slowly wound our way back up the street to the town and had dinner at a small restaurant. I tried fried red peppers for the first time. I wasn’t expecting them to be cold– but they were delicious.