Another great day to be in Greece. (Delphi, Brian Saul)

 

Monday, August 23rd Blog by Brian Saul. 

 

Today we are in Delphi. The morning started with a 1 mile run with Paris and Brenna, where we could take in some of the beautiful sites in our area. Additionally, we could pass the places we planned on going to during the day as a group. When the day started, we were all exhausted as it was our third consecutive day traveling across Greece, and it was the third hotel we had been In.   

Nonetheless, we were excited as every day was filled with marvelous adventures and the opportunity to take pictures and create long-lasting memories. Additionally, we had a birthday on the trip. Amit Dr. Shah's husband has been a great asset to our journey across Greece, and we were happy to be celebrating his birthday with him and his family. 

 

Our first visit was to the Oracle of Apollo, the god of light and harmony, encompassing music, art, and even sculptures. Our Guide Elena referred to the Oracle of Apollo as the social harmonies of the world. 

So what exactly is the Oracle? This was a place that Ancient Greeks would travel to and bring sacrifices to ask Apollo one question and receive an answer. The answers were usually vague, so the people started to try and ask yes or no questions so they would not misinterpret what Apollo was trying to communicate with them. 

At the Oracle, we could see remnants of Romans and Greeks from all over. The Athenians, for example, had a structure built after they defeated the Persians by themselves, as they proclaimed this made them more potent than the Spartans. Later on, in history, all of these statues and monumental figures weren't burnt down. However, they recovered many of the materials through excavations and placed them in a museum just a  short walk away from the Oracle.

We were in the museum for about 2 hours, soaking up all the knowledge that Elena was telling us and admiring some of the statues that they were able to recover. The museum's first thing that amazed me was its image of what the Oracle looked like before it was destroyed. It was beautiful, just like all the other architectural accomplishments that ancient greek had accomplished.

After our adventure, it was time for lunch! Lunch was held at a local beachfront seafood restaurant. The food was good, but the scenery was better, and we could finally sing happy birthday to Amit. Cutting and eating cake with him was terrific. I am sure that is the best dessert we have had since being in Greece. After lunch, we took a group picture at the beachfront. This image is a staple to how much this group has experienced together, and it shows that we aren't just classmates while in Greece but somewhat a tiny but large family with different ideologies but the same passion for traveling and learning about global business. 

With the shared love for global business, Elena was able to get us to go to see a trade business that initially was not on our itinerary but was on the way to our following location. It was a company that created artwork for monasteries and anyone interested in religious art. The company's founder priest had to learn this trade by attending a school that taught him how to do this. He had since taught his wife and daughter-in-law how to create these paintings when he returned home. Unfortunately, his son said he didn't have the steady hands to create these paintings, so he still found a way to contribute to the family business by completing the engraving in the wood by hand. This engraving was remarkable. 

 

After such a fantastic day, we ventured off to our hotel. This was the first hotel with a pool, and we were ready to get our feet wet, relax and begin our journey the next day.