Was tired and slept well. Up and out of the hotel by 11. I went into town to post my postcard and have some water and a croissant. Back at the hotel the owner chatted for a while about my cycle. He was amazed I was 23. He said I looked 33. I didn’t set my beeline going for the first 10km today, opting for google maps instead. 10km in, along a main road by the sea I realised this would be missing from my Beeline heatmap and stats, so I set my beeline going too.
Luckily today was a short cycle of only 32km. It was straightforward enough, but I definitely would not have made it in time had I done it yesterday. I followed the main road most of the day. Near Delphi it diverged into endless groves of olive trees full of winding dirt footpaths. I weaved through this maze before starting the steep, serpentine ascent out of the valley to the village above. The last few km were spent on a gradually more stony gravel path, which eventually devolved into a walking path up a hill, then a steep staircase. Here I said hi to two kids at the bottom of it, took off my luggage and carried my bike up, then came back for it.
I found my hotel at 2:30. The first room they gave me had other people’s stuff in it, so I went upstairs and got a great view of the valley from my private balcony. That made me pretty happy. I showered, then walked to the Delphi archeological site. Six euros again.
It was amazing. Possibly my fave so far. Many standing and reconstructed pillars, a stadium (atop a high hill) and an amphitheatre, all surrounded by incredible, dramatic scenery. There’s also a free section at the bottom of the hill. I took a billion photos then went to the museum. It was super cool, but felt a little like a repeat of Olympus and the Acropolis. Cool bronzes and marbles of course.
Back in Delphi at 6ish. I got a beer and a shitty pizza on which I burnt my mouth. An elderly Australian couple near me heard I spoke English and invited me to sit and chat with them. That was very pleasant. They’d travelled all over. They’d even got stuck in Kabul in the 80s when the soviets invaded! When they left I look in the view for a while, then headed back to my hotel with a snack or two.
I watched the light fade over the valley on the balcony, then called a friend for 10 mins. She had to leave early-ish to photograph the super blue moon tonight. As for myself I watched it rise over the nearby Orthodox church as I made my second Italy post. After that I walked over to the church, found a tavern, got an expensive Delphi pint, and wrote this.
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