Delphi & Pascha Vigil

Woke at six to begin a guided tour of Delphi.  I had the standard European buffet breakfast around seven.  It was very tasty.  For some reason the only juice available was orange juice that required everyone to use their spiffy new juicer machine.  The juice was delicious, but the line was lengthy.

A scout van picked me up at eight in the lobby and dropped me at the convocation point nearby, where about forty people piled into a monster luxury bus.  We had a dramatic tour guide who used intonation and marginal English to effect.  Some surly American girls sat behind me, who were quite concerned with where their next beer was coming from.  They engaged in trash talk banter with a friendly Indian-Australian fellow and his family for a good portion of the long and sometimes scenic ride.  The highway is in fine shape, equivalent to one of our good interstate highways.  It plows through an area of light industry and agriculture.  The light industry looks to be in need of some zoning laws, as it is mainly ugly, sprawling, and low density.  About 1/4 is vacant or partially constructed.

The ride itself took us past Marathon and Thebes. We had a few mythology lessons on the way, and got a synopsis of Oedipus Rex and Antigone.

After a short coffee break, where I purchased a lame blue hat to replace my faithful green hat, which alas, I left at the restaurant last evening, we made it to Delphi, which is nestled in the hills.  My thick-soled fancy sandals were reliable partners on the steep and slick climb up.

Pictured below is the main temple, where visitors in ancient days could ask questions of the Oracle.  

Temple at Delphi

The Oracle was a woman who, after taking in some sort of smoke, produced an enigmatic answer.  It helped that the written answers avoided punctuation:

Q.  Will I die in the upcoming battle?

A.  You Will Go You Will Return Not In War Shall You Die

The Oracle is never wrong.

Just above the temple, I recognized another Oracle, Prof. Forman Williams of the University of California-San Diego.  He is quite well known worldwide for his work in combustion, and will be attending the same meeting that I will next week.  We had a short and pleasant chat.  Forman had written a very nice review article several years ago, citing many Greek Gods, especially Prometheus, to spice up combustion theory a little bit.  He may have been looking for some new material for his next article?

Panorama of Temple at Delphi

There is a nice place for drama above the temple:

Theater at Delphi

And for sporting games, one can go to the nearby stadium:

Stadium at Delphi

After about an hour at the temple, we recessed to the museum, which houses many statues from the temple, e.g. the Sphinx below.

Sphinx at Delphi; tour guide with red folder

Elder statesmen at Delphi museum

After the museum, we had a group lunch with pretty good food.  The waiters don't like the group lunches because they are prepaid, so they become mainly surly.  I sat with a Spanish art historian from the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and a Rumanian couple.  He was a chemical engineer who had taught for years--we taught the same classes.  He now is a businessman in Bucharest who often goes to FMC in Chicago on Randolph Street for work in the oil and gas business.

We returned via the same route taken, and I was dropped at my hotel around six.  After a little breather,  I walked out for some dinner and found it in the nearby Plaka district.  Pork souklava featured below, which hit the spot.

My fine fare this evening

This being Easter "Pascha" Vigil night, and Greece being very Orthodox, there was a flavor in the air--some from lots of people carrying candles, and some from many fires roasting meat in the streets; see below.

Meat roasters near my dining table

After dinner, I walked back towards my hotel, which is a little dicey this time of night, but there were no problems.  Across from my hotel was a large Orthodox church.  I entered, along with a few hundred others, around 11:00 PM for the Easter Vigil service, see below.

Church near my hotel where I attended Easter Vigil

Orthodox Easter Vigil is a bit different than that which I'm accustomed. It's all sung, and quite a bit of time is spent in the dark listening to readings from all four gospels, I believe. Similar in some ways to the Oracle at Delphi, a lot of the most important business is taking place behind the screen out of view.  Throughout the service, there is a lot of blessing by the congregation, with little organization.  Also, veneration of icons goes on in free form throughout the service.  After about one hour, there is a lot of light, and the congregation rushes the alter to have their candles lit.  This is quite moving, and there is a lot of excitement and hugging.  Then nearly all, including the chanting clergy, exit through the front and chant in the square.  At this point, there is quite a lot of fireworks, and 65% of the congregation makes their way home.  However, the clergy re-enter the church, and begin what I believe to be the liturgy of the Eucharist.  I stayed for another fifteen minutes or so, but unable to receive, I joined the bulk of my Greek friends in making an early exit.