Alana Bloom (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
patterns_bloom) wrote2017-09-18 05:47 pm
patterns_bloom) wrote2017-09-18 05:47 pm
Entry tags:
Delphi
After an eventful two weeks in Athens, Alana is ready for a change of pace, and has only whet her palate for more of Greece. The village of Arachova, near Delphi, is just what the doctor ordered.
Due to its trendy cafes and shopping, Arachova is known as the "Mykonos of the Mountains," and Alana adores the town the second she steps off the bus. For lunch, she dines on creamy, delicious Formaela cheese--served as melted "saganaki" with a squeeze of lemon--Amfissa olives, and tsipouro firewater. Next, she visits the church of St. George, and hikes to the top of the picturesque clocktower rising over the village.
Afterwards, she relaxes in Lekka Square with a coffee, dining on a local specialty--slow-cooked, free-range wild boar with handmade pasta at Panayota. All in all, the day is a peaceful contrast to the fast-paced Athens.
The morning sees her refreshed for the first time in months. She sleeps in and misses her bus, but the next one is due soon enough that unpacking her computer would take too long. The view is so pretty, and she has a pen and a napkin handy, so she sketches it out--something she hasn't done in years.
On a whim, she purchases a sketchbook and some charcoal.
Her next bus sees her to the western slopes of Mt. Elikonas, just outside Distomo village. Alana explores the stunning monastery of Osios Loukas (St. Luke). There are two churches on the site: the 10th Century Church of the Theotokos, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and the Katholikon cathedral, built in 1011. She hikes up the bell-tower, pops in on the monastic cells, and sees the refectory. She's delighted by the Byzantine architecture of russet and cream-colored stone bricks, as well as the glossy marble and frescos. She can't resist trying to replicate them in her sketchbook, and spends hours losing herself in drawing.
Finally, Alana is ready for a pilgrimage in Delphi proper, starting at the Tholos of Athena Pronaia, where those who came to petition the oracle, named the Pythia, offered sacrifices. Her meandering path takes her to the Castallian Fountain, where worshippers of Apollo bathed before entering the site. She sketches it, just some simple lines, before having a sip of mineral water at the nearby mountain spring. There are wildflowers here, and the view is so picturesque that she draws that, too.
The Sacred Way takes her to the breathtaking Temple of Apollo, the god of music and truth. She wonders idly if Apollo ever came to Milliways, and whether she could meet him. She takes three hours to explore and sketch the site, leaving only when the sun sets--which is gorgeous.
As she lays her head down on the pillow of the hostel Athena, she looks forward to the next leg of her journey, in the city of Nafpilon.
Due to its trendy cafes and shopping, Arachova is known as the "Mykonos of the Mountains," and Alana adores the town the second she steps off the bus. For lunch, she dines on creamy, delicious Formaela cheese--served as melted "saganaki" with a squeeze of lemon--Amfissa olives, and tsipouro firewater. Next, she visits the church of St. George, and hikes to the top of the picturesque clocktower rising over the village.
Afterwards, she relaxes in Lekka Square with a coffee, dining on a local specialty--slow-cooked, free-range wild boar with handmade pasta at Panayota. All in all, the day is a peaceful contrast to the fast-paced Athens.
The morning sees her refreshed for the first time in months. She sleeps in and misses her bus, but the next one is due soon enough that unpacking her computer would take too long. The view is so pretty, and she has a pen and a napkin handy, so she sketches it out--something she hasn't done in years.
On a whim, she purchases a sketchbook and some charcoal.
Her next bus sees her to the western slopes of Mt. Elikonas, just outside Distomo village. Alana explores the stunning monastery of Osios Loukas (St. Luke). There are two churches on the site: the 10th Century Church of the Theotokos, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and the Katholikon cathedral, built in 1011. She hikes up the bell-tower, pops in on the monastic cells, and sees the refectory. She's delighted by the Byzantine architecture of russet and cream-colored stone bricks, as well as the glossy marble and frescos. She can't resist trying to replicate them in her sketchbook, and spends hours losing herself in drawing.
Finally, Alana is ready for a pilgrimage in Delphi proper, starting at the Tholos of Athena Pronaia, where those who came to petition the oracle, named the Pythia, offered sacrifices. Her meandering path takes her to the Castallian Fountain, where worshippers of Apollo bathed before entering the site. She sketches it, just some simple lines, before having a sip of mineral water at the nearby mountain spring. There are wildflowers here, and the view is so picturesque that she draws that, too.
The Sacred Way takes her to the breathtaking Temple of Apollo, the god of music and truth. She wonders idly if Apollo ever came to Milliways, and whether she could meet him. She takes three hours to explore and sketch the site, leaving only when the sun sets--which is gorgeous.
As she lays her head down on the pillow of the hostel Athena, she looks forward to the next leg of her journey, in the city of Nafpilon.