The stadium at Olympia.

Greece

So. On a recent whirlwind trip to Greece, I visited the ancient sites of Olympia, Corinth, Epidaurus and Delphi and well as the capital city of Athens. The above is a photograph taken among the ruins of Delphi. This ancient place is located on the side of some mountains by the sea and is quite extraordinary. I visited all that was left of several ancient temples to the godesses Hera and Gaia which stand perhaps a quarter mile below Delphi, and then stopped by the waterfall in which pilgrims would purify themselves in antiquity before I finished at the temple of Apollo and the seat of the oracle.
Modern Delphi (now little more than accomodations for tourists) was transplanted away from the original site by French colonists, and now there is nothing near the ruins to disturb the harmony of wind and marble and sunshine. Old Delphi includes more than the temple of Apollo; also included are a traditional Greek theater and athletic stadium. I found the concept of having religious, entertainment and recreational facilities all in one place an interesting one. The tour of Delphi began with a hike past the temple of Apollo and the temple that the Athenians erected in the fourth century B.C. to commemorate their victories in the Persian Wars. Next comes the theater, with rows of gray, lichen-spotted seats arranged in a half-circle facing a view of the mountains very like the one in the photo above. Several hundred yards up the path lies the stadium, which I actually liked he look of more than the one in Olympia. The place where the Olympic games got their start, Olympia has its charms, of course--nestled in a valley amid patches of wild iris and grape hyacinth--and tourists are actually allowed inside the stadium. But the mountains of Delphi (complete with goat) stole my heart.