Arachova and Delphi
Part 3 of 3. New here? Start with Part 1.
Arachova! Where do I begin with this wonderful place? I had never in my life heard of it, and even while I was actively planning the trip to Delphi and looking for somewhere nearby to stay, it didn’t really register. I had no idea what kind of place we were in for. Imagine a quaint ski village on the side of Mount Parnassus, with old churches, cobblestone streets and a charm I’ve personally never experienced anywhere else. It was very quiet because of the season. There was no snow yet, so its usual crowd hadn’t arrived. Because it’s so small, I can’t imagine visiting in high season, so for me, we went at the perfect time.
We stayed at Arachova Bokas House, an adorable cottage-style apartment at what seemed like the very top of the mountain. So when we were dropped off at the bus stop below and had to start walking very uphill, I was like, omg. I can’t believe I didn’t peep the terrain of this village, because I most likely would have booked a room a little less high up. But at the same time, I’m so happy we were up there, because the late sunrise view was so beautiful. And of course, once the uphill trek was over, you kind of forget about it and all is good again.
Our first night, we walked into town, found a nice little Swiss restaurant for dinner, then walked home and called it an early night.
The next morning was our only early morning of the whole trip: we were meeting the taxi to Delphi at 7:30 AM. We woke up a little early, and I decided I wanted breakfast before heading to the archaeological site, so we walked down and found a bakery. There I had the second most delicious savory pastry of the trip: ham, cheese and tomato sauce, a solid 10/10. I hadn’t eaten pork in over two years, but for a few different reasons, I found myself eating a little on this trip, and I really enjoyed all of it.
I tried to call our taxi driver to ask him to pick us up at the bottom of the hill instead of in front of our room, as I’d told him the night before, but he wouldn’t pick up the phone, and it was getting close to pickup time. So we trekked back up the mountain to our room, and he was pulling up right as we arrived. Perfect timing. Slightly out of breath but well fed, we made our way to Delphi.
Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the entrance. There’s a museum at the start and the archaeological site after it, and you can choose which to visit first. We chose the site, because I figured it would really start to warm up, so doing the outdoor part first seemed smarter. Somehow, we ended up being the first people to walk into the site, so there was no one ahead of us, and we could really take in what we were walking through.
Incredible is all I can say. This temple was built in 330 BC, and the ancient energy was palpable. This was what we came to Greece for, and it was so worth it. Olivia loved it too. There were lots of cats wandering around, and it was so peaceful and quiet. Even just writing this and remembering it, I’m like, wow, I can’t believe we actually got to be there.
As we walked through the site, a part of me wondered if I had indeed had a past life there, or maybe my little Oracle, Olivia, had. I also know that sometimes the remembrance comes later, as an integrated understanding of the experience after the fact, so I didn’t push further into it. I truly just experienced the present moment as it was. And now that I’m writing this, maybe that was the whole point 😉
Lots of groups were starting to come in as we were walking back out, and I was super happy we got there when we did. Actually, I’m remembering now that I had asked the taxi to pick us up at 8, and he pushed it earlier to 7:30 because he had another job after us. What a blessing.
After we came out of the archaeological site, we had a small snack at the café and then went into the museum. It was quite busy by then, so we walked through briskly and headed for the exit. From there, we walked about 10 minutes into the small town of Delphi, found a little café, enjoyed some more snacks and waited for the KTEL bus we’d grown so fond of to take us back to Arachova.
We spent the afternoon resting in our room before wandering out for a truly excellent dinner at Kousoulto: spicy feta with pita, potatoes, and a meatball in Greek yogurt and tomato sauce. We were the only ones there with the very kind owner. It was my favorite sit-down meal in all of Greece.
After dinner, we walked into town and visited a beautiful church and the clock tower, and got a stunning view of everything built up the side of the mountain. On the way home, we found a grocery store and bought some grapes and bananas. The grapes were delicious. The bananas, not so much.
After Olivia fell asleep that night, I lay there in the quiet, took a breath and marveled at the quality of my life. Slow, peaceful and just super high quality. I felt then, and I feel now, that I am incredibly blessed.
The next morning, we headed down to the bus stop and boarded our last KTEL bus back to Athens. On the way, I checked how far the little coffee shop with Olivia’s favorite strawberry popsicles was from the bus stop. It was about 12 minutes by taxi and right next to the train to the airport, so I surprised her: we made one last popsicle run and then boarded the train to Athens airport.
And just like that, we were at the end of the Greece portion of our trip. For me, six days in Greece was perfect for this particular trip. I see myself going back someday soon to visit different places. What we did see was really special and beautiful, and I’m looking forward to next time!
Next, we headed to Bucharest. A 10:45 PM arrival at the airport got us to Gara de Nord at 11:30 PM, and if you know, you know 😅 If you don’t, I’ll write about it very soon.
And Romania is where a past life did come through, in a small town we weren’t even supposed to visit. It was less than glamorous, but it healed something between Olivia and me that I didn’t even realize was a thing.