Walking with the Gods

Today was an amazing experience.  We took a day trip to Delphi and on the way stopped at a monastery which was gorgeous and very peaceful.  In our reading yesterday we learned about how Enoch rose up and walked with the gods.  That is what I did today.  


We woke around 6am and got ready, sleepy but all excited to be going somewhere today, mixing it up a bit.  We played music in our room to get going since it was bright and early.  We all scampered onto the bus a little before 7am, snuggling into our seats ready for a day of adventure.  First we had to leave the city of Athens behind us and then we began to travel through the countryside, snow-topped mountains towering on both sides as we stopped at a gas station to get some sustenance before heading to the monastery.  

Walking into the monastery is an experience in itself.  You begin by descending down multiple flights of marble and stone stairs, gazing into the valley below as well as the mountains opposite of you.  Then you are welcomed into their world by entering an archway to the main church itself which was built over 1000 years ago.  Entering it you see marble around the base of the walls and the mosaic and gold imagery at the top representing the entry way where the earthly world meets the heavenly world.  This too was like walking with the gods as you make your way further into the church it becomes more holy.  They even had the mummified body of man that founded the monastery in the church itself for all to see.  

After this we made our way up to Delphi to see the Temple of Apollo, the theater, the Treasury of Athens, the stadium, the Temple of Athena, and the Tholos.  All of which were incredible to see.  We walked the path that Greeks would walk many years ago leading up to the oracle where they could get advice.  People would make incredible offerings to Apollo, some of which still sit in their same places today.  Hiking up that path that people would make to pay homage to their gods was an enlightening and interesting experience as you got to see the amazing things that they gave to their gods and you got to try to understand how special it must have felt to speak to the oracle and receive wisdom or insight into the future.  

Later we made our way to the Delphi Museum where we got to see some of the other objects that were given to the gods as well as other parts of previous temples that are now only in pieces.  We walked down to the Temple of Athena and admired that and the Tholos for a bit before heading back to the city of modern Delphi which is a ski resort type of place and having dinner.  All in all it was a successful, enlightening, impressive, and great day.  So great in fact that it was almost like walking among the gods.