George A. David and Marina Spiropoulos Fellows Award: The Cats of Delphi...and more! :)

This past weekend CYA took us on a short, yet absolutely marvelous field trip to the small city/town of Delphi, Greece. Having not known much before the trip, I was really excited to be visiting a place where people would ask questions to an Oracle who could foresee the future.

The school divided the students up into two buses to make things more manageable once we arrived at the sites. The ride to Delphi took about 2 hours, but first we made a stop to the Ossios Loukas Monastery. Professor Kotoula, my Byzantine Art and Architecture teacher, guided us through the old monastery and explained to us all the cultural significance behind the church. What I found the most interesting of the Ossios Loukas Monastery was the bottom chamber, where we saw figures on the wall with their eyes carved out. I had learned in class that messing up the structure of the face alone was the greatest way to reject or show disrespect towards an icon in a church. Seeing that really reflected the tensions that occurred between the groups who tried to have power in the church. After our visit, we had a quick picnic lunch provided by the school at the monastery. Unfortunately it was super misty so our view wasn’t spectacular, but I was super hungry and will eat food whenever and wherever.

When we arrived to Delphi, the weather didn’t get any better. It was super rainy and we were told that the archaeological sites of Delphi would be extremely muddy. We decided to just relax in the hotel for the rest of the day and grab dinner. We also saw beautiful Greek cats during this trip! They are soooo adorable and my love for cats has increased since this trip. After dinner, the girls I was sharing a hotel with and I just decided to watch Greek soap operas and were impressed by how much we could understand after only being in Greece for two 2 months!

The next day we rose up bright and early at 7 am. Luckily, the hotel provided us with breakfast and I reenergized myself with croissants, eggs and fruit. We visited the lower archaeological site at Delphi first. There we saw a temple dedicated to Athena and there was also a surrounding gymnasium. Every time I visit one of these temples, I am always blown away by how much man-power was put into the works I am witnessing and the durability of these structures. Next, we climbed our way up to the upper archaeological site in Delphi and saw the temple of Apollo, as well as a grand stadium. We also saw where people made their sacrifices to the Oracle! Of course I knew there were a queue of wishes waiting to be granted, but I asked the Oracle my question anyways. I hope he heard it! J

We finished the field trip off by going to a nearby town called Arachova. It was super beautiful and it was the first time I had ever witnessed a snow-covered mountain top! Greece continues to make me fall in love with it every time I visit. I don’t know how I’m going to go back home!

Enjoy the pictures J