Delphi One-Day Tour (Site of the Delphic Oracle)

Surrounding Athens, you will find lots of mountains! In winter, it is not difficult to see snow capped mountains like the one below... We were on our way to Delphi on a tour coach to discover some new ruins... hahahaha...

At the countryside, away from the city, is where you find peace and lovely sights of the nature... I am sure if we were driving on our own, we will take forever to reach Delphi, as we will probably just make a stop every now and then to take pictures. hahahah... Delphi is about 2 and half hours drive from Athens (if the traffic is good, and there is no jam). Quite worth visiting, as you will pass by small towns that are very traditionally "Greek". hahahahaha...

On our way to Delphi, we stopped over this town, Arachova, which is a beautiful small town on the hills, with nice houses that resembles little castles... (imagination will help... hahahah... check it out below)

A bright sunny day, in the town of Arachova! Once again, you see houses built on slopes yah?! ahhaha... I think Greeks like to climb lah... hee... Keeps them slim from the usual meaty and oily diet probably. :)

There you go again, lovely background, casting the nice houses against the blues skies...

Imagine... Castles... of Harry Potter... hahaha... flying past the mountains... sitting on your broom... hee... Sounds witchy...



Just catching a shot with this bright little yellow house. Wish it was mine!!! Can you imagine, staying in it, sitting on the balcony, and overlooking the rest of the world??! I will be singing "I'm on top of the world looking down on creation... and the only explanation I can find... is the love that I've found ever since you've been around..." And that explains why Kevin is posing with the house yah?! Because his love puts me at the top of the world, anytime... :)

The one and only main road that leads in and out of the town of Arachova. Yes, no joke, only one road... so you can imagine, how squeezy it can be if there were a lot of traffic, especially on weekends, where Athenians would come for a short break..


Nice local shops, selling their local products... i.e. rugs, mats, embroidery, etc.


A shot taken while leaving the town on the tour coach... Seeing the world with "tainted" eyes... hee...


Hey, here we are! Arrival in Delphi and into the historial site; ruins of the Omphalos (Navel) of the Ancient world.

After some time, every ruins you visit, you will find remains of pillars everywhere. :)


And as we climb up the historical site, you will find a beautiful picturesque of the mountains... I think the most often seen colour since we arrived in Greece, is Blue! The skies are just so blue...


Kevin made me sit on this big stone (well look-alike) thingy to take a picture... If the park attendant had seen me on their ruins, I could be whistled at to come down lor! ahhahah... like police catch thief... hee...


Artistic shot by Kevin... Give him credit... I think it is quite nice! hehehe... with the sun shining down on the pillars of the ruins... of the Temple of Apollo...


And not forgeting the typical shot of the couple beside the pillars of Temple of Apollo! Hahahah...

On our way climbing up... Trust me, after some time, I had to ask Kevin to go ahead first without me.. while i slowly climb like an old lady... hahahaha... what to do? There was no sedan chair for people to carry me up mah?! hahahahahhaha... And wait till you see, after all that climb, what was there to see??? heehee..


Delphi, Ancient Theatre. This was worth the effort to see... It is lovely to view it from the top... quite grand! imagine if you were there in the past, like a warrior!!! Standing in the center and having the world theatre of people cheering and clapping for you?! "Song" (hokkien: feeling good) right?


And... this is what you see after climbing to the top! hahahahah.. the stadium from the past... just like our running track in Singapore... hahahah...


On our way down... see, after the climb, though the weather was cold, we were perspiring already, and Kevin had to take out his jacket... hee...


My attempt at an artistic shot! hahahah... Even if the shot isn't good, please say the model is good! hahahhahaha...

The Treasury of Athens... It has been reconstructed since.. and that's why looks so complete... :)

Artifacts in the museum of Delphi...


This is a bronze statue, and you can see from the picture behind, showing how it should be when it was a complete whole...


This is how narrow the roads can be as we were leaving Delphi...


Before we leave, some final shots of the sun setting... and just look at the clouds...

Lovey-dovey... you haven't seen us fight?!!! hahahahah... especially when Shanshan likes to bite! ahhahahah.. rhyme yah?! not bad leh...


I really think it is amazing how the houses are built like that... but they just make into such a pretty sight on the mountains...


"If God is the DJ, then Life is the dance floor; Love is the rhythm, and You are the music." - Anonymous


Stop saying life is not fair, life is bad... It really is how we make it beautiful... :)


"brewn.. brewn..." hahahah.. The owner of a restaurant has this 4 wheeler bike, and Kevin must climb on it to take a picture! ahahaha... oh, by the way, even in Athens city, we saw motorbikes with four wheels (not as big as this one of course!), or sometimes even three wheels (like those of a trishaw)... not bad leh, you don't have to balance, and just ride... hahahaha... too bad i don't have a bike license...

Our Newly Renovated Home in Athens

The living room! Special highlights - Kevin chose the lights from IKEA here and "design" to have it hung like that... Hehehe, looks pretty nice in the evening when they light up! But Kevin is saying, the TV looks small.. hahahaha.. of course, compared to our Shanghai's 52 inch TV, what is this???!!! After they repainted the entire living area, the house looks newer...


The dining table, which we shifted into the living/dining area... so we can watch our TV while having our meals! hehehe... Shanshan's favourite hobby!


Another perspective of the dining table, with the fireplace at the side... And of course, our foldable bikes at the background. hehehe... it is too cold to ride now lah... But wonder if it will be safe for me to ride here too, as the Greeks' driving habits can be scary... hehehe... wait till you see how impatient the drivers here are!

The study table next to the fireplace, behind the living area. We thought it will be good to place the work area here, so Kevin can still do his work, while watching TV and keeping me company somehow... hehehe... but trust me, i use this area more than he does. Isn't that where i am typing all these now?!! hee... :)


The entrance area, where we hang our coats and jackets, and the shoe cabinet at the side. And you see those streaming lines of decor from the doorway? Hehehe, that marks the entrance into all the bedrooms... After we hung the decor, then realised how troublesome it can be, getting in and out, with all those things smacking in your face! ahahahha...


The corner beside our kitchen, which is another dining area actually. But we made it into this oriental corner, so when guests come, we shall have steamboat sitting on the floor yah? hahahah..


The kitchen view - picture taken standing at the oriental corner. The kitchen definitely looks warm and nice after the renovations, compared to the dirty stained kitchen before that.


Close up of my "work" area. hahahaha... Not exactly easy to do my cooking here, as you can't get that many Chinese ingredients here either.. And when you can get them, it will probably be ridiculously expensive. Oh, for your info, there was once, we ordered plain steam rice in an Asian eatery shop, it is 2 Euros, for a bowl of steam rice!!!! And that is 4 dollars sing!!! For plain rice!!!! Now you know how exotic our Asian food can be in an "ang moh" country!

One Day Cruise - Three Islands: Poros, Hydra, Aegina

Athens One Day Cruise - Covering 3 islands: Poros, Hydra and Aegina. Here we go! The cruise costs 93 Euros per person, and comes with lunch (three course meal: Appetizer, Salad, Main Course. Drinks pay separately on your own). But our advice is, you spend so much time on board than on the islands, so rather buy a ferry ticket to the island and venture on your own at leisure time...

On board the cruise! Wind was pretty strong. Weather was not exactly very good, a little cloudy that day, but still, a nice breeze!

Sitting and relaxing on board the ship... after awhile, the breeze got us sleepy, and we just found a table to lay our heads down for a nap! hahahhaa... coz' it took almost 2 hours to reach the first island... Poros...

Arrival at Poros, a pretty small island... Kevin trying to anchor the ship... yah right?! hahaha...

Pondering in Poros - trying to act demure... hahahah... fail big time! But it is certainly lovely and tranquil to just sit by the waters and feel the breeze in your face... :)

Nice cafes along the waters... Good chill out place... You will find Greeks sitting and drinking, munching on their meats probably... hahahah...

And you will find many yachts parked by the docks... And the water was clear enough for me to see the fishes below... nice!!!

Classic pose! hahahah... of who?! our dear fren... when you see this, you know yah?! hee...


The nice Greek white houses... For those who thinks my house looks like that? Sorry, my house not situated in the islands... hahaha... city houses not so romantic ok?! ahahaha...



Wish it was my vacation chalet!!! But for your info, i can't imagine how the greeks got to climb up to their houses everyday. Coz' the houses are all built on hills, so if you stay on the top, you got to climb flights of stairs up...

Alright, last pose before we return to the ship and move on to the second island, Hydra. :) Just love these houses on the islands... wonder how it looks like on the inside...

On board the ship and moving closer to Hydra... hehe.. this island has no transportation, except donkeys! hahahah.. it is the trademark of this island...

Look at how the houses are built on the slopes...


There we are now!!! Hydra!

It was getting colder as the evening draws nearer... Hydra is a bigger island than Poros, so you can find more cafes and tourist shops. But as mentioned, no transportation like cars on this islands, except donkeys... hehehe...


Kevin's try at an artistic shot! hehehe, everything is ok, except the model right?! ok, i got it!



Backpacker look - Kevin... Leaving his footsteps in the world...


This Greek man fishing beside the high walls bordering the coasts caught our attention... hehehe... And he caught this funny fish, which he said would make good fish soup for the night... hahaha... and you see below how he tries to remove the fishing hook from the fish's mouth...

Hook it out!!! The man was joking with us, how it looks like he was performing operation for the fish... hahahah.. looks more like torturing the fish before its last breath...

Back onto the ship and heading for the last island, Aegina... The sun was setting, and it was a lovely sight with seagulls flying over the sea... If only, Kevin re-proposed again! hahahahah... I will still say "yes"... Of course lah, coz' it is never where you propose or how you propose that matters... it is WHO propose that matters!


Closing up on the island of Aegina... This island has lots of olive trees and pistachios plantations. Aegina exports pistachios to other parts of Greece... Thy are famous for their nice pistachios, which we tried and it is nice! Tasted different from what we usually eat, not sure if it is the roasting method, or probably the soil of Greece gave it a different touch! hehehe...


Ruins on the island of Aegina.. Ancient Temple of Aphaia. This structure came even before the Acropolis.

Kevin posing at the Ancient Temple of Aphaia - backview of it. It is on top of a hill, whereby you can see the island of Aegina from above, and the seas behind...

Church of Saint Nectarios - a beautiful Byzantine architecture...



On the inside of the church...


Well, farewell Aegina in the evening... We couldn't see more as the ship was departing already.
We will be back on our own again! :) It is just about an hour plus away from Athens by ship only. Many Greeks from Athens have houses in Aegina, such that they will come for a break during weekends or summer time.