Delphi

Delphi is a small town once centered around an oracle, and now is centered around tourism. The entire town consists of hotels, restaurants, and souvenir shops in alternating order. Oh, and the Greek ruins. A single path leads sightseers past the museum, through the archaelogical site where old Delphi remains, then winds down through an ancient gymnasium and finally ending at the Sanctuary of Athena. So there's really not much to see here, since I really have just described the whole place, and no reason to stay more than a couple of hours except for the scenery (Delphi is in the side of a pretty high mountain).

Like all Greek museums, the Delphi museum was not large, nor did it contain anything of particular interest. I had the misfortune of going during a Greek holiday when the museum is free, so there were loads of people. It may also have been because it was rainy outside. I really lucked out with the weather though, usually Greece roasts during the day but on the day I went to Delphi the rain (very light) gave ample cloud cover and kept things cool.

The archaelogical site is the main attraction. The old city was about the size of a high school. It boasted an agora (Roman marketplace), treasuries that are kind of like small shrines, a stadium, an amphitheater, and the large Temple of Apollo where the oracle once was. Only one building has been somewhat rebuilt, the treasury of Athena, whose walls have the earliest known written music. Everything else is just rubble. A model in the museum of the city as it was makes it look fantastic, so when you actually get there the reality of the present is disappointing. What a difference 2500 years makes!

The Sanctuary of Athena is the show stealer. A good amount of the structure is standing, giving a good idea of its former grandeur. At least with this one it's easy to imagine what it looked like back in the day. So that's Delphi. I originally wanted to make a two-day trip to Olympia to see some more ruins, but now I am very glad that it didn't happen since it would have been much more effort and time than it would have been worth.