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Greece Day 3:

Early wake up, bright morning in Athens, ready to pack up and check out of the King Jason Hotel. We had another delicious Greek breakfast and boarded the bus to begin our day. We left Athens and headed off to Chalkida. It was about an hour and a half bus ride and we arrived at a synagogue in Chalkida. The Jewish Community of Chalkida is small; in the synagogue we visited there are 54 members. Now there are 51 kivunim-ers and 5 staff members. That is more people than their synagogue community and they said when we filled the synagogue it was the first time they’d seen so many young Jews in one place at the same time. We heard about the history of their community. The Chalkida Jewish community is claimed to be the oldest Jewish community in Europe. The Jews came there after the first temple was destroyed with the Phoenicians and the Phoenicians went somewhere else and the Jews stayed in this area. The synagogue we sat in was the “newer” synagogue, even though it was built in 1845. They tried to build the synagogue similarly to the older one, which had been burned down. There were four pillars in the synagogue that were from the older building that they had saved. To build the new synagogue a rich lady had funded it all because she thought it was important. During the Holocaust the Archbishop encouraged his community to save Jews, which meant risking their lives for total strangers. The Archbishop also hid the Torahs from the community in his church so the Torahs they have in their community today are 200 years old. He was an incredible hero to the Jews. After the synagogue we went to visit the Jewish cemetery and the Holocaust memorial. The holocaust memorial is very unique because not only does it honor the victims, but as well honors the Archbishop as a hero.

            After the morning we had lunch on the coast, which was beautiful. We took lots of pictures on the waters then headed off to Delphi, where we’ll be staying. The ride was about 3 hours and I had a really nice conversation with Aimee. We stopped right before we got into the town and got out to see the most incredible view of all these mountains and the town and of course took more pictures. It was absolutely majestic.

            As we drove through the town I was so content. I could’ve stayed there forever. This was the Greece I was waiting to see. It was so quaint and adorable and I saw beehives on a hill, so I knew I could really stay. Tonight we are having dinner here and staying at a hotel owned by our guide, Penny. We take up the whole hotel and 16 of us are staying at another hotel because there isn’t enough room. Talk about Kivunim taking over Greece. It’s been a long day, but really nice and I wish we were staying in Delphi for longer at this hotel, especially cause I’m rooming with Naomi and we just love each other a lot.  Laila Tov From Delphi.

 

Greece Day 4:

            Naomi and I woke up from a lovely slumber to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, starting our day off right with some abdominal exercises. We had breakfast in Delphi and then set off to visit Apollo’s temple and the site of the Oracle. Our guide was named Penny and she was a really good speaker. We got to the site and it is absolutely majestic. It’s up on this ginormous mountain and you can see all these ancient artifacts. The higher you climb, approaching the temple, the amphitheater and the stadium the more mountain and view of Delphi you can see. It is beyond incredible. Definitely one of the most beautiful places I’ve been in my life.

            The city of Delphi is 5000 years old and there is a lot still preserved of Apollo’s temple. Apollo was known to be the perfect human. Apollo was the last god and the god of humanity, which is why Apollo was known as the witness of slave’s liberation and why the people respected Apollo so much. The site of the Temple to the people of Delphi is called the Oracle in contrast to how Americans think of the Oracle as being a person. The person we think of as the Oracle the Greeks think of as being the intermediary. At the temple site of Apollo all of the city-states had their treasuries, which was basically free publicity because it was records of their accomplishments. It was a main center to the Greeks and for many reasons. There is this huge amphitheater where they had plays and a stadium for their sporting events. It was absolutely beautiful looking out over the mountain and there were these beautiful dandelions everywhere. I happened to be wearing the headband Talin got me which is yellow with a floral design and everywhere I went the yellow of the flowers kept catching my eye. Adam Winer helped me do a themed photo set of the flowers.

            After we walked around we went to the museum that had artifacts that had been restored. They were really interesting and very stereotypical Greek looking. For example when you look in a history book or think of Greek architecture of sculpting that is exactly what was in the museum. All of the items at one point had been a part of the temple site.

            When we finished looking through the museum we headed back to the modern town of Delphi for some rainy lunch. The weather here is cold and off and on rain all the time. We had another picnic lunch then headed off on a long drive to Kalampaka, which is where we are staying tonight. It was a very long drive and of course I got nauseous, but we’re here. It’s a very small town with not much to do, but very beautiful. We had a nice dinner together and are free for the night. Naomi and I are rooming together again tonight I think tonight would be a good night to get a lot of sleep. Sleep Tight from Kalampaka.