Delphi

If you have never been to Delphi, you should definitely make plans for
going someday. We went there the day before yesterday, and it still
boggles my mind. It was absolutely amazing. To think that these huge
stone structures had been there for over 2000 years! The people who
built these must have been very determined and patient to be able to
erect this place ever so slowly over decades of hard labor. The
sanctuary of Apollo must have been an awesome sight all those hundreds
of years ago. I really wish I could have seen it. However, there are
several things that I learned about while I was there. One was that the
Oracle of Delphi was actually in the Temple of Apollo, not in it's own
special structure. Also, the common idea that the Oracle was a circular
building with many pillars around the outside is wrong. That is the
Tholos in the Sanctuary of Athena. Another interesting tidbit is that in
addition to being delirious off of the gasses of the Oracle, the Oracles
themselves were also chewing up fresh bay leaves. This leaves some
question as to the accuracy of their predictions. A strange test was
also performed to determine whether the gods were willing to give the
Oracle predictions. A goat was sacrificed, but cold water was poured on
the goat right before. If the goat shivered, the gods were willing. I
know, that means that the gods were willing pretty much every day,
except if they had a pretty hardy goat. I don't know where they
sacrificed the goat, the Temple was pretty collapsed. I had a great time
at Delphi, and look forwards to a great time in Athens.

--Orion Date