Day 18 - Kalambaka to Delphi

Today was a good day, we did a lot of driving but we saw some really cool stuff. We started up by driving up to Meteora, which is home to some pretty wild rock formations that have a bunch of monasteries and convents on top of them. We visited the monastery of the Holy Trinity (part of James Bond, For Your Eyes Only was filmed there,) and St. Anthony's monastery, which has nuns, not monks.

(The mountains that the monasteries are on top of. Holy Trinity is on the rock to the far left.)

(Holy Trinity is on the right.)

The views were pretty incredible, Holy Trinity was pretty small, I'm not sure how many monks it can hold, but it can't be very many. St. Anthony's was bigger, and it looked a little more comfortable than Holy Trinity, I'm sure that is due to the women's touch. Holy Trinity had a better view though. The monks and the nuns asked that we not take pictures so i dont' have any to show from inside either monasteries or pictures of the views of their "backyards." And I don't think I can do justice if I try to describe them, so I'll just have to keep those memories to myself (at least until some of the people who decided to take pictures anyway forward some to me.)

After the monasteries we went to an icon factory/souvenir shop. They showed us how they make icons and then they try to get us to buy them. I like the artwork on some icons so I was planning on buying one if I found one I liked, and I did find one I liked, so I got it. I also got a really cool Greek vase that I hope I will be able to find a partner for before I leave Greece.

Emily, you will be interested to know how they make the paint for the icons. They mix natural powders with egg yoke and vinegar (I think it's vinegar) and then they paint that on a cotton, gesso canvas. Then they put the canvas on a wooden base and add gold leaf and stuff like that.

Our last stop today was Thermopylae, it's the battle ground where the Persians and the Spartans fought. If anyone wants to read a fantastic book that is based around it, read Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. It's a novel, but it's pretty accurate and it's a great read.

(The monument to the Spartans at Thermopylae)

The monument to the Spartans has a giant statue of Leonidas the Spartan king who led the 300 Spartans and the other 3700 Greeks against the Persians. The gates of Thermopylae were about 60 feet wide and the Greeks held off 250,000 (modern guess) Persians for two days. On the third day the Greeks were betrayed by a shepherd who led about 20,000 Persian infantry on a mountain trail around the gates, behind the Greeks. When the Greeks realized that they were betrayed they sent most of the Greek troops home, 1000 stayed to hold off the Persians as long as they could. The law of Sparta was that everyman who went to Thermopylae must fight to the death, so all 300 of the Spartans remained. After the other Greeks retreated, the remaining 1000 charged the Persian army that was waiting beyond the "hot gates" (translation of Thermopylae) to kill as many as they could. The Greeks fought until they didn't have any spears left, then Leonidas was killed. After that the remaining Greeks retreated to the hill of Kolonus, where they could fight from high ground. Herodotus says that those that still had swords fought with them, the rest fought with hands and teeth. Eventually the Persians killed them all with arrow fire. The Greeks were all buried on the hill of Kolonus where they fell.

(The hill of Kolonus)

There is a grave stone on top of the hill that can be translated into something like this:

Go tell the Spartans, Stranger passing by,

That here, obedient to their laws we lie.

(The gravestone on top of Kolonus. There was a wreath and a fresh rose on top of it.)

All in all a little over 1000 Greeks died. About 20,000 Persians were killed.

There is an inscription under Leonidas' Statue as well. It is a quote of his from the battle. Before the fighting started the Persian emissary came to Leonidas and gave him the terms of surrender that Xerxes, the Persian king, was offering. The emissary ended by telling Leonidas and the Spartans to lay down their arms. Leonidas simply replied, "Come and take them," which is only two words in Greek. Those two words are inscribed under his statue, Molon Labe.

Well, that's it for today, Tomorrow we're going to Delphi and then on to Athens. Until tomorrow, thanks for reading.