Travel Vignette - Greece 1991

Morning in Delphi is beyond words and comprehension.  I never thought

that I'd be in this mystical place that I'd studied in Western Civ. 

Delphi in the morning mist. 

But, if you spend the money you can have just about any type of travel experience you want.  I chose an archaeological tour group.  Great choice!  Talk about pampering and being entertained.  We had the American tour guide making sure that all of our luggage made it to our rooms and that we had plenty of toilet and shopping stops, always huge plus in my book.            

Professor Stieglitz

Then we had the archaeology professor from Rutgers University to help make sense of all of the rubble we were visiting.  And, finally, our local Greek tour guide, Aphrodite.

Aphrodite in her magic pumps atop the ruins.

We're all a bit surprised and charmed at everyday people having names of Greek gods.  We swore that she had magic shoes because while we're all outfitted in our hiking boots and sturdy walking shoes and still find ourselves stumbling over boulders, Aphrodite merrily negotiates the toughest, rockiest, hilliest sites with the ease and grace of a mountain goat all while delightedly explaining the ruins to us.  It's a nerd trip, for sure.  We're all eating this stuff up.

Our group climbing yet another ruin.

I stepped outside our lovely hotel to enjoy the magical peace of the morning before our group gathers to explore the ruins at Delphi.  This is my first major overseas adventure since a college trip to Italy fourteen years ago.  It's May and the weather in Greece is perfect for exploring the many archaeological sites.  Plus, the wildflowers are blooming.  At this point, I don't care what's on the agenda I'm just happy to be here.

As I wander down the roadway I can see vista after vista of blue-grey mountains just showing some definition in the morning light and mist.  Being from flatland Texas I'm doubly happy to be here.  Wildflowers and weeds mingle their scents and colors.  Goat bells are tinkling on the slopes below.  I can't see the goats but I can hear them.  That's one thing about photos, they can't capture the sounds that are so much a part of making a place memorable.

A little further down the road there's one of the ubiquitous roadside shrines that have so fascinated us Americans.  Aphrodite tries to put a positive spin on them, saying that that's where something good happened.  Someone survived a car crash.  But we know differently.  Someone lost a loved one and the only way to assuage the pain and honor the memory is to construct a shrine where the event occurred.  This is a particularly nice one, a sturdy metal box with a cross on top.  It has the requisite plastic flowers and burnt out candles that we've become familiar with.  It gives me pause on this morning of feeling so good and being so fortunate.  All that can change in an instant.

I think about my family.  What would I do if my sister died in a car crash?  Not erect a shrine, surely.  I wouldn't even place flowers at the scene as is now becoming common in America.  No, I've got too much reserve for that.  But it's not just typical American reserve.  It's that sisters and souls and lives are so much more than this tragic moment.  No, I would honor her life, 

not her death.

I wandered back to our bus, a little more pensive but still elated at being here.