The Gulf of Corinth

The large body of water that separates northern or mainland Greece from the southern part (Peloponnese) is comprised of two gulfs – Gulf of Patras which is westerly and empties into the Ionian Sea, and the Gulf of Corinth which terminates at the Corinth Canal at the eastern end.  There is a narrow strait which separates the two Gulfs, and this is the location of the Rion-Andiron bridge.  Interestingly, due to the land formations around these two gulfs, the weather can be remarkably different from east to west and even within each gulf itself, as we were to find out the next day.

Galaxidhi from our anchorage

The stadium at Delphi

The view from Delphi looking down onto Itea and the harbour

The view from Delphi overlooking the mountains and the valleys

The amphitheatre at Delphi

Dining by the sea at Itea

We woke early after a good night’s sleep and seeing a favourable forecast, continued our way eastwards towards Itea, our intended stop for the next two nights.  We had looked at going into Galaxidhi, a much smaller town, but wanted to rent a car to drive to Delphi (a remarkable historic site) and this is only possible in Itea.  As we set out, the wind picked up from the west and so we were able to hoist the mainsail almost straight away, which is unusual for that time of the morning.  Using only the main, we sped along with the wind continuing to build – we had not heard the radio weather forecast that morning (for some reason we had no reception in the Gulf of Corinth for any of the Olympia Radio weather transmissions) but had looked on our usual weather apps and it seemed like we were due for some Beaufort 4-5 with possible 6 later.  By the time we rounded the cape to enter the large bay where both Galaxidhi and Itea are situated, the wind was blowing 30 knots consistently with stronger gusts and the seas were picking up as well.  As the wind was blowing from the west-northwest, and Itea is situated on the west side of the bay we soon realised that there was no way we would be able to safely get into the harbour and tie up.  Galaxidhi is on the western side of the bay and so we chose to go into a bay nearby and anchor in about 3 metres of water.  The wind continued to pound all day and most of the night with gusts reaching 50 knots!  Luckily our trusty Rocna anchor held fast, and although Bisou danced around in the wind, we stayed put.  It was much to windy to go ashore and since we didn’t have any reason to go (other than to have a look around) we stayed on Bisou and passed the time reading and cleaning up.  We are still not sure why we experienced such high winds where we were (we later found out that other boats in the area also experienced strong winds but less than 40 knots and mostly about 30-35knots), but it could possibly have been a katabatic phenomenon, although there was no mention of this possibility in the pilot guide.

The next morning was like a brand new day – it dawned clear, calm and the temperature was rising fast.  I hadn’t mentioned it earlier, but while the weather had been lovely up until now (mostly sunny but with more clouds and potential rain/thunderstorms than we had experienced this time last year), it had not been terribly warm.  Daytime temperatures of about 25-28C and nighttime temperatures down to 16-18C were the norm and I was still sleeping with a blanket AND doona!  I know, I’m the world’s biggest wuss when it comes to being cold!  Suddenly this was to change – not the wuss part, the temperature part – and it happened so suddenly, that everyone in Greece was taken by surprise (both cruisers and locals).

We motored across to Itea (about an hour) and tied up in their ‘marina’ (another beautiful concrete construction but with no facilities, and consequently no cost!) with the help of Anya, and lovely Dutch lady on “Giggles” a yacht behind us.  At 8am the temperature was already up to 30C and we were in for a hot day – I took a quick walk into town to find out about a car rental and discovered that we could hire a taxi to drive us up to Delphi, wait, and bring us back for Euro 70.  This seemed like rather a good deal so I headed back to the boat and came across a Canadian-flagged yacht with two guys on board, that had just tied up.  We chatted for a bit and found out that they were interested in heading to Delphi as well and so agreed to share the taxi fare.  We prepared ourselves quickly as we wanted to get up and see the site before it got too hot.

Our taxi driver was Spiros (of course) and, like many Greek drivers, wanted to show us how fast he could go.  The road to Delphi from Itea is a good one – wide, well-paved and with a few sharp turns but not many. The way out of Itea is lined with olive groves (3 million trees according to Spiros) and then you head up the mountain and look back over the trees and the sea –quite stunning.  Delphi is not far (there is a bus but it seems irregular so we opted for the taxi), about 22km and we arrived at the site within about 15 minutes.  Ticket booths are located both at the museum and the archaeological site (the ticket price of EUR 12 per person covers both the site and the museum), and it’s best to get there early for both crowds and temperature.  We reached the site by 10am and there were already a couple of bus loads of tourists, but the site is well spread out so that we never felt crowded. 

Delphi is located in the cleft of a mountain and has a spectacular view over a valley.  You cannot quite see the sea from here but the beautiful pine forests and the craggy cliffs above give the place a mystical feel and this is no doubt why the ancients decreed this to be the ‘navel’ of the world.  Of course Delphi is most renowned for the oracle, a woman who chewed laurel leaves, fell into a trance and muttered gibberish for the priests to interpret, thus answering ‘important’ questions posed by everyone from rulers to noble families (the common person would not have had the money to pay for a ‘reading’).  The site itself is on a fairly steep hill and although the paths are nicely paved with marble (leftover pieces of the buildings?), I imagine they would be very slippery if wet; in addition, the climb to the top and from there to visit the stadium (well worth it, by the way) gets the heart pumping.  It’s not for the disabled or anyone who cannot walk unaided.  There’s not much shade either, until you get up towards the stadium so bring a hat and LOTS of water to drink – fortunately the authorities who set up the site for visitors thought to put toilet facilities both at the archaeological site as well as near the museum.

The amphitheatre is quite spectacular as is the Temple of Apollo (where the oracle did her ‘thing’) and we used my Kindle version of the Lonely Planet Guide to Greece for a guide – not comprehensive but at least covered the basics.  Of course visiting these places with a tour group and a ‘proper’ guide is another way to get more information but we enjoy the liberty of independence.

The museum is very well laid out and well-labelled; of course many of the finds from the site are now in the museum in Athens but there is still a good collection at Delphi.  The area was also home to an ancient gymnasium as well as local deity worship and therefore a pilgrimage destination in ancient times so must have been quite a thriving town.  The stadium held the Pythian Games every 4 years and is quite stunning, laid out in the only flat part of the whole area.

Our taxi driver kindly stopped at a lovely lookout on the way back to Itea in order for us to snap some great views down to the harbour.  He also gave us a great tip for dinner – a restaurant at which he used to work before becoming a taxi driver – with tables set on the beach! 

Tad took the opportunity for a nice siesta in the afternoon (it reached 33C) while I found a nearby beach and went for a swim and a lie on the hot stones.