Galaxidi, the quintessential Greek fishing village, is about a 3 hours’ drive west of Athens.We stayed there for the weekend to visit the Centre of the Earth, just 15 km away: Delphi.
It’s May, so there aren’t too many tourists in Delphi. This also means that we have to visit it without a guide (prebooking one is possible, but it’s way beyond our organizational capabilities). Instead, we rely on the panels scattered throughout the site, what we can glean from the visitors around us, a few pages printed from Wikipedia, and our vivid imaginations, fired by the beauty of the site and spirits in the air.
Here’s what we learn. Zeus wanted to find the centre of the Earth. So, he threw out two eagles to the far-flung corners of the Earth and waited for them to come back. Where they collided, perched high up on the side of the Mount Parnassus, Zeus decided, was the navel of Gaia, the Earth. Here, they founded a temple dedicated to Apollo, where the oracle Pythia would fall into a trance and rave prophesies. We all know how she got into her trance: it’s breathtaking up there, with views down to the Corinthian Gulf and up to the mountains where there are still patches of snow here and there. Greece is green and lush in the springtime and there are flowers everywhere. This can only be the Centre of the Earth.
The six peregrine falcons living at top of the St Nicolas Church in Galaxidi clearly thought otherwise, for the Centre of their World was the north tower, much to the distress of the local sparrows. We admired them on our way to dinner on the little port, to enjoy fresh Greek salad, garlicky tzatziki, and grilled calamari and shrimp, and crisp Greek Malagousia wine, at Zygos, the best restaurant in town (according to TripAdvisor, and we agree).
We stayed the Ganimede Hotel in Galaxidi, which is a charming little place near the centre of town. It stands out in many ways, but the best thing about Ganimede Hotel was their prize-winning breakfast. As hotel owner Chrisoula explained, she’s married to the village baker, and so breakfast included the best fresh bread, cakes and pastries, to which she adds homemade jams and lemon curd, tapenade and humous, feta and tomato chutney, and fresh fruit. All served in the courtyard, under the flowering olive tree.This was a breakfast at the Centre of the Universe.
Ganimede Hotel: http://www.ganimede.gr/english/welcome.htm
Breakfast at the Centre of the Universe by Sarah
source: http://frockfriday.co.uk/
