Our second to last night on the ship was a stormy one, but I thoroughly enjoyed the gentle rocking as we were drifting off to sleep. We even braved stepping out on deck just before the crew closed it to passengers and made us come inside. I wish we could have had more days at sea besides the land ports-of-call. Cruises are definitely opulent experiences, but I definitely appreciate being out on the open sea more than the decadence.

There are people whose only travel experiences are frequent cruises, which is curious to me. It may seem like they are seeing the world but it’s a very touristic view. You are shown the parts of a country that are most attractive and not necessarily how the average person lives.

Today’s excursion involved a 2.5 hour bus trip into the mountains to Delphi, where we visited the ruins of Apollo’s temple. It was here that prophesies and wisdom were delivered by a priestess called an oracle. The temple was built about 300-400 BC. A theater presented music, athletic and other performances.

The surrounding mountains added to the grandeur of the antiquities. A museum at the site depicted more than I could have imagined about what it must have looked like in its active era. While it’s a bit overwhelming to take in all this ancient history, my takeaway is that this is the birthplace of so much of what westerners base our systems of democracy and philosophy on.

A few more days in Athens will round out our ancient Greece knowledge. This was just a sampling of this fascinating history.