Trip to Delphi, Greece

Trip to Delphi, Greece

The Olympic torch is lit in Olympia, Greece several months before the winter Olympics. The winter Olympics which were to be played in February, 2014 in Sochi, Russia, the torch was lit in Olympia on October 7^th, 2013.  It was headed to Delphi where the  flame burns here only if it is for a few hours while it stopped there before it arrived in Athens.  Delphi is an archaeological as well as modern town in Greece. It is considered to be the center of the world.

The Olympic Flame

Unbeknownst about the olympics, we drove to Delphi on October, 8th. the uphill drive to Delphi took almost three hours from Athens through the beautiful countryside. The site itself was truly amazing. Apparently, there is a theatre and a stadium, but we did not get to walk up. We stopped with friends who were traveling with us at a café for coffee   and some refreshments and saw nature’s amazing spectacle from the window where we sat. Had coffee and relaxed.

When we were ready to leave, we were told that the Olympic Torch relay was passing right by where we were. We were excited and were ready to stay as long as we had to. But it was not long before we saw the relay passing right outside where the mayor of Delphi was waiting to receive the torch to do his run until he handed it over to the next torch bearers. We were ecstatic at once in a life time chance to be part of the unique and  historic occasion, and to record it personally.

Mayor of Delphi waiting to

It was an amazing piece of luck to actually be there where the torch relay began.  Since we were driving back to Athens where we were staying, we had the good luck to be able to see it a few more time when it was changing hands on its way to Athens.

The Olympic Games torch relay tradition began with the Olympic flame being lit by the sun’s rays at the ancient site of Olympia, after which the torch was passed from runner to runner until it reached the Olympic stadium in the host city.

Until 2009 the torch traveled through 5 continents until it reached the stadium where the game was going to be played. But rules were changed since then, and in 2013, after traveling through Greece, it went to Russia where it passed throughout Russia before it came to Sochi, host city for the games in February for the winter Olympics.

Mayor handing it over to another torch bearer

Next stop where the torch was to be handed over to next torch bearers.