Today our destination is Olympia with what we thought was a normal 115 mile drive. Over the last few weeks we have come to know that when traveling the back country roads, our speed doesn’t often exceed 35mph. So we knew today’s drive would be long. What we didn’t realize was that it would become an utterly breath-taking one!
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| As we traversed the mountains, we sometimes were above the clouds! So beautiful. |
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| Here we are at a rest stop with more great views. |
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| This road was pretty narrow. I am so glad the leader is in front clearing the way, warning us of danger! |
The tour leader, Deiter, went first- warning us of on-coming vehicles or of rocks that had tumbled down onto the road. Most often when vehicles saw him coming, they would pull over and allow the rest of us to squeeze past. This method gave us the confidence of knowing the” coast was clear” as we marveled at the mountain views, or quaintness of the tiny villages nestled into the hillsides. Where people parked their cars in these villages, I could not guess.
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| A beautiful town that we wished we could stop at, but we could not see a place to park, not even for a car! |
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| The prized sculpture of Hermes. The perfect body was rubbed with olive oil to make it look like marble! I would have loved that job! |
We had a couple of hours until our private tour of Ancient Olympia mostly known for the place that the first Olympic Games were held. It actually, I found, was much more. Olympia was a national shrine for the Greeks (and later for the Romans as well) and is where archaeologists found many treasures of Greek history, such as temples, monuments, altars, a theater, statues and votive offerings of brass and marble.
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| This were the actual, honest- to- goodness front of an acient building. I can not believe, although some statues are in pieces, what great condition this is in! |
At 3PM we all met and took taxi’s that drove us down the hill to Olympia at break-neck speed, flying around the blind corners as they passed other taxi’s rushing up the hill. I actually wanted to kiss the ground when I safely exited the taxi.
Our tour guide spent several hours with us, explaining the history and myths of ancient Greece as we walked through an incredible museum. What I loved most was that everything in there was the real, actual historic artifact. Some more than 5000 years old! Most were in very good condition.
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| It was said that sculptures have never been able to produce such perfect replicas of man ever since these were made |
This day, this place is probably one of my top 3 so far. There are probably many reasons why; the biggest reason was the fact that we had this magnificent place practically to ourselves. Going in the late afternoon after the crowds were gone, gave us an almost “intimate” feel with the gods of yesteryear.
As I stood among the columns still standing after thousands of years and felt the original clay-ribbed floor of the training area under my feet, the late afternoon shadows filtering through the trees, tears filled my eyes as emotions overwhelmed me. Wow.! I felt so fortunate to be able to be here, having such an incredible time, with new and wonderful friends, at this point in my life!
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| Outside in the original Olympic Stadium. We were told an earthquake had destroyed the ancient buildings, but my research revealed that it may have been caused by tsunamis. Either way, what a shame! |
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| Our tour guide holds up a rendition of what it looked like originally, which really helped us visualize. |
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| The original Olympic tunnel that the athletes ran through as they came out to compete. Just like they do now, running outof the dugout! Beyond is the original, untouched field where in 2004 Olympics (there in Athens ) the shot-put competition was held. Can you imagine how awesome that would be to compete on the very dirt ancient Olympians fist competed? |
We listened to our tour guide as we watched dogs running wild and playing with each other.
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| The talent of the sculptures just blows me away! |
After we walked around we took a taxi (this guy did not have a death wish) and returned to the campsite to have the arranged group dinner.
There was a lovely family of 4 camping next to us in a much smaller van. The husband, an ER doctor from Oregon, was taking the year off with his wife and two daughters 13, and 11 to travel the world! What an incredible experience for them! They also have a blog,
If you want to see what they are up to,
That evening, after a traditional Greek meal, a folk dance group of 4 entertained us as they sang and danced in costume and encouraged us to join them.
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| This professional dance team was hired to perform for us. They also taught us, and other campers, how to dance a few traditional Greek folk dances. |
