Temperature – 30+ sweltering!
Weather – sunny and dry
We left Nafplion at 7.40am and arrived at Delphi at 7.15pm which represented a long day. We drove through the Arcadia Plains through the Messina Plains to the Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia.
We are learning so much information about the gods as our guide Kostos studied to become a priest. He normally conducts the religious tours following in the steps of St Paul and St John so we have been very fortunate to have him as our tour guide. One thing we have remarked on is that we would not have been this well informed if we had not done a tour – nor would we have accomplished so much! All guides have to go to a refresher course once per year to hear the latest information on excavations etc.
It took three hours to travel to Olympia with a small rest stop on the way. Amazingly, the Olympia site was run as a games site for over 1000 years and like today the games were held every four years. They were worried about doping in those days as well as athletes had to arrive at the site a month before competition so that their bodies were cleared of herbs.
The site is very impressive but sad to see so much decay. Up until the 1800’s the site was covered with clay and silt which prevented deterioration however the German archaeologists decided to leave it decay as nature intended after it was excavated. Unfortunately, the buildings were made of porous material and not marble.
Earthquakes and floods brought down this magnificent site after the 8th century AD.
We were surprised to see the Olympic stadium which is just as it was in ancient times: the spectators (all male) sat surrounding the running track on a grassy slope. The athletes used marble starting blocks which are still in place.
Olympia is a small town catering for the tourist. We dined at a local restaurant which was a welcome reprieve from the heat – we continued the process of sampling Greek food and rating the Greek salads…..a wide variety of quality here.
On our way from the Peloponnese to the mainland we drove over the magnificent Rion-Antirion Bridge. It is a huge suspension bridge 3kms long with pylons 160 metres above sea level. It has won many engineering awards and was completed in 2004. It actually came in on budget and built within timeframe which I felt deserved an award within itself!
Our journey continued tracing the exquisite coastline to Delphi. The houses nestled between tall mountains and a deep blue sea.
We are getting to know our fellow travellers who are an older age group. They are a completely fascinating and include two criminologists who advised for the program ‘Numbers’ and an elderly gentleman who worked at NASA. President Kennedy announced that they would land on the moon by the end of the decade and he commenced at NASA one year later. He is a lot of fun and he continues to work today (as does his wife) as he sees it as his way of avoiding mental health decline.
Our hotel was gorgeous and looked down on the plain below. A lovely wide verandah, clear skies, a view to die for and a balmy night made for a very pleasurable end to a wonderful day.
Cameron and David at the front of the Olympic Stadium standing on the marble starting blocks; the Rion-Antirion Brige; the altar at Olympia where the Olympic flame is lit every four years; The Temple of Zeus - the only columns which have been able to be re-erected.
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