We left our hotel in Olympia (The Olympia Palace) at 9:00
a.m. We got to sleep in until at 7:30
wake up call which was nice. However,
why are the beds to low to the ground around here? We first visited the archaeological site of
Olympia which includes the Temple of Zeus (or what is left of it), the altar of
the Olympic flame and the stadiums (we also viewed the training areas – for both
men and women!). It boggles my mind trying
to figure out how in the heck these people were able to construct these massive
engineering marvels with what they had available ( hich was basically slave
labor). The bases for the pillars alone
are massive and to see how they fit each together is amazing (let alone trying
to figure out how they got them to align, etc.). The museum here is well worth the visit as it
contains many replicas (and originals) of ancient Grecian and Roman statues,
pottery, armory, etc. If you visit, do
it in the morning! We then drove
through Patras to Rion, across the channel of a state of the art suspension
bridge. We stopped for lunch at a nice
place conveniently called the Touris Club.
This was a buffet and gave us all a chance to taste different types of
Greek cuisine. After a long drive up a
scenic, but winding, road we made a brief stop at the village of Arachova. We are now at our hotel which is somewhat Spartan
but has a great view. Our tour guide
has already warned us that the trip to Delphi tomorrow includes lots of walking
UP! Thank goodness it is the last day
because I think that my Grecian historical/archeological/mythological mental
hard drive is 99% full. I will have to
do a defrag when we get back. After Delphi and various sops we head back to Athens.
One other travel comment – if you book any trip through a
travel agent, or go on your own, try and
get as many advance travel brochures as you can and/or do your research ahead
of time. There is just too much verbal information
given out by these great guides we have had to absorb.
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