Fall Break (Again): Olympia and Katakolon, Greece

Luckily for us, we had another stop in Greece after Santorini.  The next day we docked in Katakolon.  This time we knew what we planned on doing after we docked.  When we got off the ship, we went to find a bus to take us to Olympia.  Tip for the poor college students like me out there, if you complain enough about being a broke college student, a lot of places will lower the prices for you.  We ended up getting a discount on our bus ride there and on our tickets for the archeological site of Olympia.

Once we reached Olympia, we looked around a few of the shops, stopped in a café, and walked to the actual archeological site of the first Olympic games. By the time we got there, we didn't have too much time so my main plan of action was to try to see and take pictures of everything and figure out exactly what I was looking at afterwards.  This worked pretty decently and I ended up having a basic idea of what everything was anyway.  However, it's easier to guide you through Olympia through pictures rather than trying to explain it, so here you go!

So this is a close up of one of the structures. Notice how part of the materials used to make these ancient structures were sea-shells?

This is the Temple of Zeus. And one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. 

This is the start line inside the stadium.  This is where the competitors lined up (their toe inside the darker line)

The entrance to the stadium.  I don't have any great pictures of the inside of the stadium, but picture a small grass field and that's basically what the inside looked like. 

It was so neat being able to see these ruins.  I mean, this is something you learn about and see pictures of in history books, so being able to stand on the actual grounds was a wonderful feeling.  This was the birthplace of probably one of the most long-lasting traditions in the world: the Olympic games, which were held in 776 BC.  776 BC! Do you even realize how long ago that was? And these ruins are from then and before!

When we returned to the port of Katakolon, we went to a little cafe on the water in order to get coffee and wifi...obviously the two most important things to us college students.  Frozen cappuccinos are amazing, just in case anyone was wondering...Afterwards, I went with Kira in search of a good place to go eat gyros; we had least had to try some authentic Greek food while we were there.  We found a little place off of the main road.  The owner was so sweet and he gave us discounts off of our delicious food for no reason at all.

After eating, we were walking back towards the ship and the owner of a jewelry store stops us and starts talking to us.  He offers some great deals, so we decided to take a look inside since I was looking for a new ring and gifts for my family.  He ends up practically giving me my ring along with a charm of the Grecian third eye.  After talking to this man a little more, he points out some pictures on the wall and begins to pull something out from behind the counter to show us.  Turns out this man was an Olympic soccer player and just so happened to be giving us the torch from the 1996 games for us to hold. Crazy right?!?

Kira holding the torch from the 1996 Olympic Games, in a jewelry store out of all places

Oh, and he also gave us flowers from his garden when we left

This is probably one of the things I enjoyed most about Greece.  In Santorini, Olympia, and Katakolon all the locals were very friendly and held conversations with you, just to get to know you.  They didn't care if you bought anything from them or not.  But they also weren't over-the-top friendly and followed you around like they did in Turkey.  The Greek culture was definitely an enjoyable experience and I hope I will be able to return one day. I still need to visit Athens after all!