Olympia and Delphi

The tour has been a whirlwind.  The hotels have been very nice and the food incredible.  We ate more in the three days of the tour than in the 6 previous days total, I am sure!  At least I did, with Stewart it was hit and miss as to whether he could find something he wanted to eat.

At the starting gate at Olympia - the runners actually started with their toes in the grooves.

Dinner at the hotel in Olympia was a lovely outdoor setting

Remains of the portico of the gymnasium at Olympia

Olympia is situated in a valley with a small river running through it; the plain on which the buildings sat is level with many trees growing.  The ruins are impressive, and I was unaware that construction of the buildings on these sites occurred at different times in history.  It makes sense, when you think about it, but it had simply not occurred to me.  So, there are ruins from as long ago as 3300 years ago, and there is also the ruins of a Christian Orthodox church built on the site.  The stadium has no marble seating, as in the Roman era construction, but grassy slopes for the spectators.  There was only one small part of the seating area that was shaded when we were there - who knows how many trees might have been on site all those years ago.  Apparently there were deaths from dehydration and heat exposure in the day.  I took many photos inside the museum at both the Olympia and the Delphi sites; in Olympia, in particular, there were many interesting pieces of Greek armour.  The statuary was magnificent.

Delphi couldn't be more different from Olympia.  Built on the sides of Mount Parnassus, it was a long hike up through all the different parts of the site.  We wound our way past the Temple of Apollo, where the Pythia gave her pronouncements, to the (much smaller than in Epidaurus) theatre, and up to the top where the stadium lies.  In this case, the stadium has marble seating.  Not far from the Temple of Apollo, lower on the mountain, are the ruins of a Temple of Athena, as well.

We saw Delphi this morning and then returned to Athens.  The bus rides were longer than I anticipated, and the bus very kindly stopped at some touristy shop on each day...  And yes, in spite of my frustration with the blatant nudge to purchase, Stewart and I both found something that we wanted to purchase (though we didn't spend too much!).

Beside a tumbled capital at Olympia

Exit from the stadium at Olympia

Greek helmet - somewhat squished - the head would have been quite narrow!

Temple of Apollo at Delphi - the Oracle

Beside the stadium at Delphi - you can see the marble seating

Stewart found that a simple deck of cards brought together many of our fellow travellers on the tour.  He had seen a deck of "Greek mythology" cards at the reception desk of the hotel in Olympia.  By chance, at dinner that night, some of the people were talking about card games they enjoyed.  Stewart ran to get our new deck of cards, and we spent the evening playing some new card games with twelve people from the group.  It was a lot of fun, and Stewart connected with a couple of the younger people on the tour.  He was much more positive about being in a tour group after that.