Blogs from Olympia, West Greece, Greece, Europe

After a wonderful hike yesterday, it was time to leave our cozy Kaza guesthouse and head down the mountains to Olympia, birthplace of the Olympics. But first, we had to navigate the twisty-turny, barely two-lane roads down to the coast. Ken took the driving duties and did a great job maneuvering around blind corners, with massive drops to the cliffs below. At one very cute village, hanging off the cliffs (a theme the past few days) we decided to stop, enjoy a coffee and check out the festive shops. In this area they are known for their honey, and surprisingly homemade pasta. We stocked up on both, including some jars of yummy walnuts and pistachios in honey. While Google maps advised it was 1.5 hours to Olympia, it took over 2.5 (including the stop) which gives ... read more

Well you have to do it don't you? Stand on the starting line for the 200 yard dash in the stadium in Olympia where it all started. All as in the Ancient Olympic Games and the modern version we all know and love. Queue music - Vangelis - Chariots of Fire and it's off you go. Running naked as the day you were born trying to beat other naked men. Olympia was on the way home as we are now wending our way slowly back to Igoumenitsa. Finding the ancient site was not easy. We mistakenly ended up at the car park of Camping Atreus where we intended to stop the night. The lady owner ran up the path as we turned round to try again for the archaelogical park. Parking in the end was relatively ... read more

Another early start. Overnight we have reached the port of Katakalon, Greece, but our destination is Olympia. On the bus with our local guide Greg. It's a 40-minute drive to Olympia, and he provides the historical background to what we are about to see. The ancient Olympic Games started in Olympia around the 8th century B.C. and ran more or less continuously every four years for 1200 years. The games were ultimately banned by the Christian Byzantine empire and the buildings destroyed. The entire site was lost to history, completely covered by silt and vegetation until excavations started in the late 19th century. And in 1896, the Olympic Games were reborn with a more modern aesthetic. Every since, the Olympic torch is ignited here on the ancient site of Olympia, then transported to Athens, and finally ... read more

Our first excursion today. Weather sunny. We had booked a small tour privately for our visit to Ancient Olympia. We drove through the countryside past mountains of plastic bags filled with rubbish on the side of the road. Apparently the dump is full and a new site cannot be agreed on so it is being collected from the region and dumped in the countryside. We first visited the Museum of Archaeology as our small group had arrived before the larger buses. A great museum and we were lucky to have it almost to ourselves. The museum holds a 4th century statue of Hermes of Praxitelis and many other relics and statues excavated from the site. We then walked to the site of Ancient Olympia where the first Olympic games were held in 8th century BC. Overtime ... read more

Monday 8th july, heading on the ferry to mykonos which is meant to be party island, bit nervous and excited. In greece we had pasteries called baklava which was yummy, the best food i have had so far is in Greece, last night we had misaka and taziki yum!. So far i have started picking up the ausi accent, not happy about it, but got them liking nz sounds. Apparently a cactus by the door is good luck, which is what we had at the plim flat so we'll keep that up. Yesterday we went to the corirth canal in greece which was quite cool, i got some good photos on my camera. We got some more new people last night one more boy and 4 girls so now we have four boys all together poor ... read more