We were up at 7.30am, all packed up and ready to be on the move again. After breakfasting in the large, airy dining room, we made our way to the hotel foyer to await the arrival of Yanni and the coach.
Outside, our bags were loaded into the coach as we noticed the day was already hot, the sun blazing down from a flawless, sapphire sky. It was going to be a scorcher today.
The coach set off through the morning traffic, heading for our destination today; that of Olympia. Now there is only one thing that people think of when they hear ‘Olympia’ and that, of course, is the Olympic Games. It was at Olympia that the very first Olympic Games took place in 776BC. The Games were held every four years as an honour to Zeus, the king of the Greek Gods. The site was a sacred neutral zone where warring city-states would observe a sacred truce, laying down their weapons to compete in athletic events like running, wrestling, and chariot racing.
Incidentally, ancient Greek athletes competed completely naked for most of the history of the Olympic Games. This tradition became the standard practice by the late 8th century BC – although early athletes originally wore a loincloth (perizoma) before dropping it. 🙂
We had a long drive ahead of us, about four hours, so we settled down in the comfortable coach and enjoyed looking out of the window at the passing scenery, reading or chatting. Every now and again Aris would point something out of interest for us and, after about half an hour, we were able to take some photos of the picturesque scenery out of the coach windows. Once again, we marvelled at how such a hot country as Greece could have such lush greenery.
Around 9.45am the coach pulled up at a sort of motorway services rest stop, and told us we had half an hour to use the restrooms, grab a coffee or both. Trevor and I went inside and did exactly that, sitting at a table and enjoying our cardboard cups of good Greek coffee. I can never drink coffee quickly when it is scalding hot (Trevor seems to have an asbestos mouth!) so I brought my cup back on the coach to finish.
At 12.20pm we arrived at the start of the archaeological site of Olympia; the coach parked up and we all alighted. After the air-conditioned comfort of the coach the blast of mid-day heat hit us like a hammer, and the weather app on my. phone told us it was 35°C. Phew!
We had a walk of five minutes before we reached the Museum of Olympia. By now, the afternoon temperature had risen to a hot and heavy 37°C as the sun blazed down relentlessly. The water in our steel bottles had warmed up to the ambient temperature (which just happens to be body temperature) but at least it kept us hydrated.
Inside the museum, we viewed the various statues and artifacts, as Aris told us about Zeus, Apollo, Hermes and Nike. There was a large sculpture of Zeus sitting on a throne.
I was intrigued as to how huge a part mythology plays in Greek history. For example, Greeks view legendary events, such as the Trojan War, as actual historical milestones that bridged the gap between the age of the gods and recorded human history. The lines between fact and fiction in Greek history are blurred; it was the framework through which they understood religion, history, politics, and daily survival. Nevertheless, I enjoy reading about Greek mythology and the part it plays even in current times.
Before moving on to the highlight of today, the original Olympic Stadion, we had 45 minutes or so of free time to use the museum restrooms and enjoy some refreshments in their small cafeteria. We weren’t particularly hungry after our large breakfast (and because of the heat – funny how it makes you lose your appetite) but we could definitely use a cold drink, so we each bought a bottle of chilled Coke Zero.
Outside in the heat, we viewed the stone-built colonnade of Palaestra as well as the ruins of the Philippelon, built to celebrate Philip II of Macedon’s victory at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338BC. Interestingly enough, the latter was the only building dedicated to a human being rather than a god. 🙂
We walked around and looked at some other artifacts, statues and ruins, sheltering from the sun as often as we could under olive trees, which seemed to be everywhere. Everyone was hot and bothered and we were only half-listening to what our guide had to say. We could always look it up on Google afterwards! 🙂
Presently, we set off on foot along the dusty road to the famous arched entrance of the Stadion of Olympia. That’s not a spelling mistake by the way; ‘stadion’ was the ancient Greek word for stadium, named after a unit of length (see below).
Once we had passed through the gates we were here – at the actual place where the very first Olympic Games took place in 776BC. There was a wide running track with what looked like a small spectator area, which Aris told us was where the judges sat. There were no seats or stands for any spectators; people just stood or sat where they could.
What I found interesting was that the track was not 100 metres in length (or even 100 yards in imperial measures). It was approximately 192 metres. This might seem a strange number until I tell you that it’s the metric conversion from 600 Greek feet, which matched the traditional length unit called the stadion.
According to legend, the 600-foot distance was set by the hero Herakles (Hercules), who supposedly paced off the distance for a foot race in honour of Zeus. Well, who knew? 🙂
Now that we were here, there was only one thing to do for anyone who was brave enough and fit enough in this heat! Who was going to run along the original Olympic track? Certainly not me – I can barely run a bath never mind run 192 metres. But Trevor was up for it! He took off his rucksack and set off down the track, along with a couple of other blokes. I had to video him for posterity. Trevor’s the one on the left – absolutely brilliant at 74 years old. 🙂
Afterwards he quaffed the rest of the Coke and the warm water, as we all assembled once again at the agreed meeting place with Aris. We were all hot and bothered and couldn’t wait to get to the hotel and sink into the cool, cool swimming pool. But Aris had other plans…
As we walked along, several of us were grumbling that the itinerary said we should have been arriving at the hotel at 4.00pm and it was now 4.40pm. Aris was telling us all about our next visit, which was to the nearby town centre which was a 20 minute walk from our hotel. She said we had an hour to spend in the town, but at this time of day most of the shops and restaurants were closed, and only the ‘touristy’ (and therefore over-priced) places would be open.
But she had a mutiny on her hands. Everyone just wanted to go back to the hotel, have a cool swim or a rest. We were hot, sweaty, bothered, grubby and dusty, our heads overloaded with tales of ancient Greece. In the end, Aris took a vote – only one bloke wanted to go to the town, the rest of us wanted to go to the hotel. So the hotel it was. 🙂
Aris then phoned Yanni the driver, who returned shortly with the coach for the short ride to the hotel. It was one of the Amalia group hotel again, large and white and airy, set in lush gardens and with a large pool. 🙂
Straight away, we changed into our cossies and hot-footed it down to reception, where we each procured a pool towel. Lots of people in our party had the same idea! We dumped our stuff on a couple of sun loungers and went into the water; the pool was one of those that did not have ladders down into the water, but rather a series of steps at one end. As I went down the first step and the water submerged my feet and ankles, I gasped. It was cold, or so it seemed after the heat of the day. I inched my way down, one step at a time, shivering as each new part of my body got wet. An American guy nearby looked on in amusement, before just plunging into the pool, which he was was “the only way to do it”. Finally I was in, and I set off swimming. Once I was used to the temperature it was exhilarating, and Trevor and I did several lengths before climbing out and getting ourselves a freezing cold beer each. 🙂
We let ourselves dry off in the sun for a bit, while we enjoyed our beers immensely. It was tempting to get another one, but dinner was booked for 7.30pm in the hotel restaurant, and it was after six o’clock now. We therefore finished our drinks and returned to our room to get showered and changed for dinner.
My hair was now long enough to put up in a high ponytail, and I was heartily glad of this because I couldn’t bear the thought of a hot hairdryer blasting my head after I’d cooled down nicely. I therefore scraped my hair back into its elastic toggle to let it dry in its own good time, and put on some makeup before dinner.
Once again, the meal was a Greek and Mediterranean hot and cold buffet, which Trevor washed down with an Alfa beer and I enjoyed a glass of the local wine. Afterwards, we adjourned to the hotel bar and had a bottle of beer each, as we chatted with several of the others in there.
We were quite tired now, so we decided to go back to our room around 10.30pm, which is very early indeed for us while we were on holiday. Before going, I ordered a glass of wine and took it back to enjoy on our balcony in the darkness of the cool evening.
We slept well, after a very interesting day.