Day 5 Greece Trip: Olympia

Today started out wet…very wet. We had a thunderstorm as we came into port and the clouds just opened up and dumped. We wondered for a bit if they’d cancel the excursions for thunderstorms. They did not.

I can’t say we were looking forward to walking around the Olympic archeological site in a downpour, but we would because we were here. Turns out the clouds parted and it was decent. Not overly sunny but overcast and not raining.

We drove 30 minutes to get to the archeological site and were promptly greeted by a cat.

The Olympic archeological site is where the Olympics were born in 2 AD. We saw the ruins of the training facility, the baths, the stadium itself, and so many temples. Zeus of course had the biggest, though it’s no longer standing. It still has the altar where the first Olympic flame was lit. To this day, every time there's an Olympics, they light it from this altar. There's a big ceremony and all. 

The entrance into the Olympic stadium

The Olympic Stadium

The altar the olympic flame is ignited from

Interesting fact, the Olympics were held naked. All the athletes were naked, the spectators were naked too. Who knew?

After the archeological site we went to a local, family-owned winery. Their family have been making wine for 150 years. We were greeted by their family dogs. All three were adorable, two followed us on the tour.

I can’t say their wine was good. It wasn’t to my taste. The snacks they gave us though were delicious. They also make olive oil so we had bread with some spreads on it and some with olive oil along with salami and cheese. It was delicious.

After we headed out and the two “guard dogs” were sleeping right in front of the door. Not a soul disturbed them, we all walked around them. Then to my enjoyment another cat showed up. I’ve lost count of how many photos I’ve taken by now.

We’re back on the boat for lunch and a nap. I took this picture of the port and then two minutes later turned around, and it was socked in with fog, rain pouring as if it hasn’t rained in decades. Wind howling, rain sideways kinda thing. Weird.

Now as we pull out of port, it’s just overcast.

Tomorrow we’re in Malta. Can’t wait to see how many cats they have.