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| The ancient gymnasium |
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| Monument to Alexander the Great's father |
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| The Temple of Zeus |
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| The Temple of Hera |
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| Entrance to the Olympic Stadium |
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| Stadium interior |
Day 5, 11/14/2010: Katakolon
Cruise ships like the Star Princess call on this sleepy town on the Peloponnesian Peninsula for its proximity to the archeological site of Olympia.
Unsure of how easy it was to secure a private tour, we’d booked an excursion into Olympia. I spent the 40-minute motorcoach ride absorbed in the beautiful scenery between the two points and listening to our guide’s lecture, learning a couple of interesting facts in the process. The first fact – Greece is the second most mountainous country in Europe after Albania. The second fact – the three biggest contributors to the Greek economy are, in order: agriculture (since Greece is a country steeped in tradition), with the most important goods being olives, olive oil, and citrus fruits; shipping, with a heavy reliance on exports; and tourism.
It happened that the second round of the recent Greek elections took place today, and the Olympic archeological site was opened exclusively for us, with the other peripheral sites of interest such as the archeological museum remained closed. Therefore, all the shore excursions from our ship and the Costa Marina arrived at the site at the same time, making it absolutely packed with tourists.
Though they lie in ruins, many treasures are contained at Olympia’s archeological site: the temple of Hera, the sites of the modern and ancient Olympic flames, the ancient gymnasium and stadium, and one wonder of the ancient world, the temple of Zeus. The site’s oldest ruins date back to 2,000 B.C.
Outside of the archeological site lies modern Olympia, a small town with a few restaurants, cafes, and shops. Prominent goods here were figurines, olive wood products, and the omnipresent single eye emblem, often incorporated into pieces of jewelry and allegedly an emblem of longevity and good fortune.
Shopkeepers here can be crafty in more than one way. One in particular stopped me as I was walking along, to ask where I was from, and acted surprised to hear that I was a US citizen and not Greek. That conversation started, he then lured me into his shop, trying to sell me earrings and a ring allegedly of platinum, despite my protests that I didn’t wear jewelry.
When we returned to Katakolon from modern Olympia, we found its tiny streets and narrow sidewalks swamped with tourists from the two large cruise ships in port, all of them having already returned from their shore excursions around the same time. Looking at the chaotic scene, I began to wonder whether this small port was used to seeing such massive influxes of people, before remembering that this was the off season. Here I’d like to sum up the problem in two words: infrastructure inadequacy.
Shops and tavernas here were of the same nature as those in modern Olympia, so there was not anything new or different to see. There was a half-hour long trolley tour that departed near the main square that we almost took but ultimately decided against. For a lack of anything else to do, we headed back to the Star Princess.
Once back on board, it was catch-up time for us, as far as sleep and the last of our shore excursion bookings were concerned. There were a couple of different show options, but instead of attending one, we shared a nice meal and conversation with Cindy and Dennis, whom we’d chanced upon while entering the Capri Dining Room.
Lights were out before 12 tonight – our next-day excursion to Athens and ancient Corinth was to start at 7:15 am.
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