Sat/Sun 6.25-6.26: Olympia as I want to remember it

We all want to remember our adventures, our once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, as being these great, epic odysseys, our troubles faded into the background, still there, perhaps, but faint, like the last traces of paint on a 3000 year old marble statue. We don't want to remember the times when we were cold and hungry, being eaten alive by gnats and mosquitoes, and the people around us were not only unhelpful, but malicious. It's not fun to remember the tears and swollen eyes, and the dehydration that followed. When we retell our stories, it's not only to recall those moments we knew we were in the presence of greatness, but to make others wish they were there with us, for what's the point of having an adventure if you have no one with whom to share it?

That's how I feel about the trip to Olympia we took last weekend. I could harp on the bad things that happened, but the truth is, when I walked onto the sites, saw the ruins, the museum, none of it seemed to matter. Yeah. Totally cliche, I know, but for me, this trip to Greece is the first time I have really embraced history and historical sites of any kind. It has been a real eye-opener and I am truly thankful for this opportunity. I have not yet processed all the information I've taken in, what it means for my life, my world views, etc. because I'm still in the state of DudeThatWasAwesome, but I do know that with or without me, I am making sure my kids do this too. Because: Dude, that was AWESOME.
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Saturday: The Drive to Olympia and the Ruins

Professor Hale, a former Yalie and professor in Kentucky, very graciously let a few of us ride in the van with the group of archaeology kids. The drive is about 4-5 hours, depending the number of stops you make and which route you take. Our route took us through the mountains of the Peloponnese. I live in a bit of a hilly region in California, so driving through the mountains reminded me of when our family used to drive into the mountains and wind about until we reached the top. Interestingly, the vegetation on these mountains was very different from the chaparral around Athens. It was lush and green complete with cool mountain breeze, which was a nice change of pace. On the way into the mountains, we stopped by the Corinth Canal, started by the Greeks, continued by the Romans, who drilled holes in the soft limestone, and completed, apparently, by the Hungarians. It definitely has a wow factor.

As we were driving through the mountains, we met some other friends, namely bees and sheep. There were bees everywhere because there were beehives everywhere (thanks to the apiarists and connoisseurs of Greek honey) and there were sheep because....well there were sheep. The sheep seemed to be very well behaved, and even in the middle of the road, they formed a nice circular formation. I'm not sure what the sheep in the middle of the circle were doing because there didn't seem to be anything to eat in the road, but....I'll let you judge for yourself.

We reached the tiny town of Olympia in the late afternoon, after a lunch in the mountains, and hit the ruins. The town is quite small, but the ruins Olympia is known for are huge. This is because the Olympic Games (and the Heraea Games) were once held here and athletes from all over Greece would come to compete. The winners would have free meals for the rest of their lives, as well as eternal glory in the form of poetry and statue, while the losers would slink away in shame, condemned to walking the back alleys and hiding their faces in the street. That kinda sucks.

Some highlights from the ruins:

Temple of Zeus and it's lone column:

Temple of Hera and her three columns:

The Monument to the Philip of Macedonia, his wife and his son, Alexander the Great. In what can only be described as a super b*tchy move, Philip commissioned a monument to his family at the entrance to Olympia where it obscured the views of both the temples of Hera and Zeus. Smart politically, but really, Philip? Really?

And the place where they light the Olympic Torch every four years. Rather underwhelming, but they use a parabolic bowl that concentrates the rays of the sun to light the torch, and they can't just put the bowl on display, lest it make the whole place catch on fire.

Then, we entered the ancient Olympic Stadium, where, in 2004, they actually held the shot put event. It's around a 200 m long track and the athletes would run up and down the track, instead of around it, as we're used to. Since we were there, of course we had to run a race. They boys ran one, and the girls ran one [for Zeus and Hera, of course]. A video of the girl's "race" is embedded below. I say "race" because we decided we would just jog together across the stadium; however, I encourage anyone who wants to race to run a legit race. :D Also, because of the way the footage was taken, only the beginning and a 3 second clip near the end of the race was captured so I took some liberties in documenting the event. A funny moment came during the boy's race when Sam tried to take off his shirt to run and the guard yelled at him to put it back on. From that moment, he would take it half off just to goad her. Also, we were apparently too loud for the obnoxious French tour guide with her group, so she yelled at us. You can hear her in the video and you can hear Prof. Hale say "We paid too." Haha he's awesome.

And another item crossed off the List:*

12. Run a race at the Olympic Stadium

We then took a little detour where we heard some weird duck-like sounds. It turns out, they were frogs. If anyone remembers Aristophanes's "The Frogs," the frogs at the river Styx chant a chant to help the rowers row across the river. And it goes like this: Brekekekéx-koáx-koáx.

Listen closely, and though you can't see the frogs, maybe you can hear them over the voices of my compatriots:

We then made it to this German-built sports museum, all about the Games. They had a fantastic floor mosaic, the biggest I've ever seen, as well as the chiseled bodies of many a Greek athlete (esp. Heracles). Apparently, if you win at your event in 3 consecutive Olympic Games, you get a statue of you, with special attention paid to your body. It was in this way that they found a lot of the traits needed to win specific events. Science, man, science.

We stayed in the Hotel Neda (recommended), where, after a hot bath and delicious breakfast with a fantastic view, all troubles and tensions melted away. It's only a few Euro more than the hostel we stayed at in Mykonos, but it was so much better.

Sunday: The Museum

Not only is the site at Olympia amazing, the museum is a gem in itself. The moment you walk in BAM: super giant freses from the temple of Zeus; one of the story of Pelops and one of Theseus battling the centaurs. Once you're blown away by those, which are truly incredible, Winged Victory greets you and, turning around, the helmet of Miltiades (and one of his Persian foe's), who blew away the Persians at the Battle of Marathon.

As you pass by the bronze shields, phoenixes, and pottery, you enter a small room with the crowning glory of the museum: Young Hermes carrying baby Dionysis. It was really epic, especially because it was polish on this marble was really well done and the whole effect was just...wow.

P.S. Love Hermes's sandals. :D

There were also some Roman statues from after the conquest, but while those were incredibly draped, this statue was really the culmination of the museum for me, so I'm going to leave it at that.

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All in all, I was very happy with what I saw at Olympia. It's one of the most beautiful places I've been to in Greece and so rich with history and art and amazingness. People forget about it because it's not a famous island or as convenient to get to as Delphi, but it's really a worthwhile trip if you're coming to Greece.

Also, on the way back, we ran into another wedding in progress. The groom was apparently a military man because he had his comrades dressed in uniform with swords and everything. It was pretty epic.


Touched by the fires of Olympia,

Angela



*Disclaimer: I actually did change one of the things on the List after I had done this because if anyone asks me from this point forward what they should do if they come to Greece, running across the Olympic stadium is a must.