Took another drive through some gorgeous mountains today ..... before and after our stop in Olympia, birthplace of the ancient olympics.

Started the day of touring with our local guide Niki at the museum of Olympia. She was a classmate of Ioanna's at tour guide school and was, as usual for our local guides, excellent!! The museum has some amazing finds! The site encompassed the ancient temples of Zeus and Hera and the various facilities dedicated to the olympics, which occurred once every four years. The shrines are mostly in ruins, so having a guide to explain what used to be at various locations and it's purpose was essential.

The best athletes from all over Greece would arrive one month before the competition in 13 events. There was only one winner in each event, no "silver and bronze", and the prize was a laurel wreath and likely a statue and "room and board" for life back at home. For the remainder of the four year cycles, only temple priests inhabited the site.

During the month they lived on the site, the athletes practiced for their event AND took mandatory classes in philosophy, history, mathematics, science, etc. The olympics were devised to put a temporary hold on the constant battles between the various city states that made up Greece in the 8th century BC. It was felt that if the athletes became more sophisticated during their one month at the site and learned to associate peacefully with those who might otherwise be their enemies, perhaps there would be a reduced likelihood of renewed hostilities when they returned home.

The games went on for over 1000 years. The Romans supplanted the Greeks as organizers of the games in the second century AD. When the Roman empire converted to Christianity in the fourth century AD, the games were cancelled and the site burned down as it was a shrine of a pagan religion.

After our visit to Olympia, we drove on to Miraka where we had a nine course vegetarian lunch at a taverna, seated on a lovely shaded veranda overlooking a hillside covered with ancient olive trees. These trees can live and produce for 800+ years if cared for properly and don't even begin their most productive years until they are 150-200 years old!

We drove through Kalamata and reached our host village of Kardamili about 6:00 pm. Our small hotel is high on the hillside overlooking town and the Aegean Sea. We saw a beautiful late summer sunset from our balcony then had a "happy hour" organized by Ioanna. In view of our huge and late lunch, most of us decided we had no room for dinner

Walked - 3.5 miles