Olympia, Greece *pics* (vacation entry #6)

Dear Diary,

 

 

 Continuing on with my vacation post….

The next port visited was Katakolon, Greece which is home to the ancient site of Olympia.

My first view that morning in port looked like this….

It was a bright, sunshiny day just right for vacation…

I had another tour booked….. here are some pics taken while in the tour bus….

The first stop on the tour was Olympia.  You can’t be that close and not visit it.  I’m glad I went.  Honestly I probably don’t respect old artifacts and statues nearly as much as I should but I’m glad I went.  I’d be lying if I said the thought "I’d rather be laying on the beach" didn’t cross my mind while there though.  Terrible I know…

A map of the layout of Olympia…

Each portion is an archaeological dig at some point.  Here is the dig they are currently working on….

Many of the sections look like this now….

 

 The tour guide would show renderings of how it once looked….

a bit of restoration…

sitting while listening to the tour guide….

A restored archway leading into the stadium….

My toes on the stadium starting line…

A view of the stadium…

Next the group ventured to the museum where many of the statues and artifacts are housed.  We made a snack stop and I had Greek Gummy Bears *grins*

Once in the museum there were almost endless statues…

There were models of how they think the site once looked.  I enjoyed those…
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The next stop was a farm where lunch would be served….

The farm dog….

There were a few fruit varieties…

cute out building…

the plant growing on the above building was a loofa sponge…

 
farm cat….

They gave an olive harvesting demonstration…

pomegranate tree….

geese….

turkey….

One of their olive trees…

Yum! Time for lunch…

some Greek dancing during the meal….

They served their own Magna Grecia wine…

Pretty bread basket…

rows of wine in the restaurant…

hand painted dishes….

wine barrels….

And their olive oil…

I brought Keith back some Ouzo…

olives…

This was the waitress during the meal….. afterwards she was helping here…

Once the tour returned to port I explored the nearby area just a bit….

boat crush!<br/>

there is no denying that this next one is cute!

or this one!

the waterfront….

One street in from the waterfront were shops and restaurants….

One of the shop owners gave me this daisy….

It really was a cute street…

and back to the ship….

The towel friend that evening…. a monkey…

I came across a very cool lounge at the tip top of the ship this evening….

Dinner was at Cagney’s Steak House….

with a nice sea view from the table….

later that evening was the farewell show….

and this is the lounge where I waited to disembark the next morning…..

I spent one more night in Venice after getting off the ship so my final pictures will be a bit more from Venice and then Murano and Burano…. next entry…. coming soon….