Bob and Ann in Greece 2008

Please visit May 2 slideshow

Cats Looking for a Snack at Kalamata

After a really good breakfast, we left our nice Kalamitsi Hotel in Kardamyli to drive north to Olympia. Along the way, we made a rest stop in the city of Kalamata. This is a port city with lots of small fishing boats. It is well-known for its olives. As we walked around the harbor area, fishermen were coming into port with their catches. Before we left, I stopped at a pastry shop and bought a yummy apple pie-like pastry for a bus snack.

We continued on to Olympia. This is where the ancient Olympic Games started. It was also a hallowed site for the Greeks where Zeus reigned. We visited the museum and walked in the archeological site. On the track, I participated in a sprint with other ElderTreks people so I can say that I competed in the first Olympic stadium. There is nothing like racing with a bunch of middle-aged women and losing to a couple of them.

There are fantastic ruins on the site including the Temple of Hera, the Temple of Zeus and the Phidias Workshop. The museum had a lot of antiquities from the Greeks and the Romans.

Dinner was at our Best Western Hotel Europa Hotel. We went there after Ann's swim and a good dose of Ouzo. We were stuffed with another excellent meal. It was Harris' birthday, so we had special mocha cake with strawberries for dessert.

The map of our route is below. To see it in Google Earth, follow this link.