On to Olympia!

Monday, January 25, 2016

Hello!

We had had such a nice big meal about 2 pm yesterday in Methoni, that neither one of us was at all hungry for dinner.  The room was FINALLY heating up, so we weren’t uncomfortable at all, so we did without dinner and went to bed early … only to find that Robert was up and checking football scores somewhere around 1 am.  [The NFL doesn’t set game times to be convenient for people in Europe.] 

Fog coming off the water this morning

Fortress at Methoni

His first announcement was that the Broncos were winning 20-12 and that there were two minutes left in the game.  I truthfully didn’t want to hear it!  And WHY does it always take so long to play those last few minutes?? At any rate, at some later time, R announced that the Bronco’s had won, which was truly amazing.  Then this morning, I got up around 5:30 am to find out what had happened with the AZ Cardinals and the Carolina Panthers … only to read that the Cardinals had been clobbered.  Oh well!  

As the only guests at our Villa last night (I’m actually beginning to believe that we’re the only American tourists on the west coast of Greece!) we weren’t sure what time the office would be open, but when we went there about 8 am the nice manager was there, and ready to take care of us. 

Breakfast in Pylos

Pylos harbor

Who knew?!

As it turned out, when I booked the room through Booking.Com, the room was 120€ per night.  However, in the “off-season” it was only 70€, and the nice manager had already contacted Booking.Com to tell them of the change.  How nice is that?!   

So, out of Methoni and to Pylos, where we hoped to get breakfast (about 10 km away).  Found the center of town with no problems, and after two turns around the main square, found a parking place not too far out of the way.  The several restaurants we saw already had people smoking in them (sorry if I’m beating a dead horse about this, but my allergies have really serious smoke-related problems!) so we passed them by.  However, on one of our passes, I spotted a very nice looking bakery that said they also had coffee and juice.  Lovely spot! 

R's lunch

My lunch

We both got warm spanakopita (spinach “pie” in phyllo dough) with glasses of fresh orange juice, and while it was definitely chilly eating outside, we very much enjoyed our breakfast.

From there, we headed north, with a stop planned at Nestor’s Palace on our way to Ancient Olympia.

Found the palace, but it was truly under construction!  Gravel had been piled all over their parking area, and when we thought we might chance it anyway, up came the back-hoe with a load of gravel.   So…obviously the palace wasn’t going to be seen by anyone anytime soon!   

So, back on the road to Olympia.  Seriously, finding this place on Emmy was for some reason, incredibly difficult!  We couldn’t find it using Olympia or Ancient Olympia – and finally managed to come up with Archaic Olympia -- BINGO!  Who knew?!  We got here a little after noon, and found our place, Leonidaion Guest House. 

Votive offerings discovered at the Temple of Zeus

River running through town

Loved the bronze horse

No one was there, but we called the phone number and soon one of the owner drove up on his motorcycle.  Guess what?  We’re the ONLY guests here tonight, too!  Got into our room – Number 3 – and it’s as cold as a meat locker!  The guy put the heater on, but again, this is a cast concrete building, and the walls are cold through and through.  Not sure how we’re going to manage tonight, honestly.  I have less hope for this place than last night.

We asked about a local laundry, and took a few things that needed doing and dropped them off.  They are promised to us on Wednesday morning (when we’re set to leave Olympia) … but I am less than sanguine about ever seeing those things again.  Oh well!  

Lion from a cauldron

Griffin from a shield

Zeus and Ganymede terracotta

From there, we found a small local restaurant in town, and ordered lunch … which of course turned out to be more than we could ever really eat at one meal!  I had chicken souvlaki (three chicken skewers) that came with French fries, tomatoes, pieces of pita bread and that wonderful spread we have had here before.  Robert got their lula-kabob (3 also), a mixture of ground beef and ground lamb, as well as everything that I got.  There was so much food that I wasn’t able to finish mine.  Prospects of going out to dinner tonight are low!

We really do prefer the town of Olympia to Delphi, as it’s much more “city like” and attractive.  It’s also not nearly as steep.  You can walk from one end to the other in a matter of five or six minutes, which makes things very convenient to reach. 

Helmet of Miltiades from Marathon

Another great horse bronze

Hermes with Dionysos

After lunch, we headed across the street to the Olympia Archeological Museum.  As it’s Monday, the museum is open from 10 am – 5 pm, which was good, as it was already after 2 o’clock.  Absolutely lovely museum!  Everything is well identified in Greek, English and German (although my hand ached for a red marker, to make grammar and spelling corrections!)  One of the most impressive features of the entire museum is the metope and tympanum from the temple of Zeus.  They remind us both of the Elgin Marbles, and are displayed as the Marbles are in the British Museum – an entire room to themselves, with lots of explanatory information.  They are truly wonderful!  And, surprise!  We had the place entirely to ourselves!  Where are the tourists???  We finished up around 4 pm and headed back to the hotel.  

Hadrian, my favorite Emperor

From the Temple of Zeus

Also from the Temple of Zeus

To say that our room is frigid is perhaps an understatement.  I know the couple who run the place are doing their best, but the electric heater that they brought up to help isn’t doing anything at all, and for some reason, they can’t get the radiators to work.  Oh, boy, I’m really looking forward to my shower tomorrow morning, that’s for sure!  [Addendum: The portable electric heater is working to some degree and the building radiators are again warm – but who knows for how long?!]

Our plan tomorrow is to start with the Olympia archeological site, and then see one or the other of their two other, smaller museums.  One about the archeology done in Olympia, and the other about the ancient Olympic games themselves.  Looking forward to it!

More later!

m

xxx