We got to Athens in the morning and then had to take the metro to the main train station. From there we had to take a train to Patra where we would catch another overnight ferry to Bari. The train ride was..fun. The scenery leaving Athens was not so pretty. Actually, it was all pretty sketchy. But the rest of the train ride was better. We got a bit confused at one point when the train stopped and everyone got off..but once we figured out what was going on it was all good. We got to Patra really early and decided to have some food and then go use some internet. We figured we had plenty of time. So we do what we had to do and then go to the main ferry building and the lady like freaks out and says we have to run to our ferry because you're supposed to be there an hour early. Gee thanks for letting us know...In all that stress I forgot the big waterbottle that I just bought and barely even opened:( So Lori and I attempt to 'run' to the ferry with our giant bags on. Didn't work so well. But we made the ferry and they let us on. It left at like 6:30 I think.

When we got on the ferry we met 4 Canadians that were headed to Rome as well. We hung out with them for the whole night. It was a really long ferry. 6:30pm till like 10am the next day. We ate dinner at the ferry restaurant, I had spaghetti and it was HUGE. Kindergarten Cop was playing on the TV which was sweet. We bought a couple bottles of wine and then went on the deck. They taught us a really fun drinking game called 21. It was awesome, we stayed up pretty late playing that. When we went back to where we put our bags I realized I forgot my bag of chips I bought and I went to get it and someone on the ferry stole it! Who does that...The chairs we slept on were pretty uncomfortable and the room was freezing cold. I ended up sleeping on the cement floor for most of the night as it was better than those stupid chairs.

I was very excited to stop in my first achaeological museum in Greece. This is something I had always dreamed of eventually seeing and I couldn't believe I was finally here!  Our tour for the day included a stop at the museum and then on to the actual site of Olympia!  I was in awe when we got inside the museum and proceeded to run around trying to take pictures of everything! LOL.  Here are some of the highlights from the museum tour:

Hermes of Praxiteles

Dates back to 343 BC and made from Parian marble.  It is the only known work to survive of Praxiteles and found at Olympia, intact under the ground in 1877 AD.  The sculpture, "The Diamond of Olympia" represents Hermes, messenger of the Gods, holding Dionysus, who is reaching for something from his hand.  The story behind this sculpture is said to be that the mother of Dionysus (Themele) died from terror when Zeus appeared in front of her with his thunderbolts.  She was pregnant at the time and Zeus took the infant to the nymphs in Crete, where Hermes was.  In order to keep him quiet when the baby started to cry, he showed him a shiny object. 

Nike of Paeonius

Paeonius (or Paionios) of Mende in Macedonia, was a Greek sculptor of the late 5th century BC.  This sculpture of Nike (circa 420 BC) was discovered at Olympia in 1875, and is known as "Winged Victory".  It has an inscription on the base that indicates it was dedicated to the people of Messenia and Naupactus after a victory in an unnamed conflict, possibly the battle against the Spartans.  The Nike of Paeonius was featured as part of the design of the medals for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and remains on exhibit at the archaeological museum here. 

East Pediment at the Temple of Zeus

Construction began around 572 BC by the Elean Libo and completed about 450 BC. It depicted the chariot race between Pelops and Oenomaos, with Zeus standing between the two teams. This depicts the moment before the race when Oenamaos announces the rules and the two contestants swear an oath.  It was designed by Paeonios. The statues on the East Pediment are said to be: River God Alpheus, Charioteer, Chariot Boy or Observer, Chariot Team, Arkas or a Chariot Boy, Sterope or Hippodameia, Pelops, Zeus, Oenomaos, Hippodameia or Sterope, Old Man, Chariot Team, Seer, Crouching Girl, River God (Kladeos)

West Pediment at the Temple of Zeus

This depicted the fight between Centaurs, who were said to be guests at the wedding of Peirithoos and the Lapithae.  After getting drunk (apparently they had a low tolerance for wine), the Centaurs tried to abduct the bride, Deiameia, as well as other Lapithae women.  The middle of the pediment depicts Apollo, with Peirithoos and Theseus on each side, fighting with the Centaurs.  There has been debate as to the central figure but most agree it was Apollo who is standing there pointing out Eurytion, the Centaur chief who was trying to rape the bride.  This pediment was designed by Alkamenes of Athens.  The statues on the West Pediment are said to be: Group of Lapiths, Deidameia & Centaur, Apollo, Theseus, Eurytion, Lapiths and Centaur, Females in each corner, and Old Woman

Metopes - Temple of Zeus

The metopes around the exterior of the temple of Zeus were left blank, but those within the two porticos of the temple were decorated with the Labors of Herakles.  It was felt he was a good subject for the temple decoration since he was the son of Zeus and great-grandson of Pelops, the founder of the Olympic Games. 

*UNDER CONSTRUCTION*

Katakolon is a relatively new stop on Eastern Mediterranean cruises.  Used to be, people would take long day trips from Athens by van or bus in order to visit Olympia.  Recently, a decision was made to built a cruise ship terminal and turn the quiet fishing village of Katakolon into a tourist stop.

Olympia is located on the western coast of the Pelloponnes.  Olympia consists of two parts actually - the city and the Olympics field above.  History indicates women were not originally allowed to watch the games which is why the separation existed. I really wanted to visit Olympia since we were stopping and I am so glad we did!  What an amazing trip!  Some of the interesting buildings / artifacts we saw included:

Palaestra

The palestra is part of the gymnasium at the sanctuary.  It is centered around a large courtyard covered with sand which was used as a boxing or wrestling surface.  The actual definition of the world palaestra means a public place devoted to the training of wrestlers and other athletes.   

Stadium

The modern day word stadium we know is derived from the Greek word "stadion", a Greek measure of length.  The stadium at Olympia is the oldest knwn stadium where the Olympic Games were held since 776 BC.  Initially, the Olympic Games consisted of one single event, a sprint which lasted over 13 olympiads.  Because of that, the length was more or less standardized as a measure of distance. 

By classical times, there were 18 contests, including boxing, wrestling, horse races, and the pentathlon and a few other running events. 

*UNDER CONSTRUCTION*

CORINTH CANAL

David and I got up at 4:30 AM to watch the ship go through the Corinth Canal.  We were really interested in how the ship crew set the hawser lines for the tug guide boat.  The large (about 4 inches across) line was carefully measured out and lowered to the tug.  The tug looped it through their equipment and they made sure it was an equal pull on the ship ...  The line went out each side and was tied off.   One of the crew ran and got a can of green  paint and marked the exact measurement ...  we heard later it was the first time they had gone through the canal so they were making it easier for future trips. 

The tug began pulling the ship when we were still in open water....  It was dark and we could see where the canal was because of the break in lights on shore....   Slowly they pulled up into the opening which was gently sloping sides ..... as we went further the sides began to get taller and taller....  finally they loomed 50 feet above us in the dark.   The actual canal is about 50 feet across so it looks really narrow....  when we looked straight down the ship's sides we could see the edges only 5-7 feet away from the ship. Yikes.   It was really amazing that the tug pulled us so accurately.   The sides of the canal weren't sheer cliffs at all.   Some places it was sheer cliffs but most had plateaus and other places had a wide area.  Bamboo, Fig trees, pampus grass and caper plants grew on the edges and on the sides of the canal.  All in all it was amazing to see!  It took about an hour to go the length......  I'm so glad we saw it!  We took a ton of pictures but they were black ....  I am hoping to work with photoshop to get something from them.... We went to breakfast  at 6 30 AM with a lady from the ship, Wendy.  ,,  It was the best breakfast!  Corn flakes, coffee, apple and Greek Yogert with honey.   (Greek yogert is the texture of cream cheese and isn't bitter at all) 

KAITO : PORT CITY

The ship docked at Kiato.  David and I decided to go to the town of Corinthia and visit the ancient site.  First we had a cup of coffee then set out looking for the public bus that would take us the right direction.   A funny thing happened when we went to coffee.  A little girl came over begging for money.   I don't usually give to them as I wonder if their parents know they are doing it and I understand some really don't want or encourage it.... but I gave her a quarter......  She was quite unhappy about the foreign money and kept telling me she wanted something else.....  then a second little girl came over with her and asked for one.  I gave her one too.   I told her it was a quarter and explained the buffalo on the back.   A man came over and asked what was going on.... We explained that we had given her a quarter and was telling her about the buffalo on the back.   He leaned over and explained it to her and she skipped off happy....  She showed it to a teen age boy later and he took it.   But her attitude was more like she fetched it for him...  OK ... another reason not to give money.   But it was a little funny.  

We saw a bit of the town as we walked... we asked a travel agent if there were any ancient sites near town and he said no.... He gave us directions to the bus station....  We stopped at a fish market and the lady there, after seeing I was photographing, picked up fish after fish for me to photograph... it was really sweet of her... They really had quite a few unusual fish.... 

ANCIENT CORINTH

We wandered until we found the bus station ....  we bought a ticket to Corinth and rode towards Corinth... within a few blocks we saw a sign that said there was an ancient excavation.... So apparently it wasn't the travel agent's forte....We rode the 45 minutes until we arrived ....  we were dropped off in the middle of Corinth... and wandered quite a while.  Modern Corinth is a busy, bustling city with tons of cars and narrow street.   We stood near the taxi stand next to a school yard....  The kids were marching to music around and around....  Everyone of all ages were participatubg and no one had an attitude..... It was fairly entertaining to watch.  We were surprised that we didn't find any signage telling us the turn for ancient Corinth.   That was odd as it should have been close.   Finally we found a taxi driver who understood and knew what we wanted (he was the fifth...)  but he was too busy to take us so he flagged a taxi down and explained to the driver what we wanted.... then 6.70 Euros later we were at the front gates of Ancient Corinth.    It was a huge relief. ..  Our error was that we didn't write the name in Greek and didn't have pictures or post cards.   The town of  Ancient Corinth is actually quite a ways from  Modern Corinthia.  

Ancient Corinth is quite large......  We took quite a few pictures and walked the grounds for 5 hours.  The museum is very good and we could take pictures as long as they weren't flash.  Because we were on our own we could really take our time and see everything...  Across the road was an ancient theater... The gate was open so we walked down and took some pictures... This theater was across the street from Corinth grounds... We thought it was interesting that the paved road was in the center of the two areas... yikes... what was buried under that pavement??  We took a lunch break and were lucky enough to find a restaurant that overlooked the site.... the food was pretty good.  The restaurant owner was reluctant to let us go to the back area and said it was not shaded.   I walked up the road next to the restaurant and looked at the patio... it had umbrellas... He saw me and immediately suggested we try it and we could move if it was too hot. ..  allllrighty....   

We also found a delightful place where the man hand paints museum quality Greek vases and pots.   We got his picture and got a picture of him holding one of the magazines he is featured in.    Such an nice man.   His shop is in the little group of shops and restaurants near the site entrance.  above the door in silver letter is Atelier Exekias.  It's next to the Gemelos restaurant and next to the lower exit of the park.  He has a little table set up to the right of the door and sits and paints vases.  He didn't mind at all when we stood watching him. 

We spent another couple of hours wandering in Ancient Corinth then walked back to the little town and caught one of the cabs that was next to the road.  He took us back to Modern Corintha and we caught the next bus back to the ship.... 

This is still very special for us, so i had to scan some pictures of our wedding. We had such a great time with the crew of the La Palma. The boattrip started at Venice!! Than we sailed to the canal of Karinthe, before that we got married on the boat. They really made a special day for us! We had the time of our life!

In the morning there were several things to do on board, but we are a bit lazy and stayed at the pool. Just relaxing! At 14.00 we had to be ready because we would like to visit Rhodos. A very nice small island. But a  lot of tourists.

We had to be back on board by 18.00 our because we had the first dining session. In the evening there is always a show to see, and they did it very well. It was never boring! From this point on we had to sail 167 nautical mile to reach Heraklion. But most of the time you will sleep.

At morning we were leaving the boat to stay for a week in Crete. When we arrived in our hotel it was raining very hard. So we dicided to rest for a while. As we woke up the sun was shining an it never stopped again (exept for the night). So very very hot!!! We had planned to do some things in crete, but we just saw one thing and that was Knossos, King Minos palace. That's it. Way too hot!

i spent 1 week at the aqua suites hotel in october. the hotel is pristine, the view is spectacular and the service was A1. breakfast is included and was brought to our room upon request daily. the staff was extremely friendly, and very helpful. they provided complimentary transportation to and from the airport. i would definitely stay at this hotel and would recommend it to anyone. there are only 4 rooms so the service is very personalized. this hotel is located about 15 minutes(walk) from the center (thira) i can't wait to get back. must eat at lucky's. best souvlaki! and cheap too!

We were sad that it was our last day in Mykonos.  We no longer had the little Smart car so we wandered around the town.   We went to the little bakery again and went to Piccolo for coffee.  The young lady at Piccolo recognised us and give us huge cups of coffee.  That made us very happy.   We sat at their little table and drank it and chatted.  We got a second cup and asked if she would mind if we took a picture.  She quickly said it was alright and ducked behind the counter to avoid being photographed.  A man behind the counter, (we think it was the owner) wanted to be in the photograph.  He asked us where we were from and wanted to talk politics.  We told him we voted before we left and who ever wins, wins.... and it will be fine for the four years..... he was a little disappointed that we didn't want to spend the next half hour solving the political and economic problems of the world ....  We talked instead about the tourist season and how the cruise ships impact their economy.  He asked if we were cruise people, we said no and he said that's good. (we keep hearing that!)

We wandered around and took some photographs.... We wanted to go to the folk museum but it was closed for the season.  We went into the Aegean Maritime Museum.   It was just a small area but it was stuffed amazing things....Papyrus boat models, Old ship models, wine amphoras, mosaics, ship memorabilia, a light house, gravestones, sarcophacus',  old artifacts, reproductions of item used in ancient times, ships in a bottle. The owner/creator of the museum was a retired sea captain.  He had been collecting for years.  We spent about an hour and a half.  As we left we spoke to the curator and told how much we enjoyed it and how incredible the displays were.   He sadly told us he thought we would be the last people of the season to see it as he wouldn't be opening after lunch.  How sad.  He said there were no tourists with the ferries and cruise ships stopped.  

 Eventually it was time to leave for the ferry.   The ferry was docked at the far side of the bay.... David walked with his long legs and I jogged behind him with my suitcase on my back.   It was quite a ways and I was worried about missing the ferry until we finally got there.  When we got there we saw our friend, Ben again.  We sat on the upper deck and chatted as the ferry was ready to leave.   The water below us was an amazing color of turquoise.   I couldn't believe it.   I took a couple of pictures.....   Most of our visit the weather was cloudy or overcast so we hadn't really seen how beautiful the water is. 

We took a few pictures on the ship and in front of the Greek flag.   It was sad to leave Mykonos but we were looking forward to the next part of our journey.

We decided to take a little train that ran through the downtown area..... it was called the sunshine Express and it started at aiolou and andrianou street corner. (Agora square) It was a 35 minute train ride.... I wanted to ride in the very back of the train ... the very, very last car.... what we didn't realize was the last two cars ran empty so we were conspicuously displayed. Adults didn't seem to get angry ... we don't know why.... and we were envied by all kids under 10 years old.... but ... it was still embarassing. The train ran past the Tower of the Winds. Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, Herodes Atticus Theater, Parthenon, Propylaia, the Agora ... All of the things we were supposed to go by we did ...but... they were sooooo far away from us and the trees at the side blocked most views although the announcer kept talking and telling us what we should be seeing....... What the brochure didn't mention was: it went through the crowded shopping area and the restaurant pedestrian areas... People obligingly squeezed themselves to the side to let the cars pass.... and there we sat in the very last car... .. red faced and mortified that everyone had to move for the train. We finally saw the humor and started laughing... What an experience.... We did get a good giggle out of it but ......... never again...... This cost 5 Euro each.... We can't recommend it although if we had some children with us it would have amused them to ride it... probably.

David's book on Greek Islands described Syros with words like "scruffy,  little of interest, it is worth the look if only to capture the contrast with the cute Cycladic village look that dominatees elsewhere" Ben's book was equally unflattering.  We left the ferry with our luggage as we would be going onto another for the final trip to Santorini.  We checked into the ferry office and they offered to put our luggage on the large shelves in their office.   David, Ben and I put our luggage close together and secured them with a cable lock I carry.  With the three handles roped togther we hoped it would either discourage a thief or make them take other easier cases...   WE started out walking not expecting to find very much but we were very pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the buildings and the nice town..   We could see a church spire quite a ways up a hill and decided to walk to it.  On our way we passed war memorials and lovely little parks where families seemed to be congragating...  

David and I got up early..... we were excited because we would be going to Delos today..... our dream destination for several years.....  We walked through the back streets of town trying to find a restaurant..... then David said he smelled a bakery......  We wandered a bit and finally found the bakery.   It was a small local one that catered to the town people.   An elderly man sat at the doorway and greeted everyone ....  We got a couple of ham and cheese pies, two waters and sesame sticks....  We started towards the water and found a tiny coffee shop called Piccolo: We got two coffees to go .... (It is easiest to get Nescaf as it's instant coffee and the cheapest....)  

We walked down to the water and sat near the fishermen sorting their catch.   We  are always surprized at the clarity of the water.  We could easily see the bottom several feet down .....   hundreds of small anchovies swam in schools....  The sand on the beach was golden colored... that was odd....but very pretty.   The fishermen sorted fish and towns people came up and bought some.... the fish were packed in plastic bags and sold on the spot...  It was fun to watch the interaction of the people....obviously old friends who like each other.... The exchanges were lively and cheerful....  At one point the pelican wandered to the fisherman's area..... It is so huge it could put it's huge beak onto the table....  It did and I started laughing as it was nosing towards the piles of fish...  The fisherman saw it and gently but firmly moved it away..... It mournfully and dramatically moved for him...... what a drama king!..... 

We bought the Delos tickets and were sad to see that they were leaving one hour later than the day before and coming back at 1:30 instead of 3 (like the day before.....)   The trip over took about one half hour....  We sat by the wharf and ate our breakfast and drank our coffee... finally it was time to load the boat.  We sat up top where we could see the view....  

As we approached the island I just about died when I saw how many columns were spread over the landscape.... An English speaking guide offered her services at 10 Euros per person..... Later, when I was standing in line waiting to buy tickets, I thought about the amount of time and thought we should take it because of how little time we had ....  ...  David  stood in line and I notified her we would be taking her tour....  She said to pay after the tour...  Ok.....  When David finally got  through the line she was still lecturing on the different conquerers to the island.... I was impatient listening to her as we had studied the history.... I told David I thought we should start.... (we could see people wandering wayyyy up on the hills already....) ....David said he would let her know....  

I started out up the hill......  David caught up with me and said she had not acknowledged him and had just continued her lectures...   We wound up and up the hills.... We were delighted to see different mosaics in the individual areas....  and 10 minutes later we looked back to see that the lecture still had not broken up and they were still trapped at the benches near the ticket booth...  We were quite happy not to be in that group...  I would be frothing at the mouth with impatience.   (I actually said this and David rudely agreed...) 

We could not believe how rich the area was with findings...... every turn had either a mosaic or a  pillor interspersed with statues....  I was beside myself with excitement.... I kind of burst David's bubble by telling him I thought it would be wonderful to put a mosaic on our patio at home and I was getting some neat ideas...    poor guy...    It's just a thought.....  but what wonderful mosaics....   some of theme represented waves and some looked like rows of boxes...  with gods and mythological characters in them...  

We walked almost to the temple of Zeus.. There were more things above us but we decided not to go clear to the top as we could see so much on the lower part we hadn't explored. David estimated we had see maybe 1/4 to1/3 of the lower area.... 

One thing we found very interesting was the number of lizards on the island.... we had to be careful where we walked as they were scurrying everywhere....  They are shy and very unaggressive.... about 3 inches long... most of them... but there were some that could wrestle a squirrel!  They were impressive but they too, were shy and ran...   

We regretfully walked past the museum as we had only 30 minutes left....  We EVEN walked past the museum gift shop.....  I was a little stressed and stumbling but we needed to get to the famous guardian lions ....   We were so happy to get to them although they were roped off and we couldn't get within 25 feet of them....  (8 meters)  .....  

We got pictures of them and began going towards the boat area ... (luckily the boat had not arrived...)  there were so many different areas, temples and monuments in the area David and I were trotting all over the place taking pictures of the signs and sights....  It was distressing to have to rush...  but ....  we will return when the hours are long again.....   (11-1:30 is impossible) 

David checked with the very crabby captain (get it ... crabby?)   to make sure it wasn't possible to stay until 3: nope....  We boarded and  sat up in the bow (front) of the boat and ate fruit and rolls.  We took pictures for a nice french couple and their two children.... and they took our picture......  all in all it was a good trip.....   We will go again in the future......

We decided to drive around the town to see the famous windmills during the sunset....  We got to the "Little Venice" area where the windmills are located about an hour early and decided to have a glass of house wine while we waited.... It was very expensive for a glass ... (6-7 euros...) so we decided to have Greek coffee instead....  We got a bunch of windmill photos and drove out to the airport to return our wonderful Smart car....

The lady that had the Styx car agency was leaving for the night.... she cheerfully and willingly returned to her office to check in the car.  She asked how we were getting back  to Myconos town....we told her a taxi... she looked worried and explained there are no taxies that time of night.. ...  It amazed us when she absolutely insisted on giving us a ride into town although it was obviously out of her way.  Plus she had her 16 year old daughter with her who had to ride in the back because David couldn't squeeze in there....  What a super nice lady ...  she really represented her agency well as far as we were concerned....

When we got to town we went to Blu Blu to the internet for a couple of hours.... then we walked to our  new favorite restaurant the twins place....  we were quite sad to find it was closed....  we stood outside and a man we had met earlier, Ben, walked by..... the three of us talked and eventually one of the twins came ....  I think he was surprized to find three custormers standing next to his door ... but he didn't invite us in .... darn.     We went to another restaurant.... La Casa.....  It was terrible.... don't go there..... we'll be writing a review later for the details....   

We have a ferry to catch tomorrow afternoon to Syros....  It's the very last one going there this season.... from there we will catch another ferry to Santorini .....  It will arrive in Santorini at 2:30 AM...

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