Wow...another day up at 6:20. It's a lot of work exploring all these Greek Islands! When we woke up we were still en route to Katakolon. As we may our way to breakfast we got to see the boat arriving in Katatkolon. You could see the little town was just a couple minutes walk from the ship.
As we were eating breakfast we got to see the sun rise! Amazing! Then it was hurry of to queue up with the massive number of people going on tours. Princess does a really great job keeping everyone organized. We boarded the bus then it was off to Olympia and the archaeological museum. We visited the museum first. We were so fortunate to have a stellar guide. I inow that they are trained to so their job but she was far above what I have had before. The museum was interesting and our guide gave us the story of what the statues meant that lined the top of the gymnasium in Olympia.
After the museum, we headed for Olympia. You know wherever the Greeks are there are lots of columns: Corinthian, ionic and Doric. Can you picture the difference between each on right now in your head? She also pointed out the difference between a Roman column and a Greek column. A Roman column is smooth and a Greek column had flutes. Well, low and behold...my Greek builder put Roman columns in my house! Go figure! :-)
More to come...had trouble with the Internet last night and I'm trying to get a bit I before our day in Corfu....
Have to share the most interesting trivia from the Olympic stadium tour. Pe leprous was the mythical founder of the Olympics. His is a good story, so look iy up when you have a minute. His story is too long to type with this slow internet connection ( I've already lost this whole thing once!). Anyways...when the first Olympics started, the atheletes had to be determined as not only talented in their sport but be also of strong mind. If they were lacking in the strong mind...done no Olympics for them. Our guide told us that the word athlete in Greek means 'to have a strong body and mind'. Pretty cool, huh? Guess that's why so many of our talented young people need to see sports psychologists.
I know that I am a littl long winded on this one but the history of the games has been my favorite part of the trip so far. I have to give you the most interesting tidbit on the Olympic athletes that we're caught cheating. Of course cheating was rare as the athletes and judges were considered to be honest. There were large fines and the possibility of being flogged if caught cheating. They were not killed because the Olympics were held to honor Zeus, so there wwas peace among all. BUT...of course there were some cheaters along the way. When they were caught cheating they had to pay the stiff fines. The money was used to erect statues of Zeus that lined the entrance to the Olympic stadium. The worst part was at the bottom of the statue the cheaters name was inscribed and also the town from which he came. So, not only was the cheater humiliated, but also his family and his town. So, every Olympics after that, the athletes for the games would walk past these statues and see the names of the cheaters!
Our 'just do it' Nike comes from the Greeks. It means 'victory'. It came from the Greek goddess Nike. The Greeks have statues and picture of Greek goddesses with wings. These are not to be mistaken for angles...it just means victory!
Okay...last but not least...women could not attend the games because the participants had to compete naked!
Chow for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment