Day 5 Katakolon Greece, Olympia

Last night was a special Italian night on board.  The menu was all Italian favorites and the dessert, Tiramasu of course, was brought in with great fun and ceremony with everyone encouraged to wave their serviettes in circles over their heads.  The evening entertainment was a stage production of the most famous Italian songs.  It was a very enjoyable evening.

Today we arrived into Katakolon Greece.  Den and I booked a tour to the ancient ruins of Olympia.  It was a 40 minute bus trip which started at 7.45am so it was an early start to the day.  We were broken up into different language groups which made it easier for the tour guides.  Every announcement on the ship has to be made in about 5 or 6 different languages so it can get a bit tedious. 

The bus ride took us through the fishing village area, which is said to be like a ghost town at the end of the cruise ship season, and on through the farm areas where they grow tomatoes, beans, melons etc. and of course lemons and olives.  There is a large population of two groups of gypsies in the area.  One group is tolerated as they have been there for years.  They work on farms for the exchange of being able to have their tents there and some supplies.  The other group are newer arrivals and they became unpopular because although they gather all of the unwanted bits and pieces from about, once they have sorted through what they want they scatter what they don’t want everywhere making a bigger mess than when they started.

Olympia, the home of the Olympic Games, which commenced in the 4^th century b.c., is set in beautiful parklands with the archaeological digs still continuing except today was a public holiday in Greece.  We walked around the ruins of the gymnasiums and temples, even the remains of the Roman baths that had contained baths of hot and cold running water and under floor heating.  We walked past the stones from where even modern times the Olympic flame starts its journey to the next games.  There were a row of square rocks with names carved into them.  Originally these also had bronze heads in the likeness of those athletes caught cheating.  We then walked under a stone archway which led onto the original arena. This was where only the athletes and the officials would go.  The athletes competed naked.  Women were strictly banned from entering the stadium but one Grandmother wanted to see her grandson compete so badly that she disguised herself as a trainer, she was found out and after that even the trainers had to be naked.

The starting line was still visible.  The athletes started a foot race standing rather than crouched as they do today.  We were all encouraged to run the length.  It was a thrill to run on an Olympic field but I soon realised I was not the girl who 50 years ago was the under 12 sports champion.

From there we visited the Museum which houses some of the statues and artefacts recovered from the excavations.  It was a very memorable experience.

Back onto the bus and the ship departed by 2pm

This evening started with a Cocktail Party to meet the Captain.  We drank some cocktails but didn’t worry about queuing up to have our photos taken with the captain.

Every passenger is given a set restaurant and table place for dinner.  It is really nice to meet up with the same people and share what we have been doing through the day and hearing about some of their adventures.  One of the members of our table is a Cuban gentleman who lives in Miami, U.S.A. – that is when he isn’t cruising.  He spends little time at home as he loves to travel and meet people.  (Tonight escargot was on the menu so of course I ordered it – delicious – anyway back to the story.)  He encouraged us to go to the Black and White Club tonight to have a dance.

The program at the Black and White Club is ‘Let’s Dance’.  There are members of the crew who invite people up to dance.  It breaks the ice and gets the dancing started and also as there are a lot of ladies travelling by themselves or with partners who don’t want to dance, everyone has an opportunity to ‘have a dance’.  So male and also female dancers invite passengers up to dance.  Den and I had only just arrived and had a couple of dances when one of the girls asked Den to dance.  A bit later he was asked to participate in a dance competition.  With a little bit of encouragement from me, yeah well maybe more than a little bit, he agreed.  His partner was professional dancer from the performance team.  She was a great dancer.  It was like watching Dancing with the Stars only Den was the ‘star’.  There were two other male passengers and three female passengers paired with professional dancers/stage performers from around the world.  Four passengers had been chosen to score.  The dancers ‘performed’ – the waltz, cha cha, tango and finally rock and roll.  Everyone had great fun.  At the end Den and his gorgeous partner won third prize so he now has a plastic bronze medal and a few souvenirs from the ship to remember the fun night we had.  We are looking forward to going back for another dance tomorrow night.