Tag: Olympia

Leaving Olympia

A final coda to my post about Olympia (https://aspiblog.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/ancient-olympia/), a lively and amusing version of the story of how the ancient Olympics got started is told by Tom Holt in the novel Olympia. Any book with his name on the cover will be a good read.

After an excellent stay at the Hotel Europa, we set off as intended just before 10 o’clock. For the next hour things did not go quite as planned…

First we could not find our way on to the road from Olympia to Tripoli as intended, and then having got on to a suitable route we picked up a hitchhiker which delayed things further.

However, we still arrived at our first stop of the day, Dimitsana, in good time to go round the open air museum of water power.

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The Alfios Dam - this river most emphatically does flow all year round.
The Alfios Dam – this river most emphatically does flow all year round.
Part of the station building at Olympia - sadly it served its last customer some years ago.
Part of the station building at Olympia – sadly it served its last customer some years ago.
I think this underplays the excellence of the hotel!
I think this underplays the excellence of the hotel!

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The map of Greece even marks Tseria - nearly as remarkable as Fakenham being marked on a map of Europe!
The map of Greece even marks Tseria – nearly as remarkable as Fakenham being marked on a map of Europe!

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This map shows all of Greece.
This map shows all of Greece.

me pictures from this portion of the day…

Ancient Olympia

This is the site of the original Olympics, held here from 776 BC until the Roman Emperor and christian fanatic Theodosius put a stop to them in 393AD – and it would be 1500 years before they were revived. However, this was not just the original sporting hotbed, there are countless other splendid things to see here. As usual I have some excellent photos for you…

It is a shame that this viaduct has seen its last passenger, but there is no chance of this railway being reopened.
It is a shame that this viaduct has seen its last passenger, but there is no chance of this railway being reopened.

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This arch marks the entrance to the stadium.
This arch marks the entrance to the stadium.

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Part of the starting line.
Part of the starting line.

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Aerial view of the whole stadium
Aerial view of the whole stadium

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Modern Olympia and the Hotel Europa

Modern Olympia plays up to its historic role, with motifs related to the Olympic movement set into the pavements, commemorative statues prominently on display and such like. It is also crawling with coaches because ancient Olympia is such a honeypot.

We are staying at the Hotel Europa, which is a Best Western, but feels magnificently unlike a chain hotel. It has a superb swimming pool, albeit a trifle cold as it is open air and unheated (about 5 degrees cooler than the sea off Stoupa). The necessity of warming up between swims meant that I made three separate visits to the pool.

Last night we had supper outside at the hotels Taverna. It was a most excellent meal, with lamb chops for the main course, following on from some most agreeable starters. An excellent Retsina accompanied the meal.

Breakfast this morning (eaten on a scale sufficient to see me through until supper) was up to the same stratospheric standard as supper.

Enjoy these pics…

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Did I mention the number of coaches?
Did I mention the number of coaches?

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