| Submitted by: Gopal Venkat United States |
| Submission Date: 10 February 2005 |
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It certainly lacks the magnificent views one had from the hills of Delphi. We stayed at Hotel Acropole (13, Filellinon Street, Delphi. Phone: 82675. http://agn.hol.gr/hotels/acropole). After dinner, I wrote some diary before hitting the bed.
We visit the ruins at Olympia tomorrow.
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We left the hotel at 8 AM and headed for the ruins at Olympia. Though Cosmos provided us with a local guide here, upon entering the ruins, I set off on my own. Visited the Temple of Hera (Heraion) who was the wife of Zeus, the Greek god. This is probably the best preserved of all the monuments in Olympia. From here, I headed further down to the stadium. Aside from the main track, the spectator seats are the natural slopes on the three sides of the main track. The lush grass on these slopes has been neatly trimmed and looks well maintained. There is a small area on one of these slopes where the winners were crowned. The Stadium apparently had a capacity for seating 40,000 people.
As usual we were the first group to visit these ruins and since I had broken away from my group, I had the ruins to myself (with the exception of the guards patrolling the area). I continued along the echo-hall and reached the Temple of Zeus. Though earthquakes had destroyed it, the very sight of these mammoth columns (now toppled and broken) give an estimate of the temple in all its glory. One of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, was situated inside this temple.
The Pedestal of these columns is over 2 metres (7 feet) in diameter. Some of the colourful mosaics on the floor of the temple are still intact. From here I proceeded to see the workshop of Phaedias (who built the Statue of Zeus). I continued further to the Leonidaion, the Palaestra and the Great Gymnasium. The Leonidaion baths are not open to the Public.
Just like the signs in ruins at Delphi were in Greek & French (since the French played a prominent role in the excavation there) the signs here are in Greek and German (Since Germany played a prominent role in the excavations here). Of course, a lot of the signs are trilingual as well (Greek, German and English). From the baths I proceeded to the Boulouterion and the South Hall before returning to the Temple of Zeus to have my picture taken!
Following this, I proceeded to exit the ruins by way of the Philippeion and the Roman Baths and headed to the Museum that is situated just outside the ruins at Olympia.
In my obsession with the Temple of Zeus, I missed out on seeing the Altar of Zeus (located between the Temple of Zeus and the Temple of Hera). The Altar of Zeus is where the Olympic flame is lit every 4 years before being carried to Athens and making its way to the country (City) hosting the Olympics. I guess 2004 will be a very short run for the Flame carrier, since Athens hosts the Games. Vendors in Olympia are already hawking t-Shirts for the 2004 Olympics.
The Museum is about a 7-minute walk from the ruins at Olympia. The entrance fee was 1200 Drs. If you buy a combination ticket to the ruins and the museum, the cost is 2000 Drs (US$ 6). I started an express tour of the museum since I had a little over 30 minutes left before the bus departed Olympia. The museum contains a lot of Bronze artifacts from the 6th Century B.C. It also has a hall devoted to Roam Emperors and also has a lot of statues of Greek Gods / Goddesses and warriors. The impressive among there are the 'Nike of Paeonios' and 'Hermes of Praxiteles with Dionysus'. I however, did not have enough time to fully appreciate the museum collection.
We proceeded from Olympia to Megalapolis (from where the English word originates) where we had lunch. From here we proceeded to Tripoli (which means a combination of 3 towns) and onward to Navplio. The ride from Tripoli to Navplio across the Argolis Mountains was spectacular. We had a 20-minute stop at Navplio to get some photos of the 3 Venetian forts (all visible from the quay at Navplio). We continued on to the resort town of Tolon. Except yours truly, the rest of the group was excited about the possibility of swimming in the waters there. I must concede one thing though. The waters here are the cleanest I have seen. There is absolutely no debris of any sort floating near the shore or washed up on the beach.
While the rest of the group was swimming and sunning, I spent time writing my diary. After dinner I went out for a walk. I came across some members of my group and we headed for a drink and chatted for a couple of hours. Being a group of 35 people, we never really got to know everyone in the group.
As I mentioned in Delphi, if you are in Olympia Do not take the optional tour of the ruins offered by Cosmos. Walk to the ruins (15 minutes), buy a ticket and do it at your own pace (till the bus leaves the ruins). You would definitely need a good guidebook if you were going to do these tours on your own. I would recommend the 'Blue Guide Greece'. It contains all the historical / Archaeological information on the various sites that one can ask for. It does not contain any Hotel / restaurant information. You do not need that if you are on a tour.
We see the ruins at Mycenae tomorrow before crossing the Corinth Canal and returning to Athens.
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We left the hotel a little after 8 AM and headed towards Mycenae. During the 1 hour ride to the ruins Sally told various stories / theories on the Mycenaean / Minoan civilization in her rapid-fire English. Enroute we stopped at a ceramics factory! I was not surprised. The owner / manager of the store gave us a small presentation on Good and Bad quality ceramics. He stocked both! (I guess he wants to make a buck either way). I did not buy anything.
We reached Mycenae around 9:4 AM. Since Sally was not allowed to accompany us as a guide to the ruins, we were given the entrance tickets and given a little over an hour to wander around the ruins. Mycenae was another of Heinrich Schliemann's excavating interests. The other was Troy. I had now seen both and felt good about it. One perceives a civilization's existence (in the past) at Mycenae, while Troy fails to give that Impression. One reason could be that in the excitement to find the Troy of Homer's Iliad the excavators possibly ruined the site. Now they have no clue of fixing it.
One can obtain an excellent view of the surrounding hills and the Mycenaean Citadel from the Palace area of the ruins. One hour is ample time to explore the ruins. The Ornamental objects found here are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum in Athens. All of the objects are from the 16th Century B.C. The entry into the Citadel is guarded by 2 lions and hence is known as the Lion's gate.
Departing from the ruins, we drove for less than a Kilometre before stopping for 15 minutes at the Treasury of Atreas (who was the father of Agamemnon). This place is also known as the Tomb of Agamemnon. This is a classic example of a Tholos (or) Beehive tomb. The Dronos (or) the approach to the tomb is awesome. The Actual tomb rose in a cone to about the same height as the diameter of the floor. This form of tomb building is called a Tholos tomb. The Aerial view of the whole structure resembled a Beehive and hence the same.
Fro Mycenae, we headed towards the Corinth Canal. On reaching the Corinth a little after noon, I had a quick lunch before going up to the pedestrian walkway above the canal. We were fortunate not only to have 3 ships (including 2 sailboats) pass below us on the waters of the canal, we also witnessed a train going on top of the bridge at the same time. We crossed the Corinth Canal and continued on to Athens.
I did give a gratuity envelope to Costa (our driver) but I did not do the same for Sally. I just did not feel that she had done anything special to deserve a Tip. She was not too helpful in catering to my dietary restriction. I felt that's the least she could have done for me (since she spoke fluent Greek and I did not) to deserve a tip from me. I somehow did not feel like following the herd and tipping her just because it is customary to do so.
Enroute to Athens, we stopped at the Port of Piraeus (30 minute drive from Athens) to drop off almost half our group who were continuing with Cosmos on a weeklong cruise of the Greek Islands. Sally went along with that group and we had another guide board our bus and take us to our hotel in Athens. We saw one of the new stadiums for the 2004 Olympics on the way to the hotel. We reached the hotel around 4 PM. Since the tour had officially ended, I was on my own. After checking into the hotel, I headed to Syndagma Square and booked myself in another hotel for tomorrow night. I did a quick check of my mail on the Internet before having a Cheese pie and an Ice cream for dinner.
Following dinner, I headed to the Acropolis to see a performance of the Gershwin Piano Quartet at the Herod Atticus Theatre. The Performance cost me 6000 Drs (US$19). The 2-hour performance was entertaining. More than that, it was the ambience provided by the theatre set in the Acropolis that enchanted me the most. After the performance, I walked back to the Hotel. It took me 30 minutes and I did not have any problems (since I looked like a Greek). Athenian streets are quite safe for people to walk around.
I will have to find something to do tomorrow.
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I got up quite late for a change. At breakfast I bid adieu to some of the remaining members of the group. Me and David (my roommate during the trip) wished each other luck and I thanked the hotel staff, (who were extremely pleasant and helpful during my brief stay there) before taking a taxi to my new Hotel for the night (Hotel Carolina, 55 Kolokotroni Street. Phone: 3243551 and 3243552. www.hotelcarolina.gr). This hotel was costing me 10,000 Drs (US$ 33) per night compared to the US$65 that the Golden Age Hotel would charge me.
After checking in around 11 AM, I set out to do some sightseeing. I headed to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. There are 12 Columns that are left standing. This was apparently the largest Temple in Greece and took over 700 years (Yes!) to complete. It is a pity that it is a ruin now. The entrance fee to visit these ruins is 500 Drs. After Spending some time here, I crossed Hadrian's Gate and headed to the Temple of Dionysus which is located below the Parthenon and just beyond the perimeter fence of the Olympeieon.
I reached the Temple of Dionysus around 12:45 PM. Unlike the Odeon of Herodus Atticus, which has been quite well restored to have live performances frequently, the theatre of Dionysus is still in ruins. Almost 50% of the Original theatre still exists. The restoration work here is dependent on funding and the folks here are trying hard. One of the ways to do that is by charging s separate entry fee to this place, even though this is part of the Acropolis. The entry fee of 500 Drs (US$ 1.60) is quite nominal and goes toward a great cause. I spent around 45 minutes here.
After lunch, I headed out to see the Ancient Agora. |
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