In the summer of 2017, my best friend Sarah and I spent about 8 days with our friend Phaedra in her home country of Greece. She graciously welcomed us into her home and took us around to several archaeological sites. From wandering the streets of Athens, visiting the Acropolis and its museum, exploring the ruins of Ancient Olympia, Ancient Corinth, and Mycenae; we managed to see so much in a short amount of time!
As we continue into the summer season and I look back on this trip, it reminds me that this year the Olympics were meant to take place! We should all be gearing up to cheer on our favorite Olympic teams, but unfortunately the games have been cancelled due to the current pandemic. In light of this, I wanted to share about our visit to Ancient Olympia: Birthplace of the Ancient Olympic Games.
The day trip to Ancient Olympia was one of our first adventures in Greece. We were so excited to get the chance to walk through the ruins, learn about the history, and pretend to be ancient Olympians for a day. The car ride to Olympia from Corinth made for a breathtaking first road trip in Greece. We left bright and early, making sure to take advantage of the entire day. As we made our way through the mountains, we came across a lovely local shop and thought it was the perfect time for a break. The outside of the shop was buzzing with bees flying from flower to flower, adding to its appeal. The stop was a nice break from sitting in the car and gave us the chance to get our first few souvenirs: jars of honey! With our delicious souvenirs in tow, we continued our trip to Olympia.
As we arrived at the archaeological site, we could feel the excitement radiating from each of us. This was my first trip to Greece, as well as Sarah’s, and being able to visit a place we read about in books and saw on TV, for example the very memorable moment of when the Olympic torch is lit for the modern Olympics, was surreal. We jumped out of the car and started our immersion in history for the day.
AND WE’RE HERE!
The site is surrounded by trees, which luckily creates sections of shade for us to hide from the sun as we wander through the ruins. As we stroll through and see the remains of the various buildings and structures, my imagination runs free and I try to visualize what this site would have looked like at its peak. I imagine the bustle of people moving throughout the site preparing for the ancient olympic games. Athletes training, resting, and swearing their oath prior to the games. I also imagine the awe that the Temples of Zeus and Temple of Hera would have brought out in people. The detail that can be seen in structures that remain standing today gives an insight to the work that would have taken place to build each one. Grand structures, that when standing, must have demanded deep respect from all those who entered.
Just in front of the entrance of the ancient stadium we spontaneously stop, get together, and start making fun poses, as if we were athletes entering the stadium for the games! We pretend the stadium is full of people cheering us on. Laughing, my friend Sarah almost drops her camera at some point, and honestly most pictures look pretty blurry. :)
Once in the stadium we take a lap around and then soak in the significance of that spot. We sit on the grass, reflect and I suddenly find myself in the role of an onlooker watching the games. I visualize it: The crowds crammed together and cheering for their favorite athletes, just like we do nowadays.
THE END OF A GREAT DAY...
After venturing through the ruins and exploring the archaeological museum, we started our 3 hour road trip back to Corinth. First order of business along the way was to grab something to eat. My go to whenever possible was a gyro. I’ve had gyros numerous times in the U.S., but you cannot even compare them to the delicious gyros I tried in Greece. Once we jumped back into the car to continue our journey, we decided that the last stop of the day would be the beach. We arrived in Aigio and enjoyed the last bit of daylight with a breathtaking view, ruminating on what our next adventures would be.
Interested in seeing more of my Grecian adventures? Check out my photo gallery!
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