Olympia

It was a busy day in Olympia! We got an early start at the ancient olympic site. This was home to the oldest stadium in the world, housing the first footrace ever recorded. We all walked/ran the "track" and it was very cook to see the original starting and finishing lines intact. 

Our tour guide/Greek translator, Nike, showed us around the rest of the ancient park, which included the sacred Temple of Hera, Temple of Zeus, treasuries, work shop of Pheidas, and many more centuries old sites. It was amazing to see all of the things that we've been talking about in class for months. For me, however, I was surprised by how incomplete these buildings looked. Considering that these sites are from 776 B.C.E (at least), it's silly to have expected anything completed and preserved, but from visiting the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, and the British Museum London, I was so accustomed to the recreated buildings that I was a little caught off guard when we arrived. The pillars and buildings that were still standing were absolutely amazing. It was a really breathe-taking experience as a sport management student standing where the first sporting event took place. 

(Fallen column off the Temple of Zeus; the standing pillar is just a model) 

(Temple of Zeus)

(Temple of Hera)

After walking around the ancient sites, we headed over to the site's archeological museum. This was filled with artifacts that came directly from the site. One of the coolest exhibits was of the statues that told a story on the East and West end of the Temple of Zeus. These would have been found in the upper triangle area on the temple. It caught my eye because of the levels of the statues and it's massive size. Another favorite part was seeing the iconic helmets and shields used during battles. 

We then walked back to the hotel and hung out in the pool. We had a great afternoon of swimming, tanning, and pool football (the boys all think this should be an Olympic event). 

To finish off the day, we had ate a traditional Greek dinner at a restaurant in town. We had Spanish pies, stuffed zucchini, moussaka, tdziki, and much more. Everything was delicious and I walked away stuffed! I've learned that the best way to say goodbye to a city is to eat until our hearts are content! Olympia has treated us well, goodbye to this historic city and our new friend, Zeus.