Olympia to Naupactis to Delphi

At the Temple of Hera, Olympia

Every day is an adventure on this trip through Hellas. We started at Olympia; we stopped for a stroll around the seaside town of Naupactis, and we ended the day high in the mountains at Delphi.

 We left our hotel bright and early and headed to nearby Olympia.

We toured two museums, one that focused on the athletes of the games, and one that focused on the architecture and artwork associated with Olympia.

 A bronze griffin from a dedicatory offering to Zeus, the god to whom the Olympic games were dedicated.

Departing the museums, we walked to site itself of the games. First we took a look at the Palaestra, the area were boxing and wrestling took place.

After checking out the temples of Zeus and Hera, we headed to the main attraction - the ancient stadium of Olympus, where all the track competitions took place. We walked through the same arched entrance that the athletes used to use.

The girls then lined up on the ancient starting blocks and raced to the end of the stadium. Ancient stadiums were about 200 yards in length. Everyone was quite winded by the end, and there is still some debate as to who crossed the finish line first. One thing is for certain - there was a lot of PQV spirit out there.

Hot from the race and from the many steps we had made through the site of Olympia, we strolled to a nearby outdoor restaurant for some traditional Greek meal of several courses.

Afterwards, we boarded the bus an drove north to the city of Patra. There we crossed the recently constructed cable stay bridge over the Gulf of Corinth. The beautiful bridge reminded everyone of our Ravenel Bridge back home.

Naupactis is a beautiful town on the Gulf of Corinth with a small harbor full of commercial fishing boats. We stopped here for about an hour an a half to enjoy the scenery.

 Then it was time for the next leg of our journey - a bus ride along the Gulf of Corinth.

The scenery made everyone gasp for breath, as we drove for an hour or more along the deep blue Gulf of Cornith. Girls took many pictures and voiced many dreams of returning to Greece one day to see the many islands dotting the shoreline.

Eventually, our bus climbed higher and higher up into the mountains until we reached the small town of Delphi, site of the ancient Oracle of Apollo.

 We dined at Epikouros restaurant, an establishment with food just as good as its views.

This restaurant, just like our hotel rooms (pictured above), offered us amazing panoramic views of the mountains and the Gulf of Corinth far below.

After dinner, we walked the narrow streets of Delphi for an hour or so, before turning in for the evening. It was full and satisfying day.