June 28 2014 Katakolon

June 28 2014

First let me say, I don't know why yesterday's post for June 27 2014 came out with all that gobboly gook for the title.  And I guess I can't change it, so there you go.

 

Today we went to our first port, Katakolon.  This is the first time Disney Cruise Line has been here.  However, there wasn’t any fanfare as we came in.

Katakolon “Let the Games Begin” is a seaside port overlooking the Ionian Sea and the gateway to Olympia, where the ancient Greeks flocked every four years for more than a millennium to celebrate the sacred games dedicated to Zeus.  Tradition holds that the first Olympic games were held here in 776 BC as a peace treaty between Sparta and Elis.  Because the sacred truce gave the kings and leaders from all over Greece a chance to meet unarmed, Olympia became an important place for political discussion and trade.

Michael had arranged for a private tour with Olympic Tours and with the owner, Niki and her assistant Joanna.  They met us at the pier.  They had 38 guests that had booked their tour privately instead of with the cruise line.  We received a much lower price and got more than what the cruise line offered.  We broke up into two groups. So there were only 19 guests in each group.   Cost of the tour was 65 euros and cost to get into the Olympic site and museum was 9 euro, kids are free.

It was about a 30 minute ride to Olympia.  On the way, Niki talked about how all the farmers grow olive trees.  There are 39 different types of olive trees grown here.  The olives are harvested in the fall.  And when they go to the Oil Press instead of paying the company money, the oil press company keeps 8-12 percent of the olive oil once it is pressed out of the olives.  Now they have discovered that they can use the pits of the olives to heat their homes instead of using coal.  They had devastating fires here, I think it was 2007, and cypress trees are coming back and they have reforested a lot of the vegetation.

Because Disney had 35 tour buses going over to the site of the Olympic Games, Niki chose to take us to the museum first where it wasn’t crowded.  So we did the museum first, then the stadium grounds.

The picture I took below depicts The West Pediment of the Temple of Zeus:  Battle of Lapiths and Centaurs.  The myth is that the Centaurs were invited to the wedding of the King of the Lapiths.  In the course of the revelry, they got drunk and attempted to abduct the Lapith women.  There are pieces missing from the statues, but they have been able to excavate and put together these pieces.  The second picture is the face of Zeus in one of the statues.  

There were beautiful clay pots that have been excavated and restored and many marble statues.  Since marble is so hard, they would take olive oil and put on the statue they were carving in order to soften the marble to create the detail on faces and bodies.

As we entered the stadium, Linda, Keith and Michael had a picture taken. 

You can see people walking and running behind us in the picture.  That is because that is the field where the Olympic games were held.  The athletes were only about 4 ½ feet tall in those times.  They participated naked rubbing their body in Olive oil and then placing sand onto the olive oil.  No women were allowed in the stadium except for the Priestess.  About 42,000 people would come.  There were no seats except for the judges and the Priestess.  Olaf took his chance to sit in the judges square and pretend like he was watching the game.

Michael and Linda recreated that they were Zeus at the stadium.  We took a picture of all of us at the starting line.  

The archway is the beginning of the tunnel where the athletes entered for the games.  There was only one winner in each event.  No gold, silver or bronze medals.  The one winner was a hero and he received a headpiece with the olive leaves.

The picture below is where the actual torch is lit for the Olympic Games (every two years). They have a ceremony and they bring in a mirror and the reflection from the sun creates the flame to light the torch. The torch is then taken all through Greece and ends up in Athens.  From there, the torch is put on an airplane and flown to the city that is hosting the games.

The pillar below is from the Temple of Hera.  It is the oldest temple of the sanctuary and was built at the end of the 7^th Century BC.  

The Philippeion circular building of Ionic Order was donated by Phillip II after the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC.

The visit to the Olympic site where the games began was amazing.  Well worth the time to see and try to envision what the games were like during that time.  They are currently doing the final excavation work and I think Niki said it should be done in about 2 years.  Over 800,000 tourists visit each year, mostly arriving by cruise ships.

After our visit to the Olympic site, we went to a Greek restaurant for lunch.  We had an amazing buffet and the mother of the family there made these homemade Cheese Philo mini pies that they rolled out and deep fried right in front of you.  They also had three of the torches from the different Olympic Games.  I remember Munich was one and London was the other, but currently can’t remember where the third one was from.

It was a really hot day and the restaurant allows you to go swimming in their pool.  They provided towels.  We all took our swimsuits so we got in the refreshing water to cool off.  It was a great way to cool off as it was a really hot day.  Make sure to wear sunscreen!

We then headed downtown to Olympia where we had about 30 minutes of shopping time.  Niki took Michael and me to the local store and she picked out a bottle of red wine for friends of mine.  I needed her expert advice since I don’t drink.  She also recommended that I purchase olive oil soap.  She said that soap is the best soap for one’s body and makes it moist.  I have dry skin so I bought some.  They were very inexpensive (2 euros) and I bought a few to give as gifts to family and friends.

Like I said, the tour was awesome.  I would highly recommend it to anyone going to Katakolon.  Olympic Tours Is on Facebook and they are a very small business.  It was nice helping the local economy since unemployment runs 25% in Greece.

On the way back to the ship, we stopped to get a picture with the Disney Magic in the background

After arriving on the ship, there were Greek Musicians onboard at the Goofy Pool singing and encouraging everyone to dance (just like in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding).  I have no idea what they were singing about, but I did understand when they kept saying “Opa” over and over!  They were excellent.  Brent, the cruise director said they would be performing again tomorrow because they will get off after Athens.

The ship left port at 5 p.m.  Tonight there was a magician in the Walt Disney Theater (don’t remember his name), but I saw him before so I didn’t go.  We then had dinner in Lumiere’s.  Tomorrow we get our first Greek Menu of the cruise.  Can’t wait to see how the food compares to what we had today.

After dinner, we went to the adult show in the Walt Disney Theater.  It was Rebecca and Donovan.  They are an acrobatic act.  They were on America’s Got Talent, but don’t remember what season.

I am now typing my trip report and as soon as I post will head to bed.  It is about 1:00 am  and we are up and at it again at 9:30 in the morning for Athens.

Goodnight from the Disney Magic!