July 21 & 22 Katakolon & Milos Greece

 Two more places that we've never visited before, but the weather is turning against us. Last week it was hot. The last couple of days have been Hot. Now it's HOT.

Katakolon is the jumping off port for visiting ancient Olympia. It's a 40-minute bus ride from the port to the archeological park. The city of Olympia was abandoned in the 6th century and forgotten. Floods from the nearby rivers buried it under 10 feet of mud. At the entrance you can see the depth to which they had to excavate to reveal the pieces of the ancient city. 

In spite of what you see here, there was no stone on top of another when the excavation began. These columns have been reconstructed from the pieces laying around. This was the gymnasium where the athletes prepared for the 5-day competitions held every 4 years.

Philipeion, dedicated to the Philips family and had statues of Philip, Alexander the Great and others. It was the only structure inside the area dedicated to a human.

Temple of Zeus, the king of the gods, to whom the athletes all paid tribute. This is but one of 36 columns that formed the outer portion of the temple.

Entrance into the stadium

Huge stadium where the competitions were held, even larger than a modern soccer pitch. It could hold 25,000 very warm people during the competitions in late July.

Temple of Hera. The first temple erected in Olympia, it was originally shared with Zeus until he got his own, much larger, temple. It is at the altar of this temple that the Olympic flame is lit and carried to all parts of the world for each modern Olympics.

 

The hike around Olympia was long and hot, but at least there was shade and plenty of places to sit and rest while the guide was explaining things.  

In Milos we took an excursion to visit the highlights of the island. First up was the beach at Sarakiniko, renowned for its otherworldly, lunar-like landscape of white volcanic rock formations.

The white rock is primarily kalin, a clay that forms half of the ingredients in Kaopectate. The ancients discovered that it was good for stomach problems and heartburn.

It was a bright, sunny day, not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was above 90F, there was no shade and the white rock reflected the sun everywhere.

Caves have formed in the rock.

 Sarakiniko is one of the most photographed landscapes in the Agean. Not your typical sandy beach, but there were hundreds of people flocking to it. Parking was tightly packed and it was a struggle to get the bus in and out.

After Sarakiniko the tour continued to Plaka, the biggest town on the island. However, the bus can't get into the city, so there was a 500 meter uphill climb from the buses' closest approach. And it was getting hotter. We called it quits at this point and took a taxi back to the pier and tendered back to our delightfully air conditioned room aboard the ship. Tomorrow's visit to Corinth from the port at Athens is looking unlikely as Europe is under a heat dome just the US.