Olympia...

We were excited to go to Olympia - the beginnings of the Olympic games, and an important place of many of the mythical gods. The Olympic games began as a way for the various city-states of Greece to compete and to honor the Gods. It began in 776 BC and was held every 4 years until around 400 AD when they were abolished.

This was the temple of Zeus, where a huge gold and ivory statue of Zeus watched over and protected the games. The statue (which is no longer there) was called one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world.

This was the Philippeion, which was dedicated to the family of Philip II of Macedonia. His son was Alexander the Great.

Yes, we had to have a race on the original olympic stadium. It actually became a pretty good race as everyone gave it their best in 100 degree weather!

Well, almost everyone....

These guys certainly did. We all raced for the water fountain afterwards!

One site I wish I had a picture of was the Temple of Hera. This is where the olympic torch is let, by focusing the rays of the sun to burn the fire.

Our taxi driver told us the best place to eat lunch on our way back from Olympia -so we went! It was very good. As we told the waitress (the daughter of the owner/cook) that we were a little late to get back on the ship and we needed to get the rest of our food to go, she said that her dad could just give us a ride back. He hung up his little apron and we jumped in his car and made our deadline. I loved that service!

When we got back on the ship, the girls all decided they wanted to go to the formal night in the dining room (something the boys did not). So they got dressed up and even got their pictures taken with the cruise photographer.