Espresso Freddo: 0
Today started with a boat ride around the bay here which is the Bay of Navarone. We all tried to remember the tune from the movie but we failed. The movie was entirely fictional but many battles have been fought in this bay and we stopped at a number of islands to look at memorials to various sailors who had lost their lives in battles for control of these waters. One island had this amazing tiny wooden Russian Orthodox church on it. No idea why.
Once we were back on land our next stop was Voidokilia Beach which is a gorgeous sandy beach in a sheltered shallow bay. There is a cave high up in the hill at the far side of the beach where Christopher Nolan filmed some scenes in his Odyssey movie. They must have transported all the camera equipment in by boat.
We then headed to the Palace of Nestor for some history. This is a small site but it is beautifully presented. There are walkways above the entire site so you look down on it which makes it easier to understand the layout. More importantly the information signs are actually informative. As it is a small site, each has a complete map of the site and identify clearly which particular bit you are looking at. The description tells you how the particular room or building was used. Too many sites tell you how the building was constructed. How many ionic or doric columns there are and what the lintels are made out of. I don't care. The final touch was they also showed a coloured image of how the room would have originally looked like. There was also a short video which took you through a 3D reconstruction of the entire site.
This is a photo of the king's bathroom. It is not clear how they would drain the bath.
Next stop was lunch at a beach side tavern. Since it was on the beach we had to eat seafood. After the usual entrees (which were Good) we had fried calamari, octopus, whole sardines and another whole small fish dipped in batter and deep fried. I ate the calamari and octopus, refused the sardines and fed most of my other fish to the restaurant cat.
After lunch we went to an olive oil factory. We got a brief description of how it was made in the past and how they do it today. This particular mill makes oil olive separately from each particular farmer's harvest in return for 10% of the output. Farmers can also sell more to the factory if they want. We tried their regular EVO and their early harvest one along with 5 flavoured oils. Their EVOs were good but I can buy just as good oil from Australian producers. Their flavoured oil were delicious and they, annoyingly, sell it in small cans as well as bottles so I didn't have an excuse not to buy any. I also bought some olive oil based hand cream.
After this shopping expedition we headed to our hotel just outside Olympia. We checked in and puttered around for a while before heading to the site of Ancient Olympia, getting there around 6pm. It turns out this was a great time to visit as the temperature was mild and all the cruise ship crowds had gone home. We had an hour at the site itself and another 30 or so minutes at the museum. Not nearly long enough but this tour is all about giving you a taste of Greece. I went for a run in the original olympic stadium! Great fun.
We then walked into modern Olympia for dinner at a taverna on a quiet side street. After, once again, the usual entrees (Good) we each had a main course rather than sharing. I had lamb roasted with olive oil (surprise), lemon and oregano. It was a touch too fatty and a touch too tough so it was just Average. The first Average meal I've had on this tour.
Tomorrow we are off to Delphi but will arrive too late to actually visit the site. A lot of driving and just some visits to minor sites tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment