A tour of Peloponnese

Olympia
Bridget and I jumped on a train out of Athens to get to Olympia. Unfortunately for us, Olympia is on the other side of the Peloponnese ant the train does not go directly to the city. It goes towards the outside of the region and then goes into Olympia.

However we did cross over the Corinth Canal and thanks to Bridget’s quick eyes, she was able to point it out. This Canal was blasted by man, so they could get through the Peloponnese. In this area, the isthmus is only 4 miles wide, so think of a small version of the Panama Canal.

We had a stop in Pirgos, where a random guy asked if we were wanting to go to Olympia. He was going that way, and he said he could give us a ride. While I’m sure he was just being nice, we decided to wait instead. So after 8 hours of traveling via the train, we finally go to Olympia.

Olympia is a quaint mountain town that is a pretty cool place to visit. And so we quickly found a hotel, and then went to explore the birth of the Olympics. The Olympics started here in 776 B.C. and happened every Olympiad (4 years). Games such as wrestling and sprinting were held here during this time. The games were abolished in 394 AD since the emperor at the time thought it was related to paganism. But of course the games started back up in the 1800s.

In 2004 when Greece was the host of the Olympics, the torch was lit here, and they held the shotput in this stadium. When you get into the site, you see a lot of ancient ruins. And then a small story of what could have been. There were many Roman baths, housing, and competition areas. The stadium where the games happened looks like a dirt football field with grass surrounding the area.

I raced Bridget here and won. She got a silver medal for her efforts.

Nafplion
The next day we traveled again across the Peloponnese. This was the worst travel day yet. That morning we went to the information office at 8am. They were closed until about 10am, and when we showed up, she was late. She then let us know that the buses to Nafplion left at 8:30am. Thanks.

So we decided to go somewhere and still play our luck. So we hopped on a bus to Tripoli (4 hours). This was a windy drive around the mountains. And we had some older Greek women on the bus who would sign their hands with a cross each turn we took with their worry beads in hand. I think they were nuns.

We reached Tripoli in low spirits since the town looks run down. Also, there was not a bus that led out to the town until the morning. Then, again, a man approached us and asked us if we were trying to get to Nafplion. Not knowing his intentions, I said yes. I expected him to be a taxi cab driver. He then chatted with the ticket person in Greek. And he said that we could take the bus to Corinth, and then take a Bus to Nafplion. Done. And we arrived 9pm.

When we got there, we started to look for a place to stay as quick as possible. And luckily we found a really cool one. The room was crooked and painted in bright colors, but gave a feeling of being haunted. It even had a windy staircase that took us to our room. Plus, it was right above one of the main streets, so it was neat to hear the night sounds of the people below.The room itself reminded me of something you’d find in a Van Gogh painting.

This town has been my favorite thus far on the trip. It has a cool ambiance to it. The city has two large castles that sit high above the city. And a miniature castle on an island outside of it. Bridget and I walked around the city at night, checking out the cool shops, and had some amazing gelato at the square. It was a good stay.