Olympia

We went to visit Olympia today! That was pretty awesome. The weather was great and the site was awesome. There was so much there! The house of Nero was the coolest because parts of it were still standing. We assumed it was made into a church at some point. So Olympia was the site of the first Olympic Games and of the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, one of the Ancient Wonders of the World! It was pretty amazing to go there. There is a lot to see there, and also not too much. We did get to see the stadium where the Olympics would have been. It was awesome. Doug and Sam raced around it. They had a friendly footrace. That would be an awesome band name. Friendly Footrace. Anyways, it was cool. Here is a group shot of us at Olympia. Well, I was taking the picture.

This site is also where they light the Olympic Flame every year for the modern Olympics. They apparently light it  right in front of the Temple of Hera. It’s strange because the site was so low-key about it. It wasn’t even very clear exactly what they do there, I had to look it up. Weird. There was also a pretty awesome temple to Zeus there, which was where the Statue of Zeus was housed. I would assume. But, I though that this temple wasn’t nearly as impressive as the Temple to Olympian Zeus in Athens. The columns of this temple weren’t quite as big, though Jason tells me that the temple in Athens was never finished by the Greeks, but rather the Romans. So, in a way, the temple at Olympia is more “authentic” to the Greeks.

At this site, Jason was also giving us the how-to on spotting Greek versus Roman foundations. The Greeks mostly just used stone and the Romans used bricks and cement. And they used different patterns at different time periods which help the buildings to be dated. Pretty cool. We also went to the museum at Olympia. It was pretty nice. I love looking at statues of gods or goddesses and guessing who they are depicting. It’s pretty fun and makes me feel smart. One thing I really liked at this museum was a sculpture, or maybe an offering, of Hera or some other fertility goddess. It had two circles for breasts, a circle in the middle of the torso, ad a slit at the end of the abdomen. I found it interesting because it shows a differentiation between the womb, the third circle, and the vagina. I liked to think it showed a more complex understanding of the layers to fertility and sexuality. And maybe even the difference between them?

Also our hotel tonight is wicked awesome. It seems to be more Italian in style, I say as I’ve never been to Italy. But it’s radical. My roommate and I had to wait last to be placed in a room, and we ended up getting a two-story suite! We had a kitchen, a balcony, two beds, a bath, and a shower! We flipped coins and I ended up getting the queen sized bed. The town we’re in is great too. It seems like a summer resort town, next to the ocean. But it’s the winter. So it’s a little more deserted.

By the way, the oranges here are amazing.