More old rocks and Hermes' nice arse

Day two of the tour was a lot more relaxed.  We arrived at Olimpia not long before the cruise ship tours arrived so the site was very busy.  The gym, the temples of Zeus (where one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the 36 foot high statue of Zeus used to be), the temple of Hera in front of which the olympic flame is lit before each of the four olympics is held, and the memorial are the most impressive part of the site.  The stadium itself is just a long stretch of dirt and not much else.  I knew that the ancient olympics were males only.  I hadn't realised that there were also olympic games for women held in a different year than the men's games.  The women were clothed in their games, but the guys all competed in the all together.  After a women snuck into the games one year in 300 something BC, all 40,000 spectators also had to enter the arena naked to prove their manhood.  Only one woman was allowed into the arena - the high priestess of Dimitrius (I've spelt that wrong too) who was one of the few who had a chair provided.  The  judges had seats but the rest of the audience just had grassy slopes.

The museum at Olimpia has some very nice sculptures and artifacts including the winged statue of Nike (well, her wings have broken off), Apollo looking serene at the battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs, and Hermes who is looking very fine.  Apparently he would look even better with sunlight streaming down on his marble glory so you should all write to the museum and ask for him to be moved.

The drive to Delphi was broken with several stops, most of which were just for coffee.  We crossed the new bridge joining the mainland and the Pelonponese and stopped to watch a short video about the construction and to take a few photos.

This hotel is a bit nicer than the previous one, but the bed still looks a bit rock like.  But I had a nice swim before dinner which had some interesting conversation with the others on the tour.