Even if you are not keen on ancient Greeks (although I always thought Zeus was pretty cool), I would recommend you visit the site of the first Olympic Games, coincidentally situated near a little Greek town also called Olympia, about 25 miles from Katakalon.

There is a little two-carriage train which runs from Katakalon to the little town of Olympia, then it's about a ten minute walk to the ancient site. Although it would have been slightly more convenient if the ancient Greeks could have located their first games arena a little closer to the station, it would have meant less of a walk in the 35 deg heat.....

It's a good idea to check the train times the day before you go, if you can. I discovered that when there are NO cruise ships in harbour, there is only one train to Olympia in the morning around 0840, and no direct trains coming back. You have to get off at Pirgos then catch a bus back to Katakalon, but we did this and it wasn't really a problem. If there IS a cruise ship in harbour, the trains are more frequent, and return direct from Olympia. I found a website with bus and train times on it, but as you know, things can change in Greece overnight, so best to ask a local.

The day we arrived on Fandancer, we could hear the little train approaching Katakalon as it goes all through the fields and farms, past the backs of people's gardens, tooting it's horn frequently as there is often no barriers when it crosses the tiny roads. We went ashore and looked for signs of the station, but this being Greece, there are no signs or posters telling you how to find the station or how to get to Olympia! After a bit of searching, we found the very old railway lines and some rusted buffers and deduced that the tiny red roofed building which looked like a cafe must be the station. There was a tiny platform and no ticket office. After asking the bar owner about the train times, we arrived in good time the next morning and boarded the train. It cost three euros each, one way to Olympia, and two euros back from Olympia to Pirgos then 1.70 euro each on the bus from Pirgos, but I believe if the train is running normally it costs 5 euro return, although other Internet sites seem confused about this. The train driver issues you a hand written ticket when you get on the train.


It's a great little journey, the train driver pressing the hooter very frequently, like a toddler making train noises when playing trains! Woo-woo! On the way you pass masses of agricultural land, especially fields of sweetcorn, as well as melons, tomatoes, grapes, fruit orchards and olive groves. You can see little Greek farmyards with ducks, geese, turkeys, goats and sheep wandering everywhere, and even fields of hay being cut and left to dry. Some of the views are amazing, rich fertile valleys, cypress trees, oaks and pine forests. There is a huge amount of water here, the train crossed a flowing river, and everywhere the bulrushes were scraping past the train windows.


Eventually we arrived at Olympia station, and again, despite this being one of the worlds most important archaeological sites, we did not see any sign or indication of where the first olympic site was, or which direction we should walk! I guess this is because hardly any tourists use the train, all the cruise ship sheep are taken on coaches and dumped by the entrance to the site. So we followed our noses, and walked through the very pleasant little town of Olympia, with it's attractive wide paved streets. There was some influence of tourism of course, and you could have bought an Ancient Greek warrior's helmet, a gigantic amphora, or a costume worn by a vestal virgin if you so desired.


It was a pleasant walk to the site, and a great deal of money has obviously been spent on it, with sweeping footpaths and landscaped road, but could I suggest to you Greeks that you put some more signposts or information at the station? There was a museum about the History of the Olympics, and another museum about how the site was excavated. Didn't go in either. There is one tiny ticket office, and Tim was pleased to get an old person's discount without having to show his passport (I'm not sure if this is something to be pleased about or not!) but they could clearly see I was nowhere near being eligible for a discount, so the entrance fee wasn't too expensive.


I'm not a huge fan of Greek history, especially when what is in front of you has to be imagined in it's previous splendour, due to it being flattened by earthquakes, or being centuries old so nothing much remains, but the site at Olympia was truly impressive. Despite being mid August and about 33 degrees, there was plenty of shade under the trees as you walked round. I tried to follow the diagram they give you about what the piles of rocks represent, and some areas are more recognisable then others. Much of the site was built at different times, so it was in differing condition. Everything was on a huge scale, and the sheer enormity of the buildings that once stood there was breath taking.

The centre piece was the ruined Temple of Zeus, which once had the biggest stone pillars you have ever seen which now lie discarded in pieces on the ground, but one has been reconstructed to show the size. It is amazing to think how they managed to make them, let alone put them in place! The term slave labour comes to mind. The temple of Zeus once held the enormous 12 metre high gold and ivory statue which was one of the Seven wonders of the World.

We saw the original 200m running track, with sloping grass sides which could hold,45,000 spectators. Apparently the Greeks invented the first automatic starting gates, especially for the games. I declined Tim's kind offer to time now long it would take me to run the length of the track, although a group of more gullible school children seemed to want to please their teachers and did do this.

What I find difficult to understand is how did the organisers tell everyone in the country or the world that they were holding the first Olympics? What means of communication or transport did they have? How long did it take the team from Brazil to get there? Did you know that In the Olympics of AD 67, Olympics, Emperor Nero chose to have a singing event, he participated, and won the singing competition! Clearly not fixed at all........