July 5th - Day 25

Theater at Messene

Another early start to the day as we left Pylos at 7:30 am :( I'm really starting to miss being able to sleep in! Today involved a LOT of driving and I think we spent more time on the bus today then off it, as we had at least 2 hours of driving between each stop.

Our first stop of the day was Messene, a large classical city-state re-founded by Epaminondas in 369 BC. It was nice to get back to some classical style architecture after seeing so many Minoan and Mycenaean sites. Unfortunately my camera battery died and I thought I had charged my spare, but that was dead too. So I didn't get too many pictures. Messene's theater was in the process of being restored and it appears that the goal is to hold performances there in the future. The site also has a huge stadium and propylaeum which was remarkable well preserved. Messene is probably the most well preserved site that we have seen to date and it is evident that a lot of effort and money has gone into the upkeep of the site. After a quick stop at the on-site museum we were back on the bus and head to Mt. Lykaion.

Mt. Lykaion, according to myth, is were Zeus is said to have been born and raised. There is also an alter to Zeus located on site, although not much of it can be seen. We were able to see the remains of some civic buildings and the stadium. Getting to the alter involved quite a hike, fortunately some of us were able to hitch a ride in cars, while those who wanted to hike could. I think that I have hiked enough for a lifetime on this trip, so I opted for the car ride :)

After that it was another long drive (about 2.5 hours) to our hotel in Olympia where we will spend 2 nights. Our hotel leaves a lot to be desired and is by far the worst that we have stayed in. It's called the Olympian Palace and the name is total false advertising!! This place was anything but a "palace." It took two trips to the front desk to get the AC in my room to work and the internet at the hotel decided not to work. We grabbed dinner at the hotel restaurant only because we were too tired to venture out. They didn't have half of what was listed on the menu and what they did have was overpriced and a little disappointing. The area we are in seems nice and I think that I will venture out and explore tomorrow.

Tomorrow should be a fairly light day - we are going to the Olympia site and museum and then we should have the rest of the day off!