After Santorini, I was a little skeptical about the other Greek stop, in Katakolon.  But it didn’t require us to wake up at 6 a.m., and the schedule was pretty comprehensive from departure to return, so that meant transportation was taken care of.  Katakolon was the destination in name only, since ultimately we were immediately shuttled to Olympia, to visit the site of the very first Olympic games.

As a whole, Olympia was pretty cool to see, and learn about how the first Olympics came to be; there were no trials or any of the niggling politics that corrupt, mire and consume modern day Olympic games, but rather a process of knowing some of the Greek language, and simply thinking you’re better than others at particular events.  Like imagine if some nobody walks into the next Olympics, says he can beat Usain Bolt, and then actually does it?  That would be pretty mind-blowing, but that’s kind of what the first Olympics was like.  It’s a little surreal to stand on the marble starting blocks that have stood for hundreds of years, and a hundred more of tourists all pretending like they’re going to sprint, and knowing that at some point in ancient time, were men sprinting for basically nothing more than bragging rights.

Also, while in Olympia, we ate some actual Greek gyros.  They were pretty damn good, coming from the source.  After a brief tour of one of the oldest wineries in Greece, we were back on the bus and then back to the ship; unlike Santorini, there was almost no time for independent exploration, much to my dismay.

I would never have predicted it as such, but if it were up to me, I think the shore excursion experience would have been better had they gone in the reverse order.  Greece is undoubtedly a cool country rich in history, culture and probably way better food than I was privy to experience, but there’s no denying in my opinion that the quality of the excursions went downhill from the strong start in Croatia.

Continue reading “Thoughts on Europe and cruising, part 2” →