By Kate and Jules

We were sent off from Delphi with a gorgeous fiery sunrise, which made up for the early wake up call. It would be about four and a half hours to our next site, with a stop at a delicious, off the beaten path bakery mid-way. We stocked up on tiropita and sweets for a lunch out on the plateia at Olympia. Much to our delight, Olympia hosted us with upwards of seven furry friends who were excited to show us around. I suspect they were happy to have the group of us treat them with pastries and pets. They even enjoyed Pria’s presentation on wildfires in Greece, sitting near the Olympic stadium looking out at the hill of Kronos. We learned much about the kinds of festival activities and games that took place her for a millennia of ancient history. We even had a footrace of our own (congrats to our victorious winner, sorry we didn’t have an olive wreath to give you)!

We also saw on sight the old temple to Hera and the magnificent doric temple to Zeus, amongst a garden of column drums and statue bases. Inside the museum we saw some of the most discussed works in art history classes at Hollins with Professor Salowey. This included the temple pediments depicting the moment before the chariot race between Pelops and Oenomaus on the east, and a centauromachy on the west; as well as metopes of the 12 labors of Herakles that became canonical here. Also, the kind image of Hermes with the baby Dionysus, which may be the original or a roman copy, the argument continues!

After this stimulating experience, we’ve checked into our hotel in Kyparissia and looking forward to sunset by the sea.