Friday 29th June 2015
Olympia
The drive to Olympia started with beautiful weather but once again, on the way there the heavens opened up and blasted us with heavy rain. The drive to Olympia was almost three hours. I managed to switch routes on google maps by accident making it even longer and over some unpleasant roads instead of by the coast – doh! Nevertheless we made it there. The weather when we arrived meant that we decided to hit the museum first and what a treat.
The west pediment of the Temple of Zeus was the most spectacular we had seen in all of Greece so far. The sculpture depicts a battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs. All the individual sculptures are intermingled in scrimmage. The myth goes that the Centaurs were invited to the wedding of the king of the Lapiths. The Centaurs, in the midst of the revelry, abuse the hospitality and attempt to abduct the Lapith women, including the bride. At the centre of the pediment stands a three metre tall sculpture of Apollo with his arm outstretched trying to impose order. To the right is Theseus (Lapith) fighting a Centaur. To the left of Apollo is Perithos (king of the Lapiths), to the left again is Eurytion (Centaur) as he attempts to abduct Deidemia (the Lapith bride). What makes it so special is the extent of the intermingling of the individual sculptures and the fact the the scene that it depicts suits the shape of the pediment; the Lapith women are being dragged along the floor in the corners rather than the size of the sculptures shrinking, as they do in the pediments of the Parthenon.
Dimitsana
Dimitsana is a little over an hour and a half drive east of Olympia. We were to spend the night here and hopefully do some walking the next day. When we booked the trip we had hoped to do a trek through the Loúsious gorge but on our day there I just didn’t feel up to it. We decided to try an easier walk instead and drove to one of the monasteries nearby, Néa Moni Filosófou, which was on a trail. We walked towards the monastery not intending to go in but rather to check the walking path which is accessible from just outside it. As we were trying to find the path, we were stopped by a monk who didn’t speak English and assumed we were there to see the church. It was a very awkward encounter. Not knowing how to say we weren’t interested in the monastery without offending we went along with his suggestion that I wear a funny smelling skirt to cover my legs. After seeing the church he invited us into another room for a glass of water, again we went along with his suggestion, then he offered to sell us some pictures of the apostles which we managed to resist. We decided not to find the trail in the end. I wasn’t up to it and we figured there was no point in doing it if it wouldn’t be enjoyable. That’s just how being six months pregnant is I guess, one has good and bad days.
Ramblers Rumblings 