A great sunny day welcomed us to Katakalon. After a short drive we reached Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, to visit the sanctuary that was dedicated to Zeus, father of the gods and humans. After seeing the remains of the gymnasium and the palestra where the athletes used to train themselves, we approached the temple of Zeus that housed his cult statue made out of gold and ivory—one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World.
In front of the temple’s entrance the Olympic winners received the wreaths made of olive branches. From the temple we walked to the stadium that dates from the fifth century B.C., the oldest Olympic stadium in the world. Even though the athletes had to be Greek, the spectators were from all over the ancient world and the stadium could accommodate about 40,000 people. On our way out we reached the temple of Hera, in front of which lay the remains of the goddess’s altar where today the Olympic flame is lit. Our next stop was the museum to admire the statues and reliefs that decorated the Temple of Zeus, the statue of the Nike of Paionios and the statue of Hermes of Praxiteles; real masterpieces of the Classical times. We left Olympia with the Olympic spirit in our hearts, and went back to the ship to set sail for the afternoon.
We set the sails in the afternoon, and with strong northwesterly winds we braced the yards on a starboard tack and only set the upper and lower topsails and the lower stay sails. But the wind was steady so we were in for a real treat, as we kept the sails up for the entire night as we sailed down the west coast of the Peloponnesus. The galley prepared a Greek buffet dinner on deck featuring Greek mezedes, moussaka, grilled octopus, ouzo, and more. This turned into a lively night on the lido deck, and we eventually went out on the decks to see the stars and the magnificent sight of Sea Cloud sailing under the stars at night.
