Catch-up: Messene and Olympia!

These next few accounts of the goings on of the past few days will be in a bit of a jumble due to a lack of internet when it was needed, as well as, the tangentiality of my previous posts. However, I will try to keep these accounts as easy to follow as possible. This post will be referring not to yesterday, but rather the day preceding it as well as the one before it. Our first stop was the city of Messene. It was a rather later city compared to the other ancient cities that we had visited. Due to it's "younger" age, its fortification walls were vastly impressive, and as their integrity was true, we were able to climb all over then and snap some great photographs. Also, while we were there, these enormous beetles took a great liking to us and kept swarming us while Professor Hutton lectured on. We, like the completely calm and competent individuals that we are, started flailing wildly and swatted the beetles out of the air in sheer terror (they were the size of quarters and sounded like motorbikes).

The fortifications at Messene.

A nymphaeum at Messene.

Some of the inventive draining structures. I was thoroughly impressed.:)

An underground chamber at the site. There is legend that the king was locked inside due to his misdeeds.

A view of the Odeon. Would you look at those checkerboard floors!

A stadium at Messene surrounded by columns. These columns means that there were buildings around the stadium. Their uses would have been for such activities as warming up and sports like wrestling.

Stadium seating--surprisingly comfortable!

These bros were cutting the grass. One guy sat on the mower and the other made sure that he (and the mower) didn't roll off the grassy knoll. This made my day when I saw it. 

A mausoleum at the end of the stadium.

 In the museum. A stature of a lion taking down a stag.

A beautiful stature of Hermes. The detail is exquisite.

Artemis: the Huntress.

A statue of the younger son of Asclepius. I absolutely love the way the sculptor did his hair.

The elder son of Asclepius: Machaon. He was a renowned healer and a hero in the Trojan War.

The head of Hercules on a border marker. He is wearing the skin of the Nemean lion on his head--the product of the first of his deeds.

 After exploring the site of Messene for a few hours, we returned to the bus to go to the city of Olympia: home of the original Olympic Games. The same day we explored the site without entering the museum. This was also the day I consumed the Notorious Bisciut (see previous post).

A common sight in Greece:free roaming sheep accompanied by their shepherd (not pictured).

The workshop of the sculptor Phidias. It was here that he created the thirty foot ivory-and-gold statue  of Zeus for the Temple of Olympic Zeus. This statue was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Sadly, Constantine stole the statue and it has been lost to the ages. 

The ruins of the Temple of Olympic Zeus. The pictures don't do it justice--the pillars were enormous. They were constructed in pieces: the many drums can be seen strewn out in the middle of the photo.

The entrance to the Olympic Stadium. It is simple and understated on purpose: it is a sign of "We already know how great we are. There is no need for our structures to proclaim it as well." There were only stone seats for important people. The rest of the stadium was just a rolling hill on which spectators cold sit and watch.

The next day, we toured the museum at Olympia. Within it, I spied some of the most beautiful man-made things I have ever seen in my life. I am going to dedicate a whole post to them so keep an eye out for that. Right now, I am just going to show you some other cool things that I saw. After the museum, we drove back in the direction of Athens and spent one more night in Nafplio.

Assyrian Bronze.

A bronze griffin--mostly likely a cauldron decoration.

 Some of the helmets in the museum.

An adorable ceramic lion.

A stature of the goddess of victory: Nike. She would have been at the top of a tall triangular pillar at the entrance of the stadium.

A battering ram dedication with an actual ram on it.

The cup that says (translated of course), " I am Phidias' cup."

A stature of the god Hermes holding a baby, Dionysius.

Another Corinthian capital.

I have noticed that the Greek people use some really unique toilet paper.

A Grecian post box. They sport the messenger god on them: Hermes.

A Grecian Swiss roll with cappuccino creme,

My last gyro in Nafplio.:(

A picture with the lovable worry beads vendor.:) Her name is Anna.

 More to come soon, but I must run off to lunch! As mentioned before, I will walk through some of my favorite statues of Olympia (as well as "cheater statures"). In addition, this blog is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of pictures and information, so when I get home, if you are especially interested in a certain site or topic, I am guaranteed to have pictures of more artifacts and ruins, so please don't hesitate to ask.