This is Part 3 of a 10 part series on the Disney Magic Mediterranean/Greek Isles cruise. For links to the rest of the trip report please visit here!
We woke up this morning very excited, our first port day! We opened the curtains to our verandah to see that we were already docked in the small port town of Katakolon, Greece.
After a very quick bite to eat at Cabanas (Mickey waffles for me!) we headed straight to D Lounge, which was the meeting place for our excursion set up that day through Disney. We checked in with our excursion tickets and photo ID and followed our group (number 15 that day!) to the bus, located just outside the ship.
Katakolon is located about 30 minutes from Olympia, Greece, our destination for the day. During the ride our tour guide gave us lots of history about the areas we were traveling through in preparation for our visit to the archaeological ruins.
We arrived at the Archaeological Site of Olympia, which is still being actively explored by archaeologists, as you can see in the picture below:
Some photos of the Archaelogical site at Olympia:
Inside the Temple of Hera:
The Olympic arch:
From 776-726BC there was just one single Olympic event, the “Stade”, a foot race. This is a photo of the starting line of the race, where a person on either end would hold a rope, then drop it when the race began. For all you Disney World fans, this is THE original “rope drop”! It prevented any cheating at the start of the race, as the person attempting to start too soon would be tripped by the rope!
However, there still were cheaters. Here the name of the person who cheated (or bribed someone), plus the names of his parents and his home town would be displayed for all who entered the stadium to see. This was a great shame for the men and their families!
Following the archaeological site we visited the museum, on a tour led by our guide who did a great job explaining what we saw there:
This is a lot of information to take in, but if you’re interested in learning more about Olympia please visit the UNESCO website here. Olympia was fascinating, and I’m so glad I had the chance to visit!
There is a small cafe and shop at the exit of the site where we relaxed for a few minutes. Brent enjoyed a Greek beer (Alfa), I just watched since I’d had a fresh squeezed orange juice (which was so yummy!) on our walk from the site to the museum.
Our group boarded the bus and we drove into modern Olympia for some shopping.
We boarded the boat and took showers (it was HOT at Olympia!) then decided to go have a refreshing drink at Cove Cafe, the adults only coffee/drink shop on the Magic
There is outdoor seating just outside Cove Cafe, and that’s where we chose to watch the Magic sail away from Katakolon!
After Cove Cafe was dinner at Carioca’s, one of my favorites!
Deep Fried Lobster Croquetas with a Banana-Lentil Salad and Creamed Horseradish
Empanadas Panzudas de Carne: Argentianina Beef Empanadas with Red Chimichurri
This is the chicken I had, it’s not on the regular Carioca’s menu, but it was in place of the pork belly and was very good!
Skewers: Beef and Sausage (this is also a little different from the standard rotational which includes shrimp and lobster)
Coconut Tres Leches “Three Milk” cake
Sweet Temptations: A trio of Torta de Choclate, Strawberry Cheesecake and De la Costa Cream Cheese Flan
Our towel animal tonight was a dog! Our stateroom host Jojo used my sunglasses again, I love that 🙂
Off to bed, ready for another early port day tomorrow, Athens, Greece!
