Valerie has wanted to visit Greece for years and we finally have a chance to on this cruise. Today, we docked in the port of Katakolo near the ruins of ancient Olympia. The past few days, we were worrying about how to get to Olympia from the town without paying for the exorbitantly priced ship tour. There is a cheap train connection, but it only runs 3 times a day, and our ship was arriving relatively late at 2pm. Luckily, our fears were unfounded. At the port, there were several bus companies advertising 10 euro round trips. We opted for a slightly more expensive transfer directly from the ship that was advertised at the last minute by Costa (presumably to maximize the people who sign up for their tour).
The ruins at Olympia were the site of the ancient Olympics. While some of the buildings have been partially excavated and reconstructed from the buried ruins, most of the site is still in ruins, with piles of ancient rubble placed along the side of the walking paths. We tried to follow Rick Steves walking tour, but ended up getting a bit lost and just wanted around the ruins for a while, lingering in spots of shade as we happened upon them.