Monday, May 2, 2011

To Olympia - A Day Of Surprises

As we were loading our bikes in front of our hotel for the day's ride to Olympia, we heard a shout from the road and there were our friends, Michael, Ciska, Jesse, Sammy, and Eva. We had a nice but too brief visit, they had a boat to catch in a few days time and were trying to get all the distance they could this day. We may not be able to catch up to them again as they are on to Italy days before us, and are landing in a port considerably farther north than ours. Though our friendship has been brief, it has been warm and if we don't see them again we will miss them.

There was a nice tail wind blowing and our route was flat for the first 12 kilometers. After that we expected to climb for the rest of the route to Olympia, but to our surprise the hills were gently rolling. Only the last two kilometers were stiffly uphill. We got into Olympia early in the afternoon, had a leisurely lunch, and found our campground. After setting up camp we walked into town and cruised the tourist shops. Belinda bought a nice blue ball cap with the Greek flag on it.

Here are pictures of our campground headquarters, camp host ( who has been running the campground for 32 years), and the camp puppy.









Tomorrow we will visit the site of the Ancient Olympics, and the two museums, one for the Ancient Olympics and one for the Modern Olympics.

Shrine of the day:




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3 comments:

Diana said...

The campground, host and puppy look welcoming. Do you cook in camp? That tail wind must have been a nice surprise. Speaking of wind, the Big Sur marathon was yesterday and it was a beautiful day with very little wind, a rare condition! I look forward to your pictures of Olympia.

Dave and Belinda said...

Hi Diana, it is a very amenable campground, and the puppy is the cutest little guy! On our trip across the states we cooked in camp, but on this trip the plan is to taste our way across Europe and only cook in camp when necessary. The exception is breakfast. Such an important meal for bicyclists. Even in hotels we often break our fast en suite. The European idea of breakfast often is juice, bread, and jam, not really adequate for a long day in the saddle.

Unknown said...

We had a great trip over to Italy.
Michael managed to get us a cabin for free for the night so we all had a good sleep across to Italy.
Now in Italy....first impression is fantastic.
Tomorrow of to Rimini.
Nice to read your blog again.Hope to meet somewhere in Europe or Holland.
Ciska and Family