Worst breakfast ever! A hard boiled egg with a stale piece of bread and orange flavored water. We met up with others from our group ordering second breakfast at the coffee counter. Delicious hot chocolate and a pain au chocolat – YUM! We invited others to join us for our flashmob dance practice on the deck. A group of ladies with a few token male participants joined us for the fun; people passing by though steph was leading an aerobics class of misfits. The Ionian Queen docked in Patra and we happily exited ferry. WELCOME TO GREECE! Speaking Italian came more easily now that it was useless to the Greeks.
Me mellow on the deck - soaking in the sun!
From ferry to bus, another long commute to Olympia, arriving around 3 pm. Rachel has more connections in Greece, so we had lunch at her friend’s restaurant where Chelsea and Sandra got to go down into the kitchen and see what was cooking. Our first Greek meal was a success. Sandra had suggestions (after her kitchen visit) and our table ordered family style. The food tasted divine and every morsel was devoured. Souvlaki, Mousakka (“moose caka?!”), Briam, stuffed tomatoes, yogurt doused in honey, some kind of lemon cake, spaghetti, and French fries, and 2 Greek salads. 
Rain came in through the windows as we paid our bill, and continued to pour for the next hour or so. The restaurant exit led us to a souvenir shop where we easily spent money on Greek paraphernalia while waiting for the sun to show. Our favorite guide, soaked from her previous tour, changed into a shirt from Rachel and happily shared her knowledge about Olympia. Water did not hinder us, the things we did to stay warm and/or dry made for unflattering photos.
Our guide, Marguerita, was so explicit in her information that it was not difficult to imagine the Olympians preparing for the games right before our eyes. We saw the temple of Zeus (like he really had anything to do with anything), Marguerita explained that we are said to be created in God’s image whereas the gods at that time were created in the image of man – hence the weaknesses and problems of the gods (who would want to worship human gods, blech?!). Standing under trees when possible, we kept as dry as we could while she showed us the exfoliation process (oiled bodies covered in sand – Amanda tried it later and was a fan), the original eternal Olympic flame remnants and the original stadium. Statues of the cheaters and winners lined the entrance to the grassy stadium. Amanda and steph took off running in the mud, others followed soon after. How cool to say you ran in the original Olympic Stadium?! Neat though dangerous in the slick mud.
we were so fast, we are now tiny and far away...
Olympia - wet 
I found out my vegan, yoga mat flip-flops... sud when wet.
Another 4 hours in the bus to get to our hotel in Iria on the beach. We arrived around 10:15pm, exhausted and hungry. Luckily our meal surpassed our breakfast a hundred fold! We drew our roommate sticks and found our big rooms with bunk beds at the Iria Mare hotel/resort. It was our shortest stay and the one with the best views and breakfasts.
honey and yogurt! YUM
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