This morning we arrived in Katakolo around 8:00am. We had breakfast at 7:30 and were off the ship by 8:45am. We had arranged transportation through Get Your Guide on a hop on hop off bus that would take us to the Archeological Site. We also pre-purchased tickets to the Olympia Archeological site which we had to pickup at the ticket office. This time we had a google translator downloaded so we were prepared to communicate.
When we walked off the ship, we made our way to the parking lot and saw the Hop on Hop Off bus waiting for us. We got on and showed our pre-purchased tickets. We were given a receipt along with a set of headphones each. We went upstairs and found 5 empty seats with a decent view on the top floor which had a roof for shade, but was open air. So far so good! It was not that hot yet, we had good seats, and we were looking forward to the nice breeze along the way. Everything was going as planned.
Five minutes later… Tavis pointed out that the Hop On Hop Off bus only goes half way to Olympia. So apparently every town has an archeological museum in Greece, and this was not the one we were expecting. Oops, my bad! Tavis grabbed the bus map off my lap in frustration and our museum passes (which I was also holding) flew out of my hands!
This was definitely one of those “Oh crackers!” moments! Here we were on a bus that wasn’t going where we wanted, and we had no tickets to the museum that we planned to go to, which wasn’t even where we were going. We had no internet or phone, but at least we had Google Translator downloaded. We had the rest of the bus ride to come up with a new plan for the day… It was definitely going to be an adventure, just not the one we planned.
When the bus stopped, I looked all over and found our ticket at the front with a footprint on it. Phew, crisis averted! We now had tickets again to a museum that we couldn’t get to. We decided we might as well check out the Archeological Museum in Pyrgos, as I recalled our ticket was valid at all surrounding sites. It was worth a try to salvage the mistake.
We got off at the museum stop along with 2 other people. Weird that no one else got off. We walked down the street to the museum… closed on Mondays… Oh wait, it WAS Monday!
Well, we decide to make the best of it. We walked down the street and found a pharmacy so we popped in and bought hair conditioner for 4 euros. At least Ayva and I would not have tangled hair the rest of the trip!
We had no idea what to do, so Tavis tried turning on his phone… no signal. Useless! We noticed a bus station on the Hop On Hop Off Bus map so we decided to walk toward it.
We arrived at the bus station at 10:06. The ticket agent spoke English and she informed us that a bus would leave for Olympia at 10:30. For 2,20 euros each we could get air conditioned transportation the rest of the way. She told us it would be a 30 minute ride which still gave us lots of time to visit the Archeological Site. We purchased a return ticket and sat down to wait. While we were waiting, Addison was able to connect to the free wifi and fixed his phone. Yay! He was now back on the grid and we would be able to communicate with him back on the ship!
At 10:20, we tried to get on the bus parked in front of the Olympia sign, but the driver told us “Wrong bus”. We spoke to a few locals who helped us get on the right bus. We were finally on our way to Olympia! It was not a quick 30 minutes though. We stopped at every stop along the way. As time was ticking down we tried to stay positive and chatted with some very friendly locals who were happy to communicate in their broken English. Everyone was so friendly. It took an hour, but we did arrive in Olympia around 11:20.
We made it to Olympia! Next we had to find out where to go. A local asked if she could help and we told her we were looking for the museum. She pointed down the road and gave instructions. We walked past the buses, and across a bridge, just like she said. We arrived at the ticket booths and there were long line ups. We knew it could take a long time. Tavis stood in one line, and I stood in another. I handed Ari our pre-paid receipt and asked him to walk behind to see if he could find anything out. He came back moments later with tickets! We were finally in!!!
We spent an hour in the archeological site. It was hot, but amazing! We saw archeologists actively digging, and others restoring walls. We were able to walk most of the site while resting in the shade throughout. There were a lot more trees than I expected. After exploring the area, we made our way to the museum for an express 20 minute walk through. We did not enough time to read everything, but we didn’t want to miss the bus back to Pyrgos.
After exploring the Archeological Site and the museum, we made our way back to the bus stop with 20 minutes to spare. We saw a local so we asked him if we were in the right place. He spoke French. The kids all rushed over and were excited to speak with him. They seemed to have a nice conversation and had a big grin on his face. He seemed happy to speak with us. His bus came before ours but he told us to wait for the blue bus. It was just a few minutes later. When we got on the bus, we sat in the front seats and met a fellow Canadian who came here on vacation, fell in love, and married a local. We had a great conversation with her. Ari asked her how to say “Thank you in Greek…”Eff par-dee-stO”
It was neat to take the city bus because it went along the back roads, rather than the highway. We had plenty of time to catch our bus back to the terminal, we just needed to find the Hop On Hop Off bus stop.
We got off the city bus and started walking toward the Hop On Hop Off stop. Tavis saw another pharmacy and popped in to look for something. As he was in the store, our bus was driving by. The driver must have recognized us because he stopped in the middle of the road and opened the door. Ari ran into the store to get Tavis who was coming out and we all ran into the street and hopped on the bus… literally! He didn’t even ask to see our tickets! This bus had no shade upstairs so we sat at a table downstairs. We were on our way back to the cruise terminal. We met a family from Austria who were very nice as well. It is fun trying to communicate with others. Everyone we meet seems to speak a little English.
After getting back on the ship, we had under an hour before we departed. We ate lunch, watched us leave port, then had about 5 games of bowling before Tavis and I returned to our room to get to Monday work tasks.
Today was such a great experience! We met lots of friendly people and saw some great little towns. I can see why people love Greece. It will definitely be an adventure we will remember!
Nautical Info
Early in the morning we passed approximately 4 nautical miles from the island of Zakynthos. In the afternoon left the moorings with destination Piraeus, Greece. Towards dinner time, one of the most important points of the Greek coast was visible on the left of the ship, namely the lighthouse of the island of Sapienza, where we passed at a distance of about 10 nautical miles. Throughout the evening, the ship will circumnavigate the Peloponnese. Distance between Katakolon and Piraeus: 269 nautical miles.