Day 14 Athens

Some days are special because of what we see. Others are important because of what we eat (most actually). And still others stand out for what we get to do. Today is one of those days. Today was not only the perfect activity, but the perfect timing as well. Today was centered around the Olympics! We did a private personal training session based on the events of the original Olympics.

Highlights from day 14

We once again planned our Athens excursion as early as possible because of the heat. Summer does not mess around here.
We met our trainer, Evi, at Zappeion Hall which was originally built for the first modern day Olympic Games in the 1890s. Here, we warmed up and then learned the first event: discus. While we all looked pretty awesome spinning, Michael’s frisbee skills definitely paid off here.

We had to pause our discus throwing because the military was practicing marching in front of the Zappeion. Pretty cool to watch, aaaand definitely not who you want to hit with a weighted frisbee.

We then moved to a nearby gymnasium, one of the first in Greece. Here we learned proper technique for different original Olympic sports: javelin, long jump, and shot put. Evi interwove facts about the Olympics along the way. It’s the Olympics, so of course we had to keep track the winners of each event. Luckily there were men’s, women’s, and kid’s categories, so we all came out on top. Also worth noting, we used very modified equipment for safety, but we got to hold and feel the weight of the real tools as well.
I’m going to pause here and just state how cool this was. It was the perfect way to participate in history with a splash of athleticism and fun.

We then ventured to our third and final stop: the all marble, first Olympic stadium of the modern games used in 1896. Fun fact: part of the marble came from one of the islands we visited earlier this week.
We got to walk through the tunnel where the athletes would enter the stadium. Of course at that time, it was only men and their trainers allowed on the grounds (all naked) and only men in the stands (also connected to the nakedness). We went ahead and stayed clothed.

We then raced a lap around the stadium. I’ll let you see in the picture who won…and by how much. We ended with standing on the podium in celebration.

There was a small Olympic museum that has all the Olympic torches since they began using them in the 1940s. Fun fact 2: Every Olympic torch is initially lit in Greece. Women dress in ancient garb and use a tool like the one below to harness the sun to light the torch. The torch then tours Greece before heading to the host country.

The was definitely a trip highlight for us all, made even more special by the start of the Olympic Games the very next day.
For all of you fans of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, every Greek we’ve talked to consistently explains how our words originated from Greek words; strong Gus Portokalos vibes.
After spending the afternoon resting in the Airbnb and waiting for the heat to die down a bit. we heading to Syntagma Square. We watched the guards ‘march’ at the tomb of the unknown soldier. I say ‘march’ because it was truthfully more like rhythmic, choreographed movements completely in sync. They even had taps of sorts on their shoes to increase the sound.