Greece: Day 3

A busy day yesterday, so the post is coming in late. 

We traveled from the Mani to Olympia and toured the site of the first Olympics dating to 767 BCE.  The kids raced on the site where the races would have been held.  We saw the temple to Zeus that was destroyed, but the column rings are still resting alongside what was once the great hall.

Not to be outdone, a smaller--but earlier--temple to Hera is the first temple that you see upon entering the grounds.  If not to be outdone by all of that, a Christian church was built after the 4th century CE, with its back to the Zeus temple.  It is wonderful when architecture disses (in this case literally turns its back on) the other architecture. 

While in Olympia, we watched the amazing end to the U.S. soccer team's victory over Algeria.  When Landon Donovan scored the winning goal, one of the students remarked, "Zeus is being kind to us."  Only in Greece!

One of the consistent parts of the trip thus far has been the hospitality we have received when we eat out.  Every time we receive something that has not been ordered but is given as a courtesy.  Even sliced apples with cinnamon while stopping for a quick cup of coffee is a surprising chance for refreshment and grace.  Clearly, traveling has its benefits, but the dessert last night of watermelon for everyone at the small village restaurant we ate at was another expression of hospitality and graciousness.  It is not hard, but it is so amazing how blessed you can feel because of the simple act of another.  I suppose attentiveness to these things are key in life, even when the world is flying by.

Hopefully we develop and encourage this art of living and we take time to attend to it.