Miki and Jake's Heart of Greece 2023
Ancient Olympia to Kardamyli
Our favorites from Olympia. Can we run like Olympians? Jacob can. Mikayla on the other hand, cannot, although I managed to make it to the other side without stopping, albeit, very winded. After proving to not be an olympic runner, we made it to the Mani Peninsula to a small, gorgeous seaside village, (Miki's personal favorite), Kardamyli.
01
How Charming
Did you know, olympic athletes during training sessions would pat sand on themselves. One reason was to block the suns rays so they would not burn. Another was to make it easier to grip their opponents when sweating. After they were done with training sessions, they would scrape off the hardened sand and oil with a metal scraper, put it in a jar, and then sell it to customers. How charming...
02
Which Would You Rather?
Winners of the Olympic games had a statue made of themselves and placed near the athletes' entrance to the stadium. They also won the olive wreath and received food for the rest of their lives. However, if they were caught cheating, the athlete and their village had to pay for a statue of their own to be erected with a caption underneath of what they did wrong. The village where the cheater came from could not enter the olympic games for 4 olympics. Upon entering the stadium, athletes would spit on the statues of the cheaters, and admire the winners. Which would you rather? I know what I would choose.
03
Taste Testing
To test if an athlete were using enhancements (like modern day steroids) during the games, they had experts who would taste test the urine to see if it was contaminated. I am glad they have a more sanitary way of testing that now.
