The Idiot occasionally interrupts his Mediterranean beachside walking adventure in the Peloponnese by venturing inland to savor a quintessentially Greek treasure like the ruins at Olympia, once a Sanctuary of Zeus and for centuries the venue of the summer Olympic Games.

Zeus himself encouraged the Idiot to abandon the trail on Saturday and head for the hills (actually Mount Kronion) when his trademark clacks of thunder and torrential rain (the first here in three months) at dawn made MedTrekking an unwise option.

When the Idiot reached Olympia, where the Games were held every four years beginning in the 8^th century BC, the rain had stopped and he meandered for two hours amidst the tranquility of a spot that Homer said is “blessed by Zeus and spacious.” It’s particularly spacious when there are no naked Greek athletes practicing in the stadium (which could hold 45,000 people back in the day), gymnasium, palaestra or other parts of the expansive archeological site.

“Blessed by Zeus and spacious,” wrote Homer.

The delight of being sidetrekked to a luscious locale like Olympia is that it’s as calming as a meditative retreat at a monastery. The Idiot listened to the stones speak; did twenty pushups, sit-ups, planks, bends and stretches to assert his own feeble ability in the pentathlon; and sought out the sacred olive tree from which the winners’ wreathes were cut with a gold scythe.

See the sacred olive tree?

The Idiot relaxes after his mini-pentathlon.

Yesterday afternoon The Idiot returned to the rain-hardened sandy coast to wander south on the beaten beaches near rhythmically named Katakolo, a port town that exists primarily/solely to service the multilevel cruise ships with thousands of passengers who spend some time at Olympia and some euros in the scores of curio shops.

Not that Katakolo should be dismissed entirely. At the exceptionally offbeat Museum of Ancient Greek Technology you’ll learn about “100 operating reconstructions of mechanism and inventions from Greek Antiquity,” including the first robot, the first alarm clock and the first odometer.

Marvels at the Museum of Ancient Greek Technology.

The only photograph the Idiot took yesterday that surpassed this informative high-tech shot, which somewhat resembles a seventh grade science project, was a sweet picture of Hermes of Praxiteles. The iconic statue in the Olympia Museum dates from the fourth century BC and shows the messenger of the gods holding the infant Dionysus.

It almost turned the Idiot into stone.

Iconic Hermes by Praxiteles

Text and Photos: Joel Stratte-McClure

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About Joel

Joel Stratte-McClure has been a global trekker since the 1970s. He lived in France for over 30 years, working as a journalist, before he turned his attention to a unique life-time-project of walking the shores of the Mediterranean. The first 4,401 kilometers are explored in his inspirational and entertaining first book "The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean." The next 4,401 kilometers are covered in the gods-filled sequel, "The Idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean,” published on Valentine's Day 2013. The last 4,401 kilometers will be discussed in the last book of the trilogy currently entitled "The Idiot and the Odyssey III: Alexander the Great Walks the Mediterranean."