Olympia, my favorite site on the trip.  I guess it had some kind of special meaning to me, since I did carry the Olympic Flame for the 1996 Atlanta Games.  On that day, June 5, 2000, I got to see where it all began.  Just weeks prior, the torch setting ceremony took place there in Olympia....I just missed it.
Olympia was in good shape I thought and the Olympic stadium was in perfect condition.  I'm sure there'll be some sort of ceremony there in 2004 when the Olympics return to Greece.

Here I sit in Pheidius's workshop.  Pheidius, who I mentioned earlier, is considered by many to be the finest sculpter in all of history.  He did, afterall, create one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World; the statue of Zeus at Olympia.  And right were I'm sitting is where he made it.
He was often commissioned to sculpt pieces, (Like the Athena at the Parthenon) and where ever he went, a workshop would be built for him.  It took him 7 years to sculpt the Zeus, who stood at 70 feet and was made of Ivory and Gold.
The statue survived till after Christ, when the Turks melted it down.

Here's pretty much all that's left from the Temple to Zeus.  This fallen column (Earthquake) lies close to where the statue once stood.

Here you see the individual drums from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia.

The Olymipc Arch...the gateway to the Olympic stadium, which was in perfect condition.

Now all our guys decided to run a foot race in the stadium, and I could kick myself for not joining them.  It was a once in a lifetime experience that I passed up only because I didn't want to be the only girl running, which is stupid.  At least I got some good pictures of them running.

Me with the winner and Olympic Champion!  You can't see it, but he had an olive branch behind his ear.

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