Day 6 - Excursion to Nemea, Visit to Fortress of Palamidi, Souvenir Shopping, and Sweet Tasting

Today we visited Nemea. This was not a residential community as the Acropolis and Delphi were. Nemea was designed as an athletic facility for sporting events and games. Though it was not residential, similar to other historic sites, it contained some essentials such as a temple for Zeus with alters for sacrifices, a hotel, a bath “house”, a place for spectators to pitch tents, practice facilities, areas for livestock, and a stadium for sports.

Heracles aka Hercules was considered the hero of Nemea due to the 12 Labors, one of which was killing a lion, that he performed in service to King Eurystheus. The story of Hercules is part fact, part fiction as is most of Greece’s ancient history.

The Nemea site was different than the others because we were allowed inside of the ruins to see things a bit more up close. We particularly enjoyed the Temple and seeing a film about the Stadium where activities such as foot races, the discus. and long jumps took place. Games lasted 1-2 weeks, were only attended by men since they were completed in the nude, and offered annually. Women eventually had similar games, but wore clothed. In 1996, the games were revived in this location in conjunction with the Olympic Games.

After our excursion to Nemea, we headed back into the city. Remember those 999 steps to the Fortress of Palamidi that we were considering climbing? Well, we all visited the fort, but six of us took the stairs. That climb was uphill all the way. Seriously! We had two people complete the climb in about 11 minutes as they tried to beat our Travel Director’s record. The last two of us went for completion, not speed. We took 30 minutes. We visited with some folks and stopped for pictures along the way. It was hard! At points our thighs were on fire and our hearts were working hard to keep up. But we did it! Nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment or the views from way up high. We CAN do hard things.

The rest of the day we had time for naps because walking 1000+ steps is exhausting. We also got in a bit more souvenir shopping before our family dinner. After another wonderful dinner, we enjoyed a taste of a local favorite, loukoumades, aka Greek Donuts. They were hot, fresh, and so delicious. They were reminiscent of funnel cakes, but in balls with honey drizzled over them. Yum! 😋

We ended the evening early. There is packing to do as we prepare for a full day of activities tomorrow before our return to Athens. καληνυχτα (Good night)!