Ok so that '4 hr direct train at 5 am' was really a 6 hr trip at 6 am, with 2 train changes, good thing I didn't have anywhere to be! I got to Ancient Olympia around noon, thanks to a German family waking me up on the train... I doubt I would have slept through it, it was the last stop on the line, but it was nice to be looked out for.

When we got there, thanks to the delay, there was no way to make it to Nafplia that night, so I enjoyed the day and decided to take the 5:30 bus to Tripoli and spend the night there.

The ruins were cool, all the temples to Zeus, minus his statue (one of the 7 wonders of the world) which was destroyed in Constantinople after being blamed for something. The stadium that Herkules measured out to be 600 ft was there, it was good to find someone else who measures in feet! Fact: the word stadium comes from the length of the gods' race, 600 of Herkules' feet is an 'stadiu.'

There was also remnants of a kiln, the workshop where the statue of Zeus was made, and the outline of all the buildings, the boxing ring being the coolest, I thought.

The museum was really cool, check out the pics when I get back of Athena and Hermes, two amazingly intact statues for what they've been through.

The bus stop was manned by an old Greek man who didn't seem to like tourists, questions, English or me, so I was pretty much out of luck with communication, but I managed to get a bus to Tripoli and decided to get a hotel there for the night and continue on after a REAL nights' sleep to Nafplia. At the stop I met two Norwegian guys who spoke English and were in the same boat as me, but they managed to leave too, headed to Corinth.

The bus to Tripoli... what can I say about that... To start, for the first hour it was just the driver, his assistant, and me. I guess the radio could count as a person too- it was blaring and the two guys were singing at the top of their lungs. Thankfully it was the only radio station in Greece that doesn't play American music so I didn't have to listen to Britney Spears karaoke.

Despite all that I fell asleep, and woke up to find more people on the bus and no more singing. Out the window was an amazing valley between snow capped mountains, and we were weaving along a one lane road (but still traffic in both directions). And I had to pee.

I guess I should describe the bus, it was a totally tricked out Mercedes Benz tour bus, and the driver was pretty proud of it. So proud that he had memoribilia hanging everywhere. So proud he had official 'Mercedes Benz' coverings, rugs and decals on every inch. So proud he had the bathroom locked, to keep it in mint condition. And no, he would NOT open it. Finally there was a spot wide enough to run outside and do business, and I must say it was the best view I've ever had while doing it. The sun was setting way at the end of the valley, but I didn't dare take time to take a picture.

We got to Tripoli, which is NOT a tourist town, about 9 pm. I couldn't get my phone to work, or skype, so I had to get on MSN and ask a friend from high school to call my mom and tell her I where I was. I negotiated a room for 40 euro in a business hotel, but it was nice to have my own room and be able to get a looooong night sleep. Would have been even nicer if there hadn't been a club next door, but I still went to sleep just as fast.