Magnificent Mt. Olympus

 It was the thrill of my life😊.

From as far back as I can remember, my father used to read Greek mythology to me, telling me about the Greek gods and where they resided on the peaks of Mt. Olympus,.

 I never dreamt I would actually get to see it much less hike in the area.

The Mt. Olympus range is 25 kms long and the peak some 10,000 ft. Although we only hiked to the top of the Enipea  Canyon through which the river by the same name runs, it was the thrill of my life. 

And it was not at all as cold as I thought it would be. 

Mt. Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece and the 2nd highest in the Balkans 

For this trip, our base was this cute, quaint, laid back little village of  Litochoro at the bottom of the mountain.

The Greek Easter starts May 5th and some households do "spring cleaning " in preparation. Here they are sunning their rugs.

The beauty all around is simply awesome.

Section of Greek Orthodox Church in Litochoro

A small shrine in the mountains 

I can't believe I am at Mt. Olympus 😊

The valley is so deep I was sometimes scared to look down 😲

Sections of Mt. Olympus 

A filter plant for the refreshing spring water

Enipea River

Sections of the town of Litochoro, beneath the magnificent Mt. Olympus

Enipea River runs down into the canyon

Can't get over how fat and well groomed stray animals are in Greece 

Met this mother and daughter from Tanzania. Nice people.

Filling up with spring water for the trek up the mountain.

This trek into the mountains made my trip to Greece the experience of a lifetime.

Thanks Gabby ❤️.

We owe the Greeks!

In front of Archeological Museum in Athens

The Archeological Museum in Athens sell off. Omg. 

For $12 euros, there is so much to learn!

The Greek artistic Renaissance dates back to the 7 th century BC, but because their sculptures were mainly carved from bronze and marble, the damage over the centuries have been minimal. 

These bronze statues from shipwrecks are now displayed in the sculpture garden. They were found in deep under the sea.

Of course they have worked a great deal to restore them, but considering some were found up to 50 meters (around 160 feet) under water, and restored.

Absolutely amazing.

Others were found in graves, on grave stones of the wealthy and in regular digs.

The Greeks surely created art and  carved statues for everything! 

The gold displays from the Mycenaean Age were especially magnificent.

 They used pure gold strips to make utensils, vases clothes, jewelry, even cover the buttons on the clothes of the wealthy. I was especially overwhelmed by their death masks carved from gold too.

Ancient Greek artists celebrated the male human body with all its flaws, claiming it was more beautiful than the female form. So,

while most male statues were of nudes,  the women were clad.

Posing with Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus and the goddess of love and beauty.

 Did you notice that the men are usually nude, but the women well clad?

This sculpture was lost in a shipwreck and found deep underwater centuries later.

In the Sculpture Garden.

There is controversy as to whether this is a statue of Zeus or Poseidon. It was found underwater.

The women were never displayed naked.

 Of special interests to me, is the fact that the hair of both men and women seem to be in either neat locks or braids?

Very Curious!

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I am happy they restored so much their art over the centuries, as it adds a great deal to the history and culture of the world.