I picked up my first lift of the day after being on the road for an hour. It was a short lift in a van with a Greek poultry farmer who had an Australian accent. My notes record that 10 minutes later I got another lift from the same guy. No idea what happened!
I spent quite a while walking after these two short lifts. Hot sunshine and lots of gorgeous scenery to take in – mountains and lush vegetation in many shades of green. There were also a lot of insects. At one point…
…a big bright green, oblong-bodied insect got between me and my pack and settled on a white knob; in panic, threw the pack off and shooed the insect away.
Soon after the insect incident I picked up a lift in a dormobile with Jenny (from New Zealand), Sue (from USA), Duan (USA) and Doug (GB). We enjoyed some great music on the ride to Olympia (e.g., Eric Clapton, and The Who).
Olympia was set in beautiful surroundings, with green rolling hills and a blue sky forming the perfect backdrop to the stones and pillars of the site. We saw the gymnasium fountain (not working), temple, stadium, and the judges’ pews.
We found a campsite nearby and put up a couple of tents. Then we found a bar and had some ouzo – I think that was my first introduction to this classic drink – a classic drink in a classic setting! We had a big meal in the dormobile by candlelight back at the camp site, passing round the ouzo bottle while listening to Nursery Cryme sides 1 and 2 by Genesis. The conversation was largely about the drug scene and I felt a bit out of it (in the sense of not relating to the topic rather than being under the influence). As I noted…
Nothing against it, but it’s not for me!
Around midnight we walked the quarter mile into town for a goodnight coffee (I just had hot milk).
Images from the evening – fireflies glowing, flickering and blinking; the sound of frogs and crickets; dogs barking through the night.
Again, no mystery about tomorrow – I will still be in Olympia.
Psychologist on the Move 