Day 5 Photo Album Link
After a visit to Ancient Olympia yesterday, about an hour by car from Kyparissia, we enjoyed another traditional Greek dinner at the hotel. We have dinners on the patio outside, overlooking the beach, eating family style at large round tables that each seat about 8 people. Each night we mix up who sits where so that eventually we all enjoy each other's company by the end of the trip. We had a leisurely dinner with lots of conversations about the day's highlights and random comments about what students have enjoyed the most so far. At my table, Torr amazed us with how much watermelon one person could eat! To be fair, it is the most delicious watermelon you will ever eat. Not content with having leftovers from other tables, we managed to get a second heaping dish, which Torr almost single handedly demolished.
This morning, it was breakfast as usual, self service style, sitting outside overlooking the pool and the sea. Then Yannis showed up with his vehicle and bike trailer, and we managed to load up the vehicles with the bikes that wouldn't fit on the trailer. Off to Elsie Forest, about 15 minutes drive from the hotel, where we met up with some NOKY athletes of all ages. We warmed up with a short bike ride through the forest before starting the mini triathlon. After the warm up, I was asked to drive the support vehicle for the bike portion of the race to ensure all the athletes were accounted for, and , I suspect, to make sure someone else would be the victor:). Yannis explained to us the history behind the triathlon sport (swimming, biking, running) and for today, we did a short swim in the sea before heading to the bikes and then a short run. The sun was beating down as the Canadians and Greeks got into the friendly competition. We were impressed by how hard the NOKY boys and girls train and by how fast they are at this sport. In the end, medals for the top three from each country were awarded to girls and boys in addition to medals to three others for their perseverance and effort. It was great to get together with many local girls and boys, some whom we had met at the dancing lesson a couple of days before at the hotel. Integrating with the local community is such an important part of this experience, one that will be repeated over the next few days during excursions and then again at the party with lots of people from the community at Yannis' place where we will have dinner outside followed by live Greek music (the reason for the dancing lesson) on Sunday night.
Afterwards, most of us couldn't wait wait to get back into the sea for another swim; after all, it's an amazing setting and the water is at the perfect temperature. After we cooled off, it was time to head back to the hotel and some time at the pool, to go for a walk into town, or relax for awhile. Tomorrow will be a packed day, including the famous Neda River walk and waterfalls. Sure to be another highlight of the trip! Weather forecast is hot, very hot (what a surprise!). Looking forward to more of Amalia's tunes from her playlist in the car!
Xavier Abrioux
Today was I think my favourite day so far! The triathlon was super challenging but such a fun and rewarding experience. It made me so happy to see everyone pushing themselves and trying their best and I was so proud of everyone for completing the race! Watching the NOKY athletes run, bike and swim was so inspiring because it was clear how hard they must train to be in that kind of shape. I also really enjoyed the free time in the afternoon because we got to be independent and visit the town, swim, or write about all the amazing experiences we've had already. I'm very excited for the River Walk tomorrow, and curious as to what we could possibly do to top today. Also, Mr. Abrioux and I have a pretty good time in the car singing at the top of our lungs....
ReplyDeleteThe triathlon was an exciting and well organized event led by Yanis and the local kids from the NOKY triathlon club. It was fun to participate with them and see how they all supported each other, even though the kids were many different ages.
ReplyDeleteI found the swimming portion of the mini triathlon the most fun, as the water was cool and refreshing on such a hot day. The biking was fun as well, although some people fell when the bikes skidded in the sand. However, by the time many people were running, it was almost the afternoon, and it was extremely hot. I think everyone was grateful for water and shade when they crossed the finish line. This was a great experience that I would love to do again. A big thank you to Yanis and members of the NOKI triathlon club for organizing this exciting and fun event.
I gained a new appreciation for triathlon athletes swimming in the ocean. While it was not as easy as the pool it was certainly refreshing on the hot morning. It was good to see the SMUS students push themselves out in the Ionian Sea. Very proud of those who went beyond their comfort zone and were able to complete the task.
ReplyDeleteThanks go out to Yanni and the NOKY athletes for helping with this event.
The triathlon was a lot of fun. Even if you did not finish first, you could still feel the sense of accomplishment of finishing the race. During the biking portion of the race, I found myself racing against a girl from the NOKY club. We had been biking with each other for a while, and during the first half of the biking portion of the triathlon, we both took a wrong turn! It was nice to just feel the competitive energy between us. Overall, the triathlon was a lot of fun, and I appriciated the bits of competitive action the event had to offer.
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