This morning we skipped breakfast in the dining room entirely in order to sleep in a bit. My muffins arrived in the room, and Bryan picked up a muffin & donut down at the cafe while we had the man at the bar top off our water bottles.

As we stepped off the boat, dodging the women dressed as Greek goddesses that we were supposed to get our picture with, we saw the tour bus that had been recommended in our guide book right there . We had tried to make a reservation online some time ago, but it hadn't gone through. Lucky for us, they had room aboard, and we got onto the bus just the same. As we waited for the bus to leave, they played lively Greek music. The bus left (with us on it, of course) at 9 a.m.

They drove us from Katakolon (a tiny fishing village) to Olympia. It took about 45 minutes, and there was commentary about Greece as we drove through the countryside. It was nice to get away from port and see some of the land.

Once we arrived in Olympia, we toured the ruins of the site where the original Olympic games took place. What could have been a hot, confusing pile of rubble was for us a self guided walk that Bryan read aloud from the iPhone copy of Rick Steves' guidebook. We identified the different areas. Various sporting areas and temples. We would find a bit of shade under a tree or by a pillar and Bryan would read about the next site. I even took my place in the marble starting blocks for the races and got my picture taken.

Then we left that portion and found a shaded bench where we could eat a snack. Bryan had a chef salad out of a zip-lock baggie, I had half a club sandwich and a banana, and we both had Pringles and a cookie. Then we soldiered on to the museum and some better-than-nothing air conditioning.

The museum, I thought, was fascinating . It had all the special bits they had found at the site we had just walked through. It showed models of what the area would have been like, and then showed the actual sculptures (in fragments) that adorned these buildings. There were tools, pottery, and all manner of interesting things. There were also very strict docents who would run across the room startling anyone who accidentally took a photo with the flash on, or stood too close to a sculpture. I was very thankful that Leslie's camera we borrowed has a specific "museum" mode that will not allow it to flash.

When we were done taking in all the exhibits, Bryan and I walked into town. We found WiFi and updated the blog. We looked around in a couple of shops, and then returned to the bus. They drove us back to the boat, and we had a late lunch of burgers and fries from the grill around 2 p.m.

Just as we got back to our room, I realized it was time for Zumba down in Club Fusion, so I grabbed my water bottle and a towel and headed down there. There were about 30 people there for the class, and the instructor was fun. I had a good time dancing around, and came back to the stateroom red-faced and exhausted. Before too long, it was time to get ready for dinner. Meanwhile, Bryan did some laundry.

We've left the port awhile ago, and must be moving along pretty fast now, because there is a gentle sway . Not enough to make you walk diagonally down the hallways or anything, just the slightest bit, that reminds you you are on a ship. Personally, I like it.

I babysat our laundry and arrived at dinner just as the first course was being served. (This worked out because I order the night before.) It was a French themed dinner. I had duck, and Bryan got some frog legs to try. It was two pairs of back legs, still attached to one another in a very frog-like manner. Most everyone at the table had at least one bite. Bryan said they did, in fact, taste like chicken. For dessert they served me pumpkin pie, which I was surprised to enjoy. Bryan got a gooey chocolate cake/pudding thing with some almond brittle on top. He really enjoyed it.

After dinner we walked half a loop on the promenade. It is about all we can stand due to the humidity. We took seats down in front for the show, Motor City. The show was a nice way to pass some time, then we walked back out on the promenade, and finally went back to our room to order Bryan a sandwich for tomorrow. The sandwich didn't come the way we ordered it, so we ordered again and waited. Then we could finally go to bed, and did. We wanted to get as much sleep as we could before rising early tomorrow.

About twenty minutes later, there's a knock on the door. "Room service!" Bryan gets up at the second knock and is explaining through the door that we didn't order anything...

"It's cake."
"Cake?"
"Um, it's pie. Apple pie."

So Bryan opens the door, and it is two more pieces of pumpkin pie from dinner. At 11:20 p.m. Just in case I needed a lactose-free midnight snack, I guess. We had to laugh.

So, room service is free on the ship. After a couple of weeks PB&J in train stations this is quite the novelty. We would take advantage of this by ordering ourselves sandwiches in the evening, eating the fries, and putting the sandwiches in the fridge. Then, the next day we would have a snack that we could take to shore with us and save the money and hassle of finding food. Not that we didn't enjoy the local cuisine, it was just less stressful to have food with us. That way we didn't have to worry about Mer's allergy or how much to spend. But really, it saved us money for more gelato!