The Expectations Game: Olympos

So we read through the Mediterranean coast section of our Lonely Planet and decided on Olympos as our next destination. By the time we actually got there, however, I had worked up a set of expectations based on the descriptions of at least three other places we'd reviewed and rejected. So there wasn't so much a lovely town as a lovely woods, and not so much a steep descent through town to the harbor as a muddy slop through underbrush to the pebble beach. But guess what? All the surprises were for the best. We were staying in a log cabin on a glorified campsite surrounded by pine forest and granite cliffs. And the beach was totally gorgeous.

I also managed to forget the main attraction, the ancient ruins. The city of Olympos is largely unexcavated, despite having been a relatively important religious and commercial center for the ancient Greeks. It was a surreal change of pace to hunt for columns, tombs, and ancient structures in the undergrowth and greenery. When or where else I will walk on millennia-old mosaic floors I don't know.



Finally, there was the Chimera - natural gas flames that "scientists" can neither explain nor extinguish, apparently - which wasn't in my guide-book for me to forget or confuse.

So Olympos, you surprised me. Thanks!

xoxo Jessie