We were met in Katakolon by driving rain, thunder and lightening, as well as our intrepid taxi driver George. George got a glowing write up on Cruise Critic a couple years ago and also gets a mention in the Rick Steve guidebook. In short, he is a popular guy and he has also figured out how to make it work for him. His Mercedes cab is equipped with video screens and a Wi-Fi node, perfect for all of us Internet junkies. He took us first to a local winery for a quick tour and tasting and then off to the site of the ancient Olympics.

Like I said at the start the weather sucked. George told us it was the first day it had rained since May. Coming from the soggy East Coast we were feeling a bit cursed. But we didn’t let the weather keep us from seeing what was a truly awesome site. It is the scale of the place that is the most amazing given it was only used every four years. You can stand in the original marble starting blocks and imagine what it would have been like two thousand years ago.

Poor George couldn’t stop apologizing for the weather, hence the title of this post. It delayed our docking at the port and as a result we also missed a side trip to his house for a homemade nosh courtesy of his wife, and a drive on the beach, too soggy for that. It was fun nonetheless.

Arriving back to the boat we have to give Azamara credit for having someone handing out hot chocolate spiked with a little rum. It was a nice touch. The captain was a bit over the top later that day, blathering on about how many lines he had thrown out to keep the boat moored and how the wind would make his job harder on departure. (It was sobering to hear this was the worst wind he’d ever encountered in his sailing career.) But, sorry there captain it is your job to handle that stuff. The comic in the evening show also skewered him for the same thing. Loved it, but I wonder if he’ll be back on Azamara.