April 16, 2005
April 16 Photos: Ben
Even in seventy-degree weather, snowcapped Taiyetos towers over the city, forming a breathtaking backdrop for modern buildings.
The cluttered food stalls of the Saturday market in Sparta burst with energy.
The many colors of the market stalls.
Fresh tomatoes anyone? Enough here to feed a small army.
A seller scans the crowd for potential buyers.
Jackie discovers that the vendors sell more than fresh produce at the market.
Nothing like a nutritional lunch of Nutella crepes to satisfy Jackie’s, Caleb’s and Neha’s midday hunger.
The group has been pleasantly surprised by Sparta’s charm. The beautiful fountain and flowers in the background illustrate the appeal of the city.
Nkosi poses for human scale by the twentieth century animal-driven press. The animals are hitched to the wooden beam and then walk around the press, grinding the olives into a pulp.
The olive pulp is placed into the sack that Jackie is about to crush using a manually-operated press. The juice flows into the collection bins below.
Informative models like this one captivated the group, as the various machines in the model actually moved to demonstrate the process of producing olive oil.
The Greeks have used olives to make products other than oil. One such product is soap. Shown here is a soap-stamping press.
Orange trees, sheep (lower left corner) and paintball. Only in Sparta.
Yankee Stadium has Monument Park; the United Center in Chicago has the Michael Jordan statue. The Spartan soccer stadium greets visitors with Leonidas.
Intimidating Lacedaemonian shields on the stadium fence flank the Leonidas statue.