Corinth and Cenchrea--The Final Tour

Our final tour day has ended with a visit to two sites mentioned in the New Testament in relationship to Apostle Paul. We began with a drive south from Athens, along the ancient road that lead from the site of the ancient Battle of Marathon (the 26 miles plus a hair) run by the fabled messenger who relayed news of the win to Athens (before he dropped dead of exhaustion). This was also the road to Eleusius, home of the famed Eleusinian Mysteries that celebrated the story of Demetre and Persephone. We stopped at the narrow isthmus connecting Attica and the Peloponnese that now features a deep canal connecting the Aegean and Ionian Seas. A coffee, snack, or souvenir shop later found us back on the bus and headed to Corinth.

Corinth developed  near the Isthmus with port cities on either side, dominating trade between the two seas. Ships could be unloaded and cargo hauled across a special road for stowage aboard another vessel in the opposing sea. Or, some entire ships could be unloaded, hauled across the road, and re-floated and loaded on the other side. This saved 7 or more days of sometimes treacherous sailing around the southern tip of Greece. Towering over tthe lower city is the Acro-Corinth, the acropolis that served in the biblical period as the site of the Cult of Aphrodite with its sacred temple prostitutes (some sources say there were over 1,000). To "be Corinthianized" was akin to saying one was licentious or a reprobate for having "worshiped" the goddess at Corinthian shrine. It was also at Corinth that Paul first met Priscilla and Aquilla.

Our visit focused on the lower city with its Archaic temple to Apollo (a century older than the Athenian Parthenon seen today), the Bema or judgment seat where the Book of Acts  records Paul being hauled into court before the Pro-counsel Gallio, who threw the case out of court as merely an internal debate among Jews. We enjoyed a stroll down the marbled Lechaion Road to the Peirene Fountain with both Greek and Roman ruins visible. Pastor Glenn paused the group to celebrate the Lord's Supper (Eucharist) under the shade of some trees, reading Paul's instructions to the Corinthian church on how it should be done.

We saw the lovely collection of remains in the small museum of the site, and some ventured down rougher hills to the area of the ancient theater to see the remains of an inscription mentioning the Aedile Erastus who is named in the New Testament three separate times ( Acts 19:22; Romans 16:23, and 2 Timothy 4:20).

A short drive out of Corinth we stopped at the end of the Canal, witnessed an Orthodox baptismal ceremony in process with scores pressed into a small chapel, and had lunch after crossing a small bridge. Little did we realize the bridge did not rise when boats passed, nor swung out of the way, but sank below the water. We enjoyed watching it drop from sight several times while we feasted on calamari, salad, fried fish, spaghetti, or a host of other dishes as the cool wind blew and the fantastically blue seas sparkled. 

Reluctantly returning to the bus, we drove a short way to see the ruins of ancient Cenchrea,  small port town visited by Paul and his companions. It was the home of Phoebe, a female deacon and leader in the early Christian church (Romans 16). The  remains included those foundations of an ancient temple to Isis tthat reached 500 feet out into the sea and included large enclosed pools of fishes. It is today a beach enjoyed by families in the heat of the Summer.

Back to the bus and a short ride back to Athens, the Acropolis rock seen towering above the city with the Parthenon shining in the Summer sun. Our trip is almost complete. We leave our hotel at 3:30 am tomorrow morning for our flight to Frankfurt and connection to DFW. We've had a fantastic time. We are sorry you had to travel with us only by Internet, and will look forward to your joining us in person next time.

Athio sas! (goodbye) from Athens!

Sitting, errr, Walking on the Seat of Democracy

Let it not be said we sat on our laurels and waited for victory to come to us. We walked in pursuit of her again today. Athena Nike would have been proud of us.

We began the tour day with a broken bus after making it no further than our seats on the first one! Ah, they don't make a Mercedes like they used to. But we soon were picked up by our bus' twin and set off for a surprise walking tour of the "Farmers" Market, Butchers' Alley, and Seafood Stalls of Athens.

A short drive took us down to the area below the Acropolis and we climbed up the ancient sacred processional way to the Propylaea, the gateway to the temple area of the hilltop. We heard a nice historical summary of the site of the Athenian Acropolis throughout Greece's historical periods. Climbing the steep steps (what else?) and passing through the Propylaea, we found ourselves standing and looking where the great figures of history have stood--from Roman emperors to Turkish sultans and Byzantine monks--not to mention Mark Twain who climbed over the fence at night after the site was closed down!). The Parthenon, temple of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom (among other things).

We toured the hilltop, marveling at not only the Parthenon itself (built in the 5th century BC during Athen's Golden Age,  but also the Erechtheum and its Porch of the Caryatids.
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 We peered over the edge of the ancient hilltop shrine and fortress and saw the city spread below us. We could see down to Piraeus, the port of the sity and out into the sea as far as the Island of Salamis, the site of Athens' last naval battle. We could also see the Temple of Zeus, Theatre of Herod Atticus, and Theatre of Dionysus.

 While there, a hawk flew over our heads, surely an ancient Roman sign of good fortune and blessing.
Descending from the hilltop with great reluctance and many photos later, we climbed up Mars Hill and Pastor Glenn read from the Book of Acts the passage of the Apostle Paul's discourse with the Athenians as he announced that the "Unknown God" they honoured in their Agora was none other than the Galilean Jesus Christ. Here, Christianity first came into contact with the Hellenistic philosophies it  would one day replace.

Back to the bus for a short driving tour of sites such as the 1896 Olympic Stadium, then back to the hotel where our day's tour ended, but our day did not. Some took a short siesta, others headed right back out. Lunch was first on many's menu, followed by shopping, a ride back to the Plaka area by Metro, or a visit to the National Museum.

Dinner is now over and we prepare for our last day of touring tomorrow--a trip to ancient Corinth!

Hanging Monasteries & Speaking Oracles

It is late and our day is not yet over. In fact, at 8pm we are still on the bus traveling between ancient Delphi and Athens. We hope to arrive in Athens about 9pm, scare up some supper, and rest up a little for our half-day of touring and half-free day tomorrow.

We began today with an uphill drive into the gorgeous sedimentary mountains of Meteora. Here more than three-score monasteries once clung to the precipitous sides of these hills and crags that thrust up into the Greek sky. We visited one, Saint Stephans, to see both old and new churches built hanging out over the

valley below. We saw manuscripts of the 14th century on; many of the older ones were sold across the years and now reside in primarily British museums and libraries. The churches were decorated with typical Greek frescoes depicting biblical stories and Christian saints. As no photography was permitted inside, you will have to use your imagination!

Our drive down from the hills took us through the forests and mountains of Central Greece. We stopped for a short visit at the site of the Battle of Thermopylae where 300 Spartans and 700 other Greeks stood in a mountain pass against overwhelming odds of Persian invaders. The movie “300” was (very) loosely based on the historical event.

Several hours drive took us to ancient Delphi, the site of the Temple of Apollo and its famous Pythian Oracle. Here the sacred treasuries of all the great Greek city-states stood in the shadow of the vast temple naos, and pilgrims came seeking answers to their deepest questions: “Will my wife give birth to a son or daughter?”, “Will my army defeat the Persians?” “What can I do about my land dispute?” “How can Athens defeat the Persians in battle?” (See a theme here regarding Greece's Persian neighbours?) Of course, consulting the Oracle (a women who may have chewed laurel leaves or inhaled volcanic fumes) cost money, and pilgrims regularly piled on the cash to know their future.

Some of us walked up to the great stadium where athletes competed in the Pythian Games every eight years. Contestants would plunge themselves into the sacred pool as they completed their athletic rites, the games being more a religious offering of exertion than mere competition. Fantastic 4th century BC bronze statue of a Charioteer stands in the museum we visited, a tribute to Classical art.

Tired, hot (as usual) we trudged back to our bus. We have to say that we were thankful to have visited Delphi in the afternoon, after most of the tourists had left. Also, a freak summer rain had come to the region and we had some cloud cover during our walks. As we began our drive to Athens, brilliant bolts of lightening fell from the sky, a sure sign that Zeus, Chief of the Gods, was angry that we were leaving so soon.

Athens lies on the road before us. We will arrive shortly and I will try and post this with some of today's photographic offerings. Tomorrow we climb the Acropolis and Mars Hill!

A Busy Byzantine Day

Philippi, Amphipolis, and the 2,400 Year Old Wooden Bridge

Today we began at the Greek theatre of Philippi, a city named to honour the father of Alexander the Great. Here, too, the later Christian basillica stood, a huge Forum (agora) where commerce, businesses of all kind, and chit-chat, meetings, and just hanging out occupied the ancient Romans.

It was at Philippi that the Apostle  Paul found the wealthy businesswoman Lydia meeting for prayer alongside the cool of the river. So......we took a quick ride to the traditional site, a likely candidate as it was along a pathway dotted with ancient tombs and monuments that led to the small stream. We quenched our fantasmagorical thirst from the hot Grecian sun at a small shop next to a lovely Greek Orthodox church which is itself decorated with wonderful modern frescoes of all the saints of our Christian past. Sitting in the shade of a small baptismal area alongside the river, Pastor Glenn Ward read the passage in the Book of Acts retelling the first Christian converts in Europe and the establishment of the firsst church in Europe, likely in the household of Lydia.

A short drive farther west took us to Amphipolis, a huge ancient city that became a Christian pilgrimage site and therefore boasted several large Byzantine basilicas (churches). Here we marveled at the huge stones in the wall of the ancient town, and took a special side-trip (and hike in the hot sun!) down to excavations of a 4th century BC (yes, 2400 years old!) bridge that once crossed the river this huge city. Remains of thee wooden piles supporting the road were found in excavations. 

A little further on we encountered the restore Lion of Amphipolis, a COLOSSAL statue of the King of Beasts erected in honour of one of Alexander the Great's Generals.

Now in our hotel next to the sea, we will enjoy a cool evening, watch the sun set, and look forward to our 7:30 pm dinner....We pull out in the morning at 8AM for Thessalonika.

I can hear the whistle blow.......

And the whistle blew for 460 kilometers, or about 300 miles as we said "Goodbye" to Turkey and "Hello" to Greece. We did get caught for a while in traffic in Istanbul, but what can you expect when trying to leave a city of 13 million people? We traveled back down the same road we had come into the European side of Turkey on, and then afteer a short coffee and ice cream bar stop (too many of our folk have fallen iin love with Maxim bars, rich dark choclate coating delicious ice cream, that covered in caramel or other flavours if you like) continued west to our jumping off point for Greece.

A weird Turkish law that does not allow buses under 50% capacity to continue across the border (go figure whose brother-in-law in government is profiting from that one!) meant that we had to transfer to a smaller bus, move our luggage, and continue chugging down the road with the Gesticulating Turk, a transfer agent who spoke no English or Greek, but managed to get us through the border with small hassle so we hesitate to criticize him. We traveled down the Egnatian Way, the same route as th old Roman Road that lead across the Empire back to Rome--all roads lead there, you know!

There we met our new travel agency bus and guide, Katerina of Aristotle Travel. We drove two more hours along a new highway that, being just recently opened to traffic, had no place for us to stop for LUNCH!! Out came the crackers, Turkish Delight, secret snacks, and we somehow survived our arrival in the city of Cavala.

Cavala is ancient Neopolis, the port where the Book of Acts says the Apostle Paul first landed in Greece and Europe bringing the message of the Gospels.

Here we climbed (aren't we ALWAYS climbing?!) the street up to the Acropolis, that today features a Byzantine fortress and some buildings from the time of Suleiman the Magnificent (16th century). The town was also fed by a large aquaduct re-built by Suleiman in 1520 on the ruins of an earlier Roman structure. It is quite impressive and bridges the valley.

Our hotel is near the waterfront and some are off for an after-dinner stroll in the coolish air of the this city of 90,000. Tomorrow we will visit ancient Philippi, the main city for which Neapolis was the port. This was a centre named for the father of Alexander the Great, "Grumpy, Nasty, Mean" Phillip the Second.




Watch for news of our day then! Goodnight from Greece! Kali Spera!

Instanbul. Constantinople. Istanbul.....

The Long-Term Endurance across Turkey continued today with contestants plowing into the ancient Hippodrome with its transplanted Egyptian obelisk that the Roman emperor imported. It was then on to the famous Blue Mosque, the nextdoor neighbour of the Hagia Sophia of yesterday. We marveled at the gorgeous tiles, marble fixtures, the pillars the diameter of an automobile and soaring off into the domes above.





From there, we walked. Heck, we walked all day. Not just a little sissy Texas walk, but major league Turkey-trotting. We walked until our dogs barked, then we walked some  more. Our crew is to be congratulated on ANOTHER fine day's long-distance walk through Anatolia.

We visited the Topkapi Palace, home of the Ottoman Sultans and their harems. Some saw the fabulous jewel-encrusted treasures and furniture, others peeked out over the Bosphorus toward the Sea of Mamara and the Black Sea further north.

Lunch was a buffet at the Pudding Shop that boasted a picture of Bill Clinton standing in front of it. A few of our hearty Republicans balked at entering, but our Democratic caucus offered a cross-the-aisle truce and we enjoyed a fine feast and foot-resting. Afterwards, we took up the taunting offer of a wild, stretchy ice cream from SE Turkey and many enjoyed the most expensive cone of their lives---but OH how yummy!

Our crew was finally treated to some commercial therapy at the Grand Bazaar of the city, shopping  instead of dropping. A quicxk trip across town brought us to the Egyptian Spice Bazaar where we sampled everything from saffron to Turkisk Delight and did our best to prop up the Turkish economy.







Perhaps our highlight, after the stressful heat and humidity of the day, was an hour or more boat trip up the Bosphorus past  the palaces of yore and the mansions of today. We enjoyed the cool, strong breeze across the water, the fantastic vistas, and some cool drinks.

We've now returned from a great dinner out at a fantastic Turkish restaurannt with a nice spread of national salads on the table and choice of chicken, beef, or  lamb kebobs or fish. A platter of fresh cherries, apricots, apples, and other fruits ended a perfect day.

Tomorrow, a long bus ride to the border, transfer of our luggage through Customs, and on to Greece! Talk to you then!