Greece - October 10-19, 2005

This trip was in some ways Part 2 of the trip to Turkey in 2004. This time we were going to follow Paul’s footsteps in Greece. Again the trip was organized and led by Frank VanderZwan and Ron Ritchie. So our adventure began on October 10. We started our trip with a little excitement. Three of us were planning on driving to the airport together but we found out late the evening before that the person who was going to drive us couldn’t. So in a panic I called Super Shuttle hoping it wasn’t too late to schedule them. It wasn’t so they promised to pick us up at my house at 1:15 in order to get us to the airport at 2:00. So on Oct. 10 the shuttle arrived at 1:00 and only two of us were at my house so I told the driver he was early so he went to get gas. But when he came back the third person still was not at my house so we slowly drove down the street and fortunately she arrived just at the end of the block. Then the next thing he told us he had to go to Palo Alto to pick up someone else - which of course made no sense as it was south of us and the airport was north. But off we went and it soon became clear to us that the driver did not know the area at all. So we started directing him because we had to be on time. When we found out he was also planning to pick up someone in Belmont we knew there was no way we’d be on time. Eventually by calling the office and the dispatcher we were able to have someone else pick up the Belmont person and we got to the airport exactly at 2 PM. Whew - nothing like a little excitement to start our trip. We and the other members of our group got checked in and then hung around the airport until time to leave. We flew British Airways first to London and then to Athens. The whole trip took about 20 hours including wait time. But British Airways is one of the more comfortable airlines. The food is plentiful and isn’t too bad. They do have a little more seat room than some airlines and they have individual screens for watching movies. I actually watched a movie - the one about Penguins: The March of the Penguins which was pretty good. I slept some but felt pretty groggy when we arrived in Athens - early evening of the 11th. We were met by a guide who took us to our hotel in Athens - the Divani Palace Acropolis Hotel, within view of the Acropolis. Four of us, my room mate Bonnie, and Betty and Barbara, and me, walked a few blocks to a local area and had our first meal in Greece. We just picked a place that looked promising - mostly because we could eat outside and we really lucked out. We ordered two Greek salads and two orders of “pork sticks” and split it among the four of us. It was more than enough and very good. In addition we had a delightful waiter. In fact Betty and Barbara went back on a later occasion to eat there and brought some other members of our group. It was fun. Eventually we went back to our hotel for a much needed sleep. Our hotel was very nice with pleasant rooms and pleasant employees.

Wednesday 10/12/05 This morning we had a buffet breakfast in the hotel with a delicious selection of a wide variety of food. We then climbed aboard our bus where we met the 43 people we would be traveling with plus our guide, Aliki and our bus driver, Theodore. Aliki turned out to be an absolutely wonderful guide. She was so informative, willing to answer questions, friendly and available. She was a delight to travel with. Theodore was an excellent bus driver. The streets were so narrow and the turns so tight we were constantly amazed at his driving skills. This morning we were treated to a tour of Athens beginning with the Acropolis where we saw the Parthenon as well as the Propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike, and the Erechtheion with its Porch of Maidens. I was so thrilled to finally see the Parthenon in person. I had discussed it every year in my math classes because it was an example of the Golden Ratio which was always a lesson in various math classes. We also visited the Acropolis Museum where we saw some wonderful old statues. While there we were treated to a parade of the National Guard followed by a visit of the President of Greece, President Papoulias. Oct. 12 was a national holiday celebrating liberation of Athens from Germany after WW II. The whole procedure was really fun to watch. The National Guard were dressed in very elaborate and colorful uniforms. They have large shoes with huge round pom poms on the toes. Their “skirt” has 400 pleats in it. The outfits are copies of the uniform worn by the guerilla fighters during the Ottoman Occupation of Greece (1453-1821). The soldiers are hand picked having to be of a certain height and character. They are usually from well known families and the number is small -150. They are mostly used for ceremonial activities and “guarding” the parliament building. They marched up from below to the top of the Acropolis. We then went down to Mars’ Hill near the former Market place. This area was mentioned as being visited by Paul - a place where he talked with the local philosophers. We had a lesson about Paul’s experiences here and his teachings. Then we continued driving to see much of modern Athens. The city was very clean and really fixed up for the 2004 Olympics. You could notice it in such areas as the large and modern public restrooms, the subway system, the repaired ancient ruins. We drove past some of the stadiums built for the 2004 Olympics, the Parliament House being guarded by the national guards, the tomb of the unknown solider, the Presidential Palace and so on. At this point we were seriously stuck in traffic and the going was slow. Since some of us wanted to go to the National Archaeological Museum we got off the bus and walked a few blocks to the museum where we first had some lunch and then went on through the museum. It was absolutely wonderful with a wonderful collection of Greek antiquities. There was a room - called the Mycenaean Antiquities that had gold and other finds from graves from the 16th century BC. “The Mask of Agamemnon” was made of gold and in perfect condition . These were mostly excavated in the 1870’s. In other rooms there were statues and gravestones many from 700 BC. There was a bronze statue of Poseidon of Artemision - 450 BC that was hauled out of the sea off Cape Artemision in 1928. There were many other special exhibits - I just mention some to give an idea of how ancient these articles were. It is amazing to me that they have survived so many years and in such good shape. The top floor had what was referred to as the Thira Exhibition. These articles were preserved on the island of Santorini under a layer of ash from a volcano. They weren’t discovered until the 1960’s. There were cups that had handles and pots with spots and they had no chips. There were some beautiful frescos that still had bright colors. They were from the 16th century BC. It was a wonderful museum. Then about 6 of us met up and took on the challenge of taking the metro back to the hotel. We were pretty pleased with ourselves when we safely arrive at our hotel without error. After a short rest we then walked to the Plaka as a group for dinner. The Plaka is an area mostly consisting of tourist type stores and restaurants. We had a fun dinner that also included some traditional Greek dancers - they were fun to watch. Then we walked back to our hotel - without the guide, we are learning our way around the area.

Thursday 10/13/05 We left our hotel at 7 Am and drove to the Piraeus port for a one day cruise to three Sardonic Gulf Islands, Poros, Hydra, and Aegina. (Greece has some 3000 islands!) Our ship was a very large one with people packed on. We were early so we were able to claim a large area on an outside deck which gave us great views as we traveled. Our first stop was at Poros, a small and clean town with white houses with terra cotta-tiled roofs making a very stunning view. Some of us climbed up to the high point where there was a clock tower. We had great views here. That was about all we had time for here although we looked in on a few shops. Our next stop was at Hydra a more populated and larger town and very beautiful. There were white mansions built up along the hillside along the harbor. Many movies were filmed here. Hydra has no motorized transport, they use donkeys for everything. I watched one donkey being loaded with a mattress. People ride them for transportation and all manner of supplies are carried by these donkeys. Here we walked along the waterfront checking out some of the shopping. There was an ornate Greek church that we visited, The Church of the Dormition. Then back to the ship. We had lunch on the ship - our group ate together at the first seating at 12:00. The lunch was okay but not great - almost no one ate the unidentifiable meat. But we had a good time. Our last stop was at the island, Aegina. Aegina’s claim to fame is that it is Greece’s largest producer of pistachio nuts so of course we all bought some. We walked around here including the back streets - we were looking for an “electrical” shop so we could buy a mixer for the ever popular frappe. That is a very popular coffee drink and it must be beaten in order to have some foam on top. We did stop and have one. We also visited another ornate church. Greek Orthodox churches are all similar with a particular arrangement of the various icons they have. They use icons instead of statues and we often saw Greeks kissing the icons as they walked around the church. There are icons everywhere for sale. This town was not as pristine and clean as the other islands. Back to the ship and then to port and to our hotel - arriving at 8:30. Bonnie and I ate a pretty good dinner in the bar because we were too tired to walk anywhere. Besides we knew we had an early flight in the morning.

Friday 10/14/05 We had to arise early - 3:45 AM for a flight north to Kavala which was built over the biblical Neapolis which was the port of Philippi. It was a very attractive large city from what we could see as we drove through it and viewed it in the distance. Here we also passed by the Via Egnatia - the ancient Roman road. We drove on to the site of Philippi stopping first at the place where Lydia was baptized by Paul. Because Neoplis, the port city of Philippi was the first European landing site for travelers from the Orient this was where Paul first landed in Europe in 49 AD. There were a number of Jewish inhabitants outside of the city on The Gangitis River and it was here that Paul first preached to a group of women and Lydia and her family believed and were baptized - the first Christians in Europe. They know within a small area where this baptism occurred and I found this a very moving experience. I have always been interested in Lydia as an example of the leadership of women in the early church so it was special to be where she was. Along the river are the ruins of an ancient Roman bridge so the area is pretty certain. The local people had built a baptistry on this site and it was very beautiful. While I was outside enjoying Lydia’s site a group of people in the baptistry started singing The Lord’s Prayer and I can not describe how inspiring it sounded. Ron spoke to us here. Then we went on to the ruins of Philippi. The city was founded in 350 BC by Philip of Macedonia who was the father of Alexander the Great. We stood on the Bema - a marble podium where people could stand and address the public. This was most probably where Paul also stood. We walked on the ancient Roman road (the Via Egnatia). In addition to hosting Paul Philippi is also the place of an important battle in 42 BC that resulted in the defeat of Brutus and Cassius, conspirators in the assassination of Julius Caesar. We could see the forum, a theater, the alleged jail of Paul and Silas, and the remains of several Byzantine churches. Most of the city was probably destroyed by earthquakes. Here Ron read the related verses in Acts and gave us a sermon - just where Paul probably also preached. After this we continued on to Thessaloniki where we stayed at the Capsis Hotel where we also ate our dinner. I only walked a little way around the area because it didn’t seem too comfortable but it was late anyway.

Saturday 10/15/05 We started the day with a tour of the Thessalonica which was founded in 315 BC. There were many attractive areas with new tall modern buildings mixed among some very ancient buildings. Thessaloniki is modern Greece’s second city. Since it was mostly burned in 1917 it was carefully planned as it was rebuilt in the late 1920’s. There is only one castle (Platamon) left from the 10 that were originally built to protect the area. I took lots of photos to show my friend how it had changed since she taught there some 30 years ago. We stopped to visit the Church of Agios Dimitrios - built in 450 AD and Greece’s largest church. It is among the oldest Christian churches of the world and has some very fine mosaics and frescoes that managed to survive the temporary takeover by the Turks and then the 1917 fire. Aliki told us something about the arrangements of the icons and mosaics in all Orthodox Churches. We also went below the church where there were rooms that had once been used as baths and burial site of St. Dimitrios. We then drove up to the ancient city walls built about 315 BC where we had a wonderful view of the city. When we left this area in our large bus and went through the gates we had about 2 inches to spare on each side, our driver is a marvel. We had a discussion in the bus about the economy and Aliki told us that the two largest industries are shipping and tourism. Agriculture is also important in Greece. Ships flying under the Greek flag make up the third largest fleet in the world. But if you count all Greek owned and built ships regardless of the flag they fly under, Greece is the largest fleet in the world. We continued on driving to Kalambaka passing by Mt. Olympus, at 2917 meters the highest mountain in Greece. The mountain is made of marble. Greece has a lot of marble which is still being quarried. Along the way we stopped at a rest stop for lunch, there are several of these stops along the way where we can get lunch in cafeteria style. Also there is always a shop in which to buy stuff and the necessary rest rooms. We arrived at Kalambaka where we stayed at the lovely hotel, Divani Meteora Hotel. We are right next to the souring rocks on which several Monasteries are built so we have a lovely view. Several of us walked the length of the charming town which was built after being destroyed in WW II. We had a nice dinner in the hotel.

Sunday 10/16/05 Today after our usual buffet breakfast we drove to visit some of the Greek Orthodox monasteries in Meteora. What an extraordinary place. Monks started living in caves along these cliffs and eventually buildings were built on the very top and/or sides of these rocks. Most now have bridges built to them or steps hewn into the rocks but in the beginning supplies had to be hauled up by ropes and pulleys, people too were pulled up in baskets. These started around the 14th century as a way for the monks to remove themselves from the wars with the Turks. At first they would climb up by using ladders that could be removed, then they added windlasses so they could be hauled up in nets. We visited inside two of them - beautiful gardens and very interesting interiors. Women had to wear shirts to they had wrap arounds for us to borrow as most of us were wearing slacks. We visited Moni Agiou Stefanou which is now a convent for nuns. The old part dates from the 15th century and the newer part from 1790. The government is now helping maintain parts of these monasteries so some have newer parts added in recent years. We also visited Moni Varlaam which dates from 1340. It took the monks 20 years to bring up the material and 22 days to build the original structure. In the 1990’s the European Union gave money to restore and update and build new accommodations. After a good visit we went back into town for lunch. We stopped at a restaurant that obviously was used by tour guides - most of our stops were crowded with other tour busses. We formed a line and walked through the kitchen with our plates where we chose from the pots that were cooking on the stove. I took a piece of chicken that was very good. Later someone came around to collect our money telling us at that time how much our lunch was. After lunch we walked around the town a bit and then climbed aboard the bus for our 4 hour drive to Delphi. Along the way we passed the spot where three roads meet as described by Sophocles. This is the spot where Oedipus encountered his father and murdered him. There we stayed at the King Iniohos Hotel where we also ate dinner - it was a cute place. We took a walk down the street by our hotel and found the area to be charming. Some of the neighbors actually talked to us when we said hello. We had a good dinner and then off to bed.

Monday 10/17/05 Since we did not have an early start we walked around the town. The town is built on the side of a steep hill so going up and down involved very steep stairs and roads. A lot of the homes have no vehicle access so it is a long climb to bring the groceries home. We just walked around enjoying the sights and sounds. One older lady was hanging out her wash and after we said Good Morning she started talking to us in English asking us if we were having a good vacation and where we had been and so forth. It is always a surprise to me and charming when the locals are so friendly and chatty. From the town we could look down into the valley and see a very large olive grove - trees as far as we could see. Then we went to the ruins of Delphi - the home of the Delphi Oracle and the Sanctuary of Apollo. Most of this dates from the 4th century BC. The Greeks considered this the navel of the earth. There are remains here from 10,000 BC. Greeks moved around the Mediterranean Sea starting new colonies on the advice of Apollo as given through the Oracle. Delphi was destroyed about 500 AD. Aesop was also from this area and was killed here. We walked through all of this- uphill as it was built on the side of Mt. Parnassos. Then we went to the Delphi Museum with some wonderful statues including the Sphinx of the Naxians dating from 550 BC and the Bronze Charioteer from 478 BC and two kouroi from the 6th century BC. (Kouroi are naked youths with set symmetrical stances and smiles, one foot in front of the other.) We continued driving towards Athens stopping for lunch at a large rest stop where we got our lunch. The country side was very much like California’s central valley with many farms along the road. We saw grapes, olive trees, cotton and tobacco growing - their major crops. Drove another 2 hours and stopped at a rest stop that had a toy store and Frank and Judy bought some toys for Aliki’s two children and for Theodore’s youngest son - they were both delighted. We arrived early evening in Athens at our hotel: Divani Palace Acropolis. Aliki walked us to a jewelry store where some people wanted to get some special jewelry. I bought a ring with the ancient Greek meander design which symbolizes the eternal flow of life. Some people did a lot of shopping. I didn’t. This was the only thing I bought for myself. (I even had trouble buying souvenirs for the kids but eventually I got them coffee, pistachio nuts, seasonings, and two little Greek dressed dolls. That was it!) After the jewelry store I stopped at the grocery store to get some of the coffee for frappes and then shopped in the hotel gift shop where I found the dolls for the kids. We ate dinner in the hotel bar again as we were too tired to walk for dinner.

Tuesday 10/18/05 We left at 8 AM for Corinth stopping along the way at the Corinth Canal. This canal connects the Ionian and Aegean Seas and was first proposed in the 7th Century BC. But it was too big of a task so they instead built a paved slipway across which the sailors dragged small ships on rollers. We could still see the slipway with the worn areas from the rollers. This method was used until the 13th century. By then they had bigger ships which could go further out to avoid the more dangerous seas close to the coast. In AD 67 Nero started digging the canal but war stopped it and it wasn’t finished until about 1893. The canal is about 2 and a half miles long, 80 feet wide, with vertical sides rising 300 feet above the water. It is very impressive. Then we visited the ancient ruins of Corinth - one of Greece’s richest cities in the 6th century BC. During Paul’s time it was a pretty free wheeling city paying homage to the goddess of love, Aphrodite in a temple dedicated to her. Paul spent 18 months preaching here so we too had a sermon at the Bema. First we went into the museum to see some of the treasures. One was a column with a menorah carved on it showing that there was a Jewish presence here. There were also some examples of ancient Greek art, black ceramic art started here. Then we walked around the ancient city trying to imagine what it was like when Paul was here. This area is know for their grapes, used for both wine and the special type of currents and raisins. Also this area grows olives and citrus - we saw lots of orange trees. We stopped to eat lunch at a restaurant along the water way coming from the canal. There are several road-level bridges crossing the water here and when a ship comes through the bridge goes down into the water so the ship can go over it. We saw it in operation and it was very interesting. We had an interesting lunch. Bonnie and I ordered two dishes and split them so we could try more food. One thing was rather funny. There was a table of 5 rather rowdy and very drunk sailors talking in Dutch. Well Frank and Judy speak Dutch. Judy was tempted to go over and speak to them but she restrained herself. It was Hal Sweeney’s birthday so a dessert was brought to him and we sang “Happy Birthday” to him. As Judy walked by the sailors after wishing Hal Happy Birthday she said to the sailors - in Dutch - well you could sing Happy Birthday to him in your language. I think their jaws dropped but they sang to Hal with Frank and Judy joining in. I think they were rather taken aback that someone understood what they were saying before. Frank didn’t tell them he was a minister as that would have been too much for them. Anyway they all came to wish Hal a Happy Birthday and showed us their boat that was in the harbor. On the way back to Athens we stopped at the Harbor at Kenchreai where there was once a thriving Christian community during the 1st century AD. Paul mentions this city in Romans. In 53 AD Paul departed for Ephesos from this harbor. At this harbor are some ruins from the 4th century BC but they are partly under water. We continued back to Athens arriving in time for Bonnie and me to walk to the Plaka in order to walk around the area more. It is very much a tourist area with the proprietors standing in the doorways trying to entice us in. There were so many stores all selling the same things I don’t know how anyone made a living. Right in the middle were some ancient ruins fenced off but we didn’t figure out what they were. We walked up and down various streets and ended up outside of the main tourist area where the locals live and take care of business. It took us a while to get back to the center, along the way we saw more interesting churches and other buildings including the Arch of Hadrian built in 132 AD. We then had time to go back to the hotel and clean up for our last dinner together. We drove to a place along the coast and ate dinner at “Zorba’s”. We ate right along the waterfront in a section that could be outdoors but on this cool evening the sides and top were covered with clear plastic. The restaurant was across the street so the waiters had to carry everything back and forth across the street. Since every time you cross the street in Greece you are taking your life in your hands I’m amazed they can do so well. When I walked across the street to go to the restroom the head person walked me across the street to make sure I didn’t walk in front of a car! I’m surprised more pedestrians don’t get killed! Anyway we had a long and involved dinner with one fish dish after the other - there was something for every type of taste in regards to fish. We complained a bit about the late hour as we left at 10:30 but there were people still coming in to just start eating - what a different life style. We said farewell to our wonderful guide, Aliki. She really was superb. We also said good bye to some of our fellow travelers who would not be on the same flight to SFO with the rest of us.

Tuesday 10/19/05 Up at 3:45 - what an awful time to get up. The hotel had given us boxes for our breakfast, mostly various breads but fortunately they included apples and orange juice - off to the airport where we checked in and then started our long journey. We had a couple of hours layover in London at Heathrow and then we arrive in San Francisco about 4:00 - some 22 hours since we had gotten up in Athens. The flight was as good as any flight can be, British Airways is one of the nicer airlines. I even found something in the shop on board catalogue that I bought for Vincent - birthday or Christmas. Always good to find something unique and appropriate. We joined with the Johnsons to hire a Super Shuttle to take us home. Super Shuttle sure isn’t the service it used to be. They crammed people in the van and had a total of 5 drop offs. Furthermore the driver did not know the area and we directed him to our houses. They depend on the GPS system and do not learn the area. It doesn’t always work. But I got home - did some unpacking and went to bed and slept for 11 hours. Traveling is hard work.

It was a great trip. There was something so emotional about going to all the places where Paul had been, places I have read about all my life. Our group was large, 43 people but it didn’t feel that way as we became like a family. It was a very friendly and inclusive group. Every night we sat with different people so we got to know them, everyone was most welcoming and there was no separation into couples and singles which can sometimes we a problem. There were 13 couples and 13 single women, many of us widows. It was good to travel in a mixed group like this and feel so much a part of it. I am grateful that I was able to go and that I did go.

Penelope Bowen

written from my notes on 10/23/05