Day 3 in Greece!

Day 3: Early morning rise at 7:30am. Shower, followed by an enormous breakfast buffet. Fruit was not fresh unfortunately and the sausage was odd... sort of breadie tasting, so I didn't eat it. Then, at 10:30am we disembarked at Tessolonica. We boarded our buses and drove to the Catholic Cathedral for Mass. The church was smashed between apartment buildings and off the street. Everything is built VERY closely in Greece. The church was called Immaculate Conception--not the most beautiful church in Europe, but it was pretty.

Then, we drove to the White Tower and took photos. There were really fun looking ships at port that host 'bar cruises'. From there we went to the second tower up the hill of the citadel and close to the Acropolis. We drove past several University campuses, including Aristotle University, which used to be the Jewish cemetery but was destroyed by the Nazis in 1943. We reached the tower which hosted an amazing view of the city and the sea. Mount Olympus was visible across the water. Finally, our amazing bus driver navigated back down the hill to the church of St. Demetrius Martyr. This Byzantine Church is beautiful, adorned with lots of gold, icons, mozaic, and intricate wood carvings. The remains of St. Demetrius are there as well as St. Annysia, who was martyred for her faith.

Our tour guide was very difficult to understand and my jet lag was very bad today, so I'm afraid I did not learn as much as I should. We drove back to the ship where we had a late lunch--I had salmon and cream cheese wrapped in grape leaves with capers, and this GIANT white bean and tomato soup that was absolutely wonderful (seriously, never seen beans that large before). I took a short nap and then attended Mark Brumley's talk on the myths of St. Paul. It was very good, but the jet lag kept causing me to doze off (sorry, Mark...). I made up for it afterward by reading 5 chapters of Pope Benedict's book on St. Paul and then Paul's letter to the Thessalonians.

Eva and I read on the deck of the ship so we could watch it leave port. The ship left port a littler after 9pm. We are headed to Phillipi. I skipped dinner, because I was too full from our late lunch, but then I was hungry 20 mins after the dining area was supposed to close... Tessa convinced me to go in, because there were still people there and she asked a steward if they had food for me. And oooooh did they. They brought me out four courses: cheese, little sandwiches, meatballs and veggies, fruit, tiramisu and some sort of other crazy dessert. I'm gonna be a blimp by the end of this. Another early morning tomorrow!

Immaculate Conception Church

The entrance to the church, between two apartment buildings

The White Tower

A 'Bar Cruise'

St. Demetrius Church

St. Demetrius (sorry, my camera made him look like the Terminator)

Some amazing wood carving in the Church

First days in Greece!

So here begins my posts on my adventures in Greece and Turkey. I'm just copying my journal entries from those days, so it's not the most eloquent writing, but it gets the point across... Enjoy!

Days 1 and 2, October 17 and 18

The journey started off panicked with a delayed flight and some rerouting. But God showed his Providence by sending a new friend to sit next to me on the flight from Greensboro. We had a wonderful and meaningful conversation. She said, "I think this means good things are coming." We are both grateful for a new future friend. So that put me in a cheerful mood for my arrival in Newark. I was the only one on the transfer bus going to the International Terminal. So it brought some laughs from the other passengers when I was the only one to loudly answer "Yes!" when the driver asked if there was anyone stopping at Terminal B. Also had a lovely Greek meal before my flight to Munich. The flight went well--watched a movie and slept mostly. A short layover in Munich and then I was off to Athens!

Everything went smoothly--disembarking, claiming my bag etc., which was good because I was slightly delirious from lack of sleep. Stacy, one of the bus captains, and our taxi driver, Nikkos, met me at Arrivals. Nikkos was hilarious. Either someone paid him to act like the dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding or that movie is very accurate. He informed Stacy and I of the oh so many words derived from Greek, and of course telling us the many wonders of his 2,000 year old home city of Athens. Greece claims itself to be the oldest country in the world... according to any Greek you may talk to. Nikkos drove us the 30 mins to the port of Lavrios on the East coast of the country to board our ship, 'Aura'. Definitely an amazing vessel. The crew is so friendly and helpful helping us with our bags and getting us to our rooms. Actually, I made it to the ship much earlier than most and took a much needed shower in our tiny, but nice, bathroom. Note here: only about 200 passengers are actually on the cruise, and the ship can hold 900--so we all got upgraded to better rooms! Which means Katy and I got a room with windows on the outside of the ship.

I'd like to give you a brief description of the ship: There are 8 upper passenger decks and 2 crew decks at the bottom of the ship. Our cabin was on Dionysius Deck, or the 6th deck. The 7th deck, just above our deck, holds more passenger suites, the reception area, the duty free shop, and the photo gallery. The 8th deck, going up, holds the Mermaid Restaurant, where we ate most of our meals, the Reflections Lounge and Bar, Casino, Library, Internet Corner, and the Stars Lounge. The 9th deck holds some suites, the Beauty Salon, Spa, hospital, and the Horizon's Buffet and pool which is partly inside and also on deck--this is where midday tea is held and where you could grab a drink or snack while we were sailing. The 10th deck has another swimming pool, the sun deck, the fitness center, and the multi-level Venus Bar and the mini-golf course.

Day continued: The group who stayed at the hotel the night before arrived and it was wonderful to see some familiar faces. We explored the ship, enjoyed tea time, and a safety drill where we all mustered to our designated lifeboats. Then, we waited for those who were coming from Rome--they were quite late, not arriving until around 7:30 in the evening. We finally had dinner which consisted of Greek salad, Baba ganoush, tsatziki, some unknown delicious sauce, beets, pita bread, chicken, sliced potatoes, vegetables, feta cheese, followed by baclava, brownie, cheese meringue pie, and fruit. We are on a pilgrimage, right? This was followed by Mass celebrated by Fr Mark Mary in the "Reflection Lounge" which is located in a bar/aquarium/casino...so, that was different. We also had a brief adoration afterward.

Then, a few of us went up on deck to see the full moon and explore. I cannot tell you how crazy it felt to be on such a massive ship in the middle of the Aegean Sea, looking at the brightest moon I've ever seen and the wind whipping through my hair. It was hard to finally go back to my cabin. I will remember that moment forever--traveling on an ancient sea, Greece's mountain range just visible in the light of the moon, and thinking of our Church fathers making this same journey. It took my breath away.