Monday 7 May

Early in the morning our Celestyal ship arrived at Piraeus where we began our journey 3 days ago and by 8am we were disembarked ready to meet our tour guide, Joanna, for our last day in Athens. It was also time to farewell 4 more travelling companions who had become dear friends. Val and Malcolm Armstrong had an early flight to Sydney and Kath Merry and Helen Anderson were flying on to Italy and Switzerland. 

Now we were 20 and in drizzling rain we began the 90 minute drive to visit the ruins of the ancient city of Corinth stopping on the way to view the Corinth Canal, an amazing engineering feat long envisioned by Roman Caesars from the 1st century AD, who wanted to make a passage connecting the Ionian and Aegean Seas. Emperor Nero personally turned the first soil in 67AD but the project was abandoned soon after his death.  It was finally recommenced in 1881 and completed in 1893 using the  original plans.

The rain had settled in by the time we reached the site of the ancient city of Corinth and Joanna did her best to give us a comprehensive tour, lingering under trees to give us shelter. It was fascinating to see where Paul might have worked as a tent maker with Aquila and Priscilla in a shop opposite the meat market - and also the place of judgement where Paul was brought before the proconsul Gallio, over which a church was built in later times. 

Phil read to us from Acts 18 and then we dispersed to spend time in the museum and to have lunch before our return to Athens and on to the airport. Once there we said more farewells as 17 prepared to board flights home while John, Bob and Jan were to spend a few more days in Greece.

Thus ends a wonderful journey of discovery and inspiration through the bible lands and in the steps of the apostle Paul in the company of kind hearted, generous of spirit believers who made the experience even more amazing. God bless you all.

The Corinth Canal

The shops where possibly Paul worked with Aquila and Priscilla as tent makers in ancient Corinth

The Meat Market at Corinth

Extract from Paul's Second letter to the Corinthians which stands in the remains of a small church

that was built over the place where Paul was taken to be questioned by Gallio

Phil reading to us from Acts 18

Sunday 6 May

This morning we disembarked on the Island of Crete at the port of Heraklion and were taken to the archeological site of the Minoan Palace of Knossos, an ancient city dating back more than 3 thousand years.  The palace was purported to be the residence of the wise King Minos.

Following this tour we were given a short time to wander the city of Heraklion and saw the Church dedicated to the apostle Titus who was considered to be the organiser of the first Cretan Church (Titus 1 verse 5). Titus accompanied Paul on his journeys in Asia and Europe. Paul preached the gospel in Crete on his second missionary journey in about 62 - 63 AD but his stay in Crete was short.

Once again it was wonderful to be in a place where Paul had preached and brought the light of Christ to a people in deep need of salvation.

Back to the ship and after sailing all afternoon, we anchored in the waters off Santorini, an island which is part of the caldera of an ancient volcano. Steep cliffs face those arriving by sea and to reach the capital, Fira, the intrepid traveller must climb 600 steps or ride a donkey up these same steps with the possibility of being thrown off! However, there is the pleasant alternative of a 2 minute ride in a cable car!  Our group wisely chose the cable car to ascend the cliff but later a hardy few decided to descend via the steps having noted that by that time the donkeys had left for the day and the pathway was needfully being hosed down. The vista from Fira was a bit hazy but still the whitewashed buildings and blue domes made for amazing photos. 

Bob and Jan had been to Fira on a previous occasion and so went on a separate excursion to Oia at another part of the island. (The photos are therefore mostly from Oia but are typical of Santorini.)

Looking up at pillars at the Minoan Palace of Knossos

Walking tour of Heraklion 

The Curch of Titus in Heraklion

Arriving at Santorini - the buildings of Fira looking like snow on the hilltop

Typical church in Oia 

Another one

Houses that overlook the sea

View from the top

Saturday evening 5 May

Wedding Anniversary dinner for Graeme and Maria on the ship

Saturday 5May

G’day den. That’s what Good Morning in Turkish sounds like! 
We woke up this morning at the port of Kusidasi in Turkey, near ancient Ephesus. The required early start was an effort for those of us who had gone dancing after returning from Mykonos last night, and then enjoyed the magnificent Cirque Fantastic from Canada, a mix of dancing, ballet, acrobatics and singing. 
Phil had booked us on Bus 1, and we were the first tour group to leave the ship for Ephesus soon after 7 am, with our entertaining Turkish guide Emre, who explained that the Turks originally emigrated to Turkey from Mongolia. 
Unexpected rain necessitated a short stop at a shop only too willing to supply plastic raincoats, umbrellas, coffee, and internet. 
Then on to Ephesus, now the largest open air museum in the world. It was inhabited by the Minoans, then the Greeks, Romans, Alexander the Great, Byzantines and then Islamic Arabs from the 600s  AD. 
Most of the impressive city remains are from the Roman era, but the huge Ampitheatre where Paul tried to preach is 3rd c BC Greek, although renovated by the Romans for wild animal games. 
We walked down the hill passed the Agora( Greek)/ Forum ( Rome), along the impressive Roman Cardo ( Main Street), with its remnants of marble columns, shops and mosaic footpath. 
We paused at the public toilets, for men only- 40 holes with seats side by side for conversation, with running water cleaning the channel underneath the holes. 
The temple of the goddess Vesta used to have a number of Vestal Virgins, who remained there from teen age to age 40. If they broke their vow of virginity, they were ceremoniously buried alive. 
One of the temples had the remains of the foot of a statue resting on a globe representing the earth, showing that they knew that the earth was not flat, as was believed in later times. 
There was much evidence of the presence of Emperor Hadrian, including an Arch. Hadrian hated both Jews and Christians, and expelled them from Jerusalem after a revolt in 130s AD, building a pagan temple on the site of the Temple and the site considered to be that of the Crucifixion. He also first gave Judea the name “Palestine“, an attempt obliterate the word “Jew”. 
The Ephesus site is only about 13 per cent excavated, but as we walked down hill on slippery wet marble pave stones, we passed many interesting remnants of buildings until we came to the magnificent Library, which was the third largest in the world, after Alexandria and Pergamon. 
The contents of the Library were burnt by the invading Arabs in the 600s, who believed no book should exist but the Koran. 
For us, the connection of Paul with Ephesus was our main focus. He stayed 3 years there on his second journey, and wrote the letters to the Corinthians from there. Ephesus was at this time the capital of the Asian provinces of the Romans, and was about 13 pc. Jewish. The synagogue and the Hall of Tyrannus have not been excavated yet, but were probably behind the Library. 
Acts chapter 19 describes how Demetrius the silversmith created a riot against Paul’s teachings, afraid of losing his business of making figures of the goddess Diana/ Artemis for sale to visitors to one of the wonders of the ancient world, the  huge Temple of Diana. This Temple was a few kilometres away from Ephesus, but now consists only of one very tall lonely pillar. 
We could visualise in the Theatre where 24,000 men shouted for two hours “Great is Diana of the Ephesians! “ and would not allow Paul to speak. 
From the Theatre Paul would have been able to see the port of the city, where he finally made his escape. (See Acts Chapter 19)
Our guide Emre told us that 13 years ago, he had surprised his then girlfriend when she was guiding tourists at the Theatre with a banner saying: “ Ischa, will you marry me?” 
The Theatre, with its brilliant acoustics, is also used for performances by stars such as Pavarotti and Joan Baez. 
Ephesus was eventually abandoned after earthquakes, and mosquitoes became more prevalent and spread malaria. 
Once back in the bus, Bob Davidson presented Phil Mercer with a Rolex, one of Kusidasi’s famous “ Genuine Fake Watches”. 
Then we saw a carpet weaving demonstration, and a demonstration of spinning silk from silk worm cocoons. We were given apple tea or Turkish wine, and shown many beautiful hand woven carpets, and exquisite hand made gold and silver jewellery. 
Back on board, lunch followed by a swim in the pool was chosen by some, while others enjoyed various other activities available on board, or watched Turkey and Greece( Samos island) go past on either side,  at their closest point to each other. 
At 5pm, when we arrived in Patmos, it was time to board the tender boats for shore. 
We were going to see the cave where the Apostle John wrote the last book of the Bible, Revelation, in 95-7 AD. after Emperor Domitian exiled him to Patmos. 
We also saw the beautiful stone monastery built on the heights of Patmos overlooking the large and picturesque harbour one thousand years ago, by a monk who requested permission from the Holy Roman Emperor Alexis to do so. His original “deed” to build the church one thousand years ago is framed on the wall of the monastery’s library, with other precious manuscripts and treasures brought by the founder from Constantinople. Another manuscript is a copy of Mark’s Gospel from around 400 AD. 
The monastery has 9 small churches, and is built as a fortress to protect its treasures. 
The 11th century building was built on the remains of a Greek temple to Artemis from about 300 BC (columns) and a later Byzantine church ( marble floor slabs).
Another treasure of this church is a small picture of St. Nicholas from 11thc, with a very alive face, made from a mosaic of tiny precious stones. 
The dimly lit church also has a dramatic  17thc carved and gilded wood  iconastasis ( screen hiding the altar, covered in paintings of saints. ) 
An earthquake in 1956 revealed 11 th century frescoes in another part of the monastery, hidden under 1700s frescoes, now removed to the refectory. 
We walked through the tiny whitewashed stone village near the monastery, with brilliant bougainvillea pouring out over the old stone buildings, and the sun setting over the water down below. 

The  bus then took us down to atmospheric cave of St John, where he is reputed to have written the Book of Revelation. The cave was extended a thousand years ago by the founder of the monastery, and  is still used today as a church. 
Through a little window could see the view down the hill to the harbour that John would have seen, and also the stone “pillow “and “desk” he is reputed to have used. 
In the cave, our guide read us the first chapter of the book of Revelation. 

Then we headed back to our ship for dinner and Greek dancing. 
Congratulations to Graham and Maria, who celebrated their wedding anniversary today!

Anne Neil

Walking the Cardo in Ephesus 

The "Men only" toilets!!

The Library in Ephesus 

PHIL and Jan in the amphitheater where Paul was prevented from preaching

Turkish carpet weaving

The island of Patmos as it is today

Entrance to St John's monastery-no photos allowed inside or inside the cave where John is said to have written Revelation

The monastery courtyard

Sent from my iPhone

Friday 4 May

Today, we boarded our coach heading for the port of Piraeus to board our Celestyal cruise ship for a 3 day cruise of the Greek Islands. By midday we were sailing towards Mykonos and arrived there by 6pm. Most of us went ashore to explore this pretty port and wander the narrow lanes between whitewashed shops, restaurants and little churches. This is very much a tourist favourite especially around the site of the old windmills and the little buildings overhanging the water in the style of Venice. Some stayed in the town, sipping wine while watching the sunset and others returned to the ship for dinner and rest.

The famous windmills on Mykonos - and some famous people!

Lem and Regina - with Little Venice in the background

Thursday 3 May

 Our trip to Delphi:

Athens is not unlike our major cities in Australia...peak hour traffic!  Motor scooters and motor bikes zoomed past as our coach crawled along...so familiar. This arterial ring road in Athens resembled a parking lot. We eventually escaped the trafiic and reached cruising speed on our way to the ancient site of Delphi. 

We are realising first hand this unique country...a multifaceted land of civilization, history,mythology and philosophy. The city of Athens is the oldest European city with a history of more than 4000 years. It is the birthplace of Democracy, Philosophy, Theatre, Music and Poetry. 

It was appropriate that Pastor Phil read Psalm 24 as we started the Delphi excursion.."The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein...". What a contrast to what we were about to experience in Delphi; a place of pagan worship and mythology! The apostle Paul ministered in such an environment preaching the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, as a disciple of Christ was confronted with paganism in his day - in like manner we are confronted as disciples of Christ, with an aggressive humanism! 

Passing the industrial area north of Athens we entered rural life. Farms, pine groves, lakes (one being Lake Marathon), cotton fields, olive groves, wheat fields and other sites passed by. Eighty percent of Greece is covered by hills and mountains. Joanna our guide gave us a rest stop after a couple of hours...most welcome! The mountains now encircled us and revealed the ancient Delphi. Majestic location with a backdrop of almost shear cliffs looking to the deep valley below. We walked the track to the treasury, the only remaining one of multiple such buildings to house the gifts of gold and other precious gifts to the god Apollo. Greeks came from everywhere to seek help and direction from Apollo. ...they would queue to get a word for their life choices...virgins who entered a trance-like state would be the medium through which that anticipated word would come. The more gifts given to Apollo by a worshipper the quicker the person would advance in the queue. What was left of the temple of Apollo gave a real sense of how prominent this edifice would have been in this most dramatic landscape. 

Aside from some Roman-era remains we were looking at remains dating to the 5th century BC!. Our guide Joanna gave us a wonderful tour through the adjacent Delphi Museum where we saw amazing artifacts of this by-gone culture. One significant exhibit was of an inscription mentioning Gallio who was proconsul of Achaia in the time of the Apostle Pauls visit to Corinth (Acts 18:12ff). Clear validation of the historicity of the Bible. 

We had an amazing lunch break at a restaurant called "Taberna Omfalos" - real Greek food and the best Baklava and homemade ice cream we have ever tasted!

What a day! What irony that such a race as the Greeks who have given the world so much, should succumb to bizarre beliefs of myth and legend...and more so, offered the gods such undeserved artisanship as we observed today. It seems to us such a meaningless effort. Only the Bible beginning with Genesis can give us the answer. To those of you who have been praying for us...THANK YOU! Surely the Lord has kept us safe on the roads and blessed us with rich fellowship in His glorious Name.

Mal & Val Armstrong 

Bridgie, Anne N and Marg at Delphi

Jim at the ancient Sports Stadium

The theatre and view from Delphi

The amazing lunch (it's still coming!!)

John rests at the rooftop cafe of our hotel with the Acropolis in the background 

 

Wednesday 2 May

The day started with a slightly later breakfast which was most welcome. A short drive to the Acropolis through Athens with our guide pointing out some areas of interest. We were given a little history lesson on Greek mythology.

Athens derived its name from the struggle between two mythical deities. According to tradition, Poseidon, god of the unbridled forces of nature, of earthquakes and of storms, claimed Athens from the goddess of wisdom, Athena. Poseidon struck the earth with his trident and an untamed horse and a flood of water sprang from it. Athena's gift to the city was an olive tree, which grew out of the rock. In this battle between the two opposing forces - of violence and the works of peace - the city awarded victory to Athena and took her name.

The day was hot (31 degrees) and the climb to the top of the Acropolis was steep and slippery in parts. Some of the group choose not to climb. Athens is surrounded  by a number of hills. One of the hills has a monument and graves to a Syrian king and his family. As we climbed higher the views over Athens became more spectacular with our guide pointing out the points of interest such as the port used 2000 years ago and still used today today (with some upgrades in technology). The climbing route was very busy with lots of groups. At one stage we looked down on Mars Hill which we later visited after Phil read from Acts 17. 

We climed up through the impressive gate to the temple area. The buildings were colourful in the past but time has rended them white with some dark areas due to pollution. When we reached the top our guide explained that the Parthenon was just to show off Athena with a statue 15 M high made of gold an ivory. Part of the building was destroyed by a Turkish canon which ignited gunpowder stored in the Parthenon in the 17th century.

The Erechtheion was was the most important building to Athena with 4 rooms. 1 for Athana 2 for Poseidon 3 for a snake and 4 for the buriel of a king. Interesting perspective - Athena got her power from a snake.  

We were given time to explore the whole area on top of the Acropolis and take some great photos. After we descended we caught up with the others who didn't climb the hill.

After boarding the bus again we stopped at the Olympic stadium of Athens that was used for the first Olympic Games of the modern era in 1896 and restored for the 2004 Olympics (but only used for archery on that occasion). It is used every year for the finish of the Athens Marathon which is held over the original route of the first "Marathon" - run by Marathon-Pheidippides with news of the great victory of the Greeks over the Persians in 490BC.

 

We had a very interesting tour of the Acropolis museum built over early ruins of the city.

After that the group split up - some going back to the hotel, some shopped, some watching the changing of the guards at parliament house.

By Kathleen Merry

Looking down over Mars Hill - where Paul told the Athenians who their "unknown" God really was

The Parthenon - built in 9 years from 447BC to 438BC - restoration planning started in 1975 and the work is still going today - over 40 years later!!

The hole in the structure made by the Turkish canon in the 17th century - will be left as is during the renovation to show the damage it caused

The Erechtheion 

Statues on the Erechtheion used as pillars to hold up the roof (they are replicas as all but one of the originals are in the Acropolis Museum to protect them from decay)

Some of us at the Olympic stadium of 1896

Original pillar statues from the Erechtheion - in the Acropolis museum