Greek Week continues on the blog!!! Today is dedicated to the days we spent in the mountains of Greece which, by the way, who knew it was mountainous?!?! Not me! Indeed it is though and so gloriously beautiful! Our group went from Thessaloniki to the quaint little mountain town of Berea. It was in Berea that the apostle Paul encountered genuine believers who wanted to test what he had to say with the Scriptures. After hearing him and seeing how it aligned with Scripture…they believed. It’s a beautiful story outlined in Acts 17 and I fell in love with this quiet mountain town. My prayer is to be like the Bereans and be a woman who examines the scriptures…
From there we detoured off our biblical tour and went the city of Kalambaka to see the famous Meteora Monasteries. Famous for a reason, these monasteries are built on the sides of incredible rock faces that seem to float in the air. They were originally built by monks in the 1500s who feared the invasion of the Turks and sought to protect their religion and Hellenistic culture as a whole. The only way up into these monasteries back then was a basket that was pulled up from the outside. So glad they have since built stairs!! Wait til you see the pictures from this stop…they don’t even hardly do it justice. It was a sight that I will never forget and one that simply added to my awe of God and the creative genius of mankind.
The last stop in the mountains might have been at the top of my list of the whole trip and that was Delphi. Some of you may remember it from your Ancient Greece history classes and some you may remember it from the opening scene of the movie “300.” Either way, this places is famous for the oracle and remembered as a place where the Greeks would come to hear from their gods. Thus, it was built at the top of a mountain since it was believed the closer you were to the gods, the better you could hear from them. The creativity, the labor, the intricacies and the absolute breathtaking view of this ancient site left me speechless. To think that they somehow built such a place at the top of a mountain is baffling to me and gives me that much more respect from the genius that was the Hellenistic period. The air was crisp, the sun was high, the wildflowers in full bloom and I felt so peacefully small in light of such history.
So, this completes day two of my Greek Week blogging! Tune in tomorrow to see Ephesus, Corinth and Athens!!!
Happy Wednesday!
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A little shrine built to Paul in the center of Berea.
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The ladies!!! So blessed to have shared this experience with such wonderful women!
Time to enter into mountainous terrain!!!
My first look at these incredible rock faces. So random and so beautiful!
You can see the monasteries built on top of them.
The whole group!
Breathtaking.
My sweet friend Joy and I!
See that rope? Yeah…no thank you. I’ll take the stairs.
Ladies are required to wear skirts out of respect.
Again…that rope…
Our fearless leaders!! Love these two so much and am so thankful for their leadership and wisdom.
I made her pose for me. Once a portrait photographer…always a portrait photographer.
We spent the night at this really wonderful hotel in Kalambaka.
Had to have a little random fun…
Went exploring.
The next day we traveled further into the mountains to Delphi.
This was a sewer system but my friend Brent didn’t care apparently…
These two on the right are sisters and the whole trip it made me want to share the experience with my sisters! Next time!
It was hard to fit it all in one so I attempted to piece it together!
Of course I had to take some pictures in the wildflowers. Duh.
Our group in front of the stadium where the games would be held.
Again, so crazy that its built so high!
The hills are alive…
That night we finished in Athens and so took the subway down to the Parthenon to see if we could get in. Unforunately they don’t allow you to go at night so this is a the bottom but boy did it make for a good story…