Athens, Greece

We ​Athens.  —  Octobet 23, 3022    

     

   Artan drove us to Malpensa Airport in Milan. He had left his home in Florence about 2:00 in the morning to get to Manarola as early as he did.  We would arrive in Milan about 9:00. He drove us to our terminal and about noon we were flying to Athens. 

   Our health tracking paperwork was all in order for our entry into Greece. This was the easiest paperwork to fill out on this whole trip, even using our smart phones. All we had to do was say, “Steve, now do mine!”  😎

   After clearing in and with our luggage in tow, we once again grabbed a cab for a long ride to our hotel. Our rooms were not yet ready so we milled around for a while before we got our keys. 

   The micro elevator left much to be desired.  It was so tiny that even the buttons were crowded. Debby and I could barely fit with our bags. The other option was to take the stairs. I think most everyone else did. 

   Debby and I had a typical bedroom and bath hotel room; small but adequate. Our tiny balcony looked down onto electrical boxes, air conditioning equipment, trash cans and probably an alley cat or two. 

   The Pinkerton’s shared a 2-bedroom suite with the Lewis party.  It had a nice living room and good sized balcony that looked out towards the hills and part of the city. It was nice. 

   We walked over to a nearby hamburger joint for dinner. It was only a couple of blocks away next door to the Hilton. That’s where our Oregon friends were staying. 

   Sunday morning we checked out of our hotel and rolled our luggage over to the Hilton where we would meet our friends and our transportation.   

   We have known Tom and Lynne for several years. We went to the same church in Oregon when we lived there. We also knew several of the others traveling with them from their affiliation with Columbia Christian School or the church.  Most of us were also on the Panama Canal cruise a couple of years ago. All in all there were about 14 of us traveling together on this Viking Cruise. 

   At the appointed time, our Grecian friend, Dino Roussos and his driver picked us up in a small 15 passenger tour bus for a ride to church. We would be attending services today with the brethren at Omonia Church of Christ.  Omonia means Harmony, a fitting name for a congregation of several nationalities. 

   Dino gave us a quick tour of Athens along our route to their downtown Athens church where he has preached for several years . He pointed out several historical places such as the Acropolis and government buildings. He told us about the Apostle Paul being in Athens and some of his biblical events. Dino provides tours of Athens as a side job. We, of course, paid him for his time. 

   We very much enjoyed worshiping with this congregation of believers and meeting many of them. Some were Americans and we discovered we shared a few names and things in common. 

   After church Dino had arranged for a tour. He was not able to come but sent another man to pitch-hit for him. 

   We went to Mars Hill. The Book of Acts tells of Paul’s preaching from Mars Hill. So for the second time in our lives we found ourselves on top of Mars Hill. 

   Next we visited the ancient Acropolis.  Much of these ruins are still being restored.  This is one place where one can bask in what once was amazing architectural wonders. It was inspirational to know that the Apostle Paul once walked these same marble steps. 

   After the sightseeing, our driver dropped us off at the docks where we proceeded to check in for our cruise ship.  We had all of our papers in order, passports, COVID vaccination card and proof of our negative test we took nearly 4 weeks ago. Let’s go for a BOAT RIDE!!

Mike Thomas