At the end of our time in Turkey we took a trip to Greece. We would only be in Greece for about a week but we planned to visit Athens and two islands. We had prayed about where we were to go and got the names of two islands which is amazing considering the many many islands that are a part of Greece.
Athens is a crowded, busy, smoggy city. We quickly discovered that it was easy to get lost in the winding streets, that the people weren't as friendly or helpful with directions as in Turkey and that it was impossible to escape breathing cigarette smoke any time we went out. The morning after arriving we planned to visit the Acropolis because it was the high point of the city. At the top we would read scripture and pray over the city.
A view of the city as we started to climb
The ancient Stadium still impressive and partly renovated.
Such a crowded city with few straight roads.
The top where the renovation is still underway.
Spending time worshiping and reading scripture.
After the trip to the Acropolis we found a place to eat and continued to explore the city.
This is a plate of sauce covered fries, one of our favorite foods.
We found that there is a lot of very beautiful catholic churches and also many ruins and places of history. We stayed out until after diner and then headed back to our hotel. There has long been strife between Turkey and Greece and part of our coming was as a symbolic sign of reconciliation between the two country's.We did not realize that there was a lot of rioting and protests starting up in Greece around the time of our visit. On our return from our trip we found the street leading to our hotel blocked by police with riot shields putting up tape to block all traffic and trying to clear all pedestrians out of the area. We convinced them to let us through, then didn't leave the hotel again until the next day. We would see crowds of protestors almost every day while in Athens.
The next day we split up into groups to continue to prayer walk and explore the city. My group found ourselves in a beautiful park. Then as we exited the park we found ourselves outside a building that had a large area in front where people were camped out in protest, kids played, teens chased pigeons, and guards watched over the tomb of the unknown soldier. We got to watch the changing of the guards and it was quite interesting.
Some dogs that started to follow us as we walked through the park.
The building and the tomb of the unknown soldier.
Young men catching pigeons
The changing of the guard.
After lunch and returning to the hotel we decided we should spend the evening finding the quickest, easiest way to find the coast. Since we would be boarding a ferry very early the next day to head to the first of the islands. We would be lucky enough to be able to leave some of our luggage at the hotel in Athens but would still be carrying many bags. We started on what should be an easy trip to the coast soon after lunch. We quickly found the subway and got on. But before we made it to the last stop which should have been very near the coast, we had to get off, due to construction. We decided to catch a bus and head towards what seemed like the best direction. We spent at least an hour trying to find a bus stop and waiting for a bus. When we finally got on a bus it was super crowded and super slow. We rode for what seemed like a long time, then decided to get off. It was going so slow due to traffic and we had no idea where we were. We walked for awhile but just ended up getting more lost. We asked a guy which way to the coast and he pointed but said we would not be able to walk all the way before dark. We did walk on for awhile but decided we had better just go back. We started back but soon got lost. We ended up just trying to find any bus stop or the subway but wandered for at least an hour. We ended up getting distracted by a large church which we went into then talked to a guy outside for a bit before continuing our search. We finally found a bus and this time we planned to stay on it until we saw the subway, figuring the bus had to go by at least one subway stop on its route. We had been on the bus for a long time and were started to get worried when we finally saw the subway and were able to get off. We then just had the ride home and a short walk. It was long past dark and we had been gone for hours and still had no idea what the best way to the coast would be.
The next morning things started out the same but got better. We still had to get off the subway but had a much easier time catching a bus and this time it took us to the coast. We had no trouble catching our ferry. The ferry ride was really nice and it was only about 4 hours to our destination.
Our first view of the island.
My hotel room that I would share with a teammate.
The islands are very beautiful and we enjoyed the bright sunshine and beautiful houses.
Because it was winter and not tourist season, things were very quiet. We were the only guests in the hotel so we got the best rooms for a good price. The island was beautiful but had a deserted feel as we were often the only people about.
Quiet streets
The beautiful island of Peros the first island we visited.
The view from my hotel window. We were truly blessed.
The team tried to have one day a week off but since we had been traveling a lot and wanted to make good use of our short time in Athens we had not had a day off for awhile, so the leaders decided our first day would be a free one. My roommate, another teammate, and I, decided we would head down to the beach first thing in the morning and then explore the town after lunch.
Me at the beach we found.
We put our cameras on timer and had some fun getting pictures.
It got pretty windy but was still a nice day
The next day we divided into groups to prayer walk around the town. One group had a great time climbing to the top of a hill where they could overlook the whole town. The time here passed quickly and soon we found ourselves once again on the ferry. The second island we would be going to is called Santorine.
Our first view.
We would only be here for two days and it was a hilly cold island compared to Paros. It truly felt like winter here. We were the coldest we had been on the whole trip. Powerful winds swept this island most of the two days we were here and it rained very hard part of each day. We still enjoyed the beauty and spent most of the days outside. The first day we arrived too late to do much so we just met and prayed as a team. We planned to break up and spend the whole next day prayer walking and letting God lead us. The group I was with saw a town called Oia and we felt we should head into it. We didn't know how far it would be; it was on the other side of the island, but we didn't think the island was very big. We left just after breakfast and stopped off at a bakery to buy stuff for lunch in case we couldn't find any place to eat. We soon found ourselves walking across open farm land with very few house.
This is a view of part of the island we walked across. We walked near the ocean.
A friendly donkey we passed on the way.
We walked for a awhile and saw some stairs leading to a black sands beach. We decided to head down to the beach to rest and eat our lunch.
Leaving the beach to continue on our way.
We had a nice break and headed on. We walked for a long time and it kept getting windier. We soon realized that it was going to rain and almost made it to a bus stop in time to stay dry. It didn't rain for long but it stayed windy and cloudy the rest of the day. We were cold so we would just walk from bus stop to bus stop, stopping at each one to get out of the wind and warm up a bit. We never saw a bus the whole day while walking. Finally after what felt like a long time we saw a town up ahead and hurried to the first store we saw for water and directions. The kind cashier told us that the bus stop was near and that at 4:00 the last bus of the day would be leaving to go back to the town we were staying in. We headed to the bus stop, glad we would be able to catch a ride home, it was around 3:20. After sitting in the bus stop for about 10 minutes we decided to walk around a bit. We had felt God wanted us to come to this town, and since we had finally made it we wanted to see a least a little of it. It seemed like a small quiet place without much to see. But as we went down a narrow street and turned a corner this is what we saw.
This was the most beautiful city we had seen on our trip.
We spent as much time as we could taking pictures and exploring before hurrying back to the bus stop to catch the bus. We did not want to walk home. Once we got back to the hotel and shared with our team they all wanted to see the town. The next day the whole team came by bus and we spent the morning worshiping, praying, and exploring this special little town.
Athens is a crowded, busy, smoggy city. We quickly discovered that it was easy to get lost in the winding streets, that the people weren't as friendly or helpful with directions as in Turkey and that it was impossible to escape breathing cigarette smoke any time we went out. The morning after arriving we planned to visit the Acropolis because it was the high point of the city. At the top we would read scripture and pray over the city.
A view of the city as we started to climb
The ancient Stadium still impressive and partly renovated.
Such a crowded city with few straight roads.
The top where the renovation is still underway.
Spending time worshiping and reading scripture.
After the trip to the Acropolis we found a place to eat and continued to explore the city.
This is a plate of sauce covered fries, one of our favorite foods.
We found that there is a lot of very beautiful catholic churches and also many ruins and places of history. We stayed out until after diner and then headed back to our hotel. There has long been strife between Turkey and Greece and part of our coming was as a symbolic sign of reconciliation between the two country's.We did not realize that there was a lot of rioting and protests starting up in Greece around the time of our visit. On our return from our trip we found the street leading to our hotel blocked by police with riot shields putting up tape to block all traffic and trying to clear all pedestrians out of the area. We convinced them to let us through, then didn't leave the hotel again until the next day. We would see crowds of protestors almost every day while in Athens.
The next day we split up into groups to continue to prayer walk and explore the city. My group found ourselves in a beautiful park. Then as we exited the park we found ourselves outside a building that had a large area in front where people were camped out in protest, kids played, teens chased pigeons, and guards watched over the tomb of the unknown soldier. We got to watch the changing of the guards and it was quite interesting.
Some dogs that started to follow us as we walked through the park.
The building and the tomb of the unknown soldier.
Young men catching pigeons
The changing of the guard.
After lunch and returning to the hotel we decided we should spend the evening finding the quickest, easiest way to find the coast. Since we would be boarding a ferry very early the next day to head to the first of the islands. We would be lucky enough to be able to leave some of our luggage at the hotel in Athens but would still be carrying many bags. We started on what should be an easy trip to the coast soon after lunch. We quickly found the subway and got on. But before we made it to the last stop which should have been very near the coast, we had to get off, due to construction. We decided to catch a bus and head towards what seemed like the best direction. We spent at least an hour trying to find a bus stop and waiting for a bus. When we finally got on a bus it was super crowded and super slow. We rode for what seemed like a long time, then decided to get off. It was going so slow due to traffic and we had no idea where we were. We walked for awhile but just ended up getting more lost. We asked a guy which way to the coast and he pointed but said we would not be able to walk all the way before dark. We did walk on for awhile but decided we had better just go back. We started back but soon got lost. We ended up just trying to find any bus stop or the subway but wandered for at least an hour. We ended up getting distracted by a large church which we went into then talked to a guy outside for a bit before continuing our search. We finally found a bus and this time we planned to stay on it until we saw the subway, figuring the bus had to go by at least one subway stop on its route. We had been on the bus for a long time and were started to get worried when we finally saw the subway and were able to get off. We then just had the ride home and a short walk. It was long past dark and we had been gone for hours and still had no idea what the best way to the coast would be.
The next morning things started out the same but got better. We still had to get off the subway but had a much easier time catching a bus and this time it took us to the coast. We had no trouble catching our ferry. The ferry ride was really nice and it was only about 4 hours to our destination.
Our first view of the island.
The islands are very beautiful and we enjoyed the bright sunshine and beautiful houses.
Quiet streets
The view from my hotel window. We were truly blessed.
The team tried to have one day a week off but since we had been traveling a lot and wanted to make good use of our short time in Athens we had not had a day off for awhile, so the leaders decided our first day would be a free one. My roommate, another teammate, and I, decided we would head down to the beach first thing in the morning and then explore the town after lunch.
Me at the beach we found.
We put our cameras on timer and had some fun getting pictures.
It got pretty windy but was still a nice day
Our first view.
This is a view of part of the island we walked across. We walked near the ocean.
A friendly donkey we passed on the way.
We walked for a awhile and saw some stairs leading to a black sands beach. We decided to head down to the beach to rest and eat our lunch.
We had a nice break and headed on. We walked for a long time and it kept getting windier. We soon realized that it was going to rain and almost made it to a bus stop in time to stay dry. It didn't rain for long but it stayed windy and cloudy the rest of the day. We were cold so we would just walk from bus stop to bus stop, stopping at each one to get out of the wind and warm up a bit. We never saw a bus the whole day while walking. Finally after what felt like a long time we saw a town up ahead and hurried to the first store we saw for water and directions. The kind cashier told us that the bus stop was near and that at 4:00 the last bus of the day would be leaving to go back to the town we were staying in. We headed to the bus stop, glad we would be able to catch a ride home, it was around 3:20. After sitting in the bus stop for about 10 minutes we decided to walk around a bit. We had felt God wanted us to come to this town, and since we had finally made it we wanted to see a least a little of it. It seemed like a small quiet place without much to see. But as we went down a narrow street and turned a corner this is what we saw.
This was the most beautiful city we had seen on our trip.
The next day we had to catch the ferry at 4:00am to head back to Athens, so we hardly got any sleep.
We arrived at the ferry landing at 3:45am to be sure we wouldn't be late. Four o'clock quickly came and went with no sign of the ferry. We finally were told that the ferry had needed repairs and was stopped at another island but that it should soon be on its way again. They did not know how long it would take but it didn't matter all we could do was wait. We ended up trying to sleep in the very cold waiting area until after 7:00am when the ferry finally arrived. We were so happy to get on the warm and much more comfortable boat, we slept the whole 6 hour ride back to Athens. The next day we would be heading home so we didn't get to see much more of Athens. We did all go to the nice park by the tomb of the unknown soldier for a last day together in Greece.
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