Greece is the word... and an amazing country

Today we were on the move and left Tantur at 2.30 am for a 4.00 am check-in at the airport. We were prepared for a challenging time with Israeli airport security but got through without any questions at all. We dozed a little on the plane but also enjoyed magnificent views of the Greek Islands.

We arrived in Athens around 9 am. Got the bus into the city and found our hotel which seemed like luxury after our experience in Seoul. Our experience in Greece was absolutely superb... thanks for all your tips and recommendations Stuart! They were all perfect... and if Greece is not on your place to visit list, put it on!

After a bit of a rest, wander and lunch we were picked up at 3.00 pm to go on a tour of Athens. It helped orient us and we were quite impressed by the city and its buildings and how green and leafy these areas were.

The Panathenaic Stadium, site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

We spent quite some time at the Acropolis – Acropolis means edge of the city and it is a small peak in the midst of modern day Athens and includes the Parthenon, undoubtedly one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The views from atop the Acropolis were amazing.

On the Acropolis the Parthenon is the most striking of the ancient buildings

 

The Erechtheion (above and below)

The Theatre of Herodes Atticus just below the top of the Acropolis hill

Church of St George - the highest point in the city...

Hadrian's Arch

The Temple of Zeus

We also visited the spot where St Paul preached to the people of Athens… an especially exciting thing to do on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul.

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, “To an unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said,

“For we too are his offspring.” Acts 17:22-28