Travel back to the United States

 October 7, 2023

Thessaloniki to Zurich

We left the Holiday Inn in Thessaloniki at 7 am to go to the airport.  Boarding our plane was smooth and  on time.  I enjoyed the sight of Thessaloniki by air but missed getting a camera shot of it.  So I got busy with my camera and took lots of shots of mountains and clouds on our way to Zurich.

Back home again

We landed in Zurich Switzerland and we had only one hour to make our connection to Chicago.  We had to go to a different terminal.  We thought we were in the right line to board the plane, but then we understood we needed to have one more stamp on our boarding pass by the passport agent.  Now we are ready for the long flight to Chicago.  The flight was smooth and we had the normal Swiss Air gourmet meals.  However, being in the last section of the plane, they ran our of chicken dinners.  Thus only the curried vegetable dinner was available (too spicy for some).  

In arriving at O'Hare Field in Chicago, we had the first chance to use our Global Re-Entry.  And it worked!! A slight glitch was that our precheck for connecting flight did not work since our tickets were printed in Europe and they don't scan well in the US.  So we went back to the United Airlines counter to get new boarding passes printed.  Upon finding our connecting flight gate to Madison, we stopped to eat a Chicago Hot Dog in the terminal.  Several hours later we were in the air to Madison.

Since we were traveling the entire day, we were not aware of the hell of war that was breaking out in Israel.  It is sad to think of the death and destruction left behind where we had just had a once in a lifetime trip to the Holy Land.

Thessaloniki and Philippi

 October 6, 2023

Thessaloniki the "Old City"

After breakfast at the Holiday Inn, we took a bus tour through the city.  By the way, did you know that the city is named after the sister of Alexander the Great?  As we drove through the city we saw port side docks, the University campus, the Uptown part of the city which is beyond the Old Wall.  We got out of our bus to see a view of the city at sunrise.  

Uptown is outside the Old Wall

Sun rise on Thessaloniki

University campus

Morning traffic

Philippi

It took four hours to arrive from Thessaloniki to Philippi by bus.  Here we visited a site on the outskirts of the town where Lydia was baptized.  She was a maker of "purple" cloth according to the text in the Acts of the Apostles.  She is considered the first "European"  Christian.  We went to a site outside the walls of town where there was the stream mentioned in the Bible text.  There is an outside area set up for visitors there.  Our group celebrated the Mass there.  There was a Greek Orthodox church there especially to celebrate baptisms.  The icons were very beautiful and included an icon of Lydia.  

Next we went to a park like restaurant near the excavated ruins of Philippi.  We had a relaxed lunch under shade tents while cute beggar dogs wait for food to drop from the table.  After lunch we walked through the ruins to see the ancient Roman theater arena, the Roman Forum, old columns from former basilicas, the jail cell where Paul and Barnabas were kept, and the oldest church in Greece that was built by Tiberius. You could see the name of St Paul (Paulos) in the old mosaic floor.  

Excavated Philippi

Greek Theater

Roman Forum

That's it!  now a four-hour bus trip back to Thessaloniki for supper at the Holiday Inn.

Before supper our group met to share our highlights and take aways from the pilgrimage.

Our last meal was pasta, salad, pork chops, and drunken chocolate cake.

Meterora to Thessaloniki

 October 5, 2023

Meterora  

We left the resort town of Kamena Vourla early in the morning.  We climbed up mountain ranges that suddenly had pine trees that seemed like the North Woods back in Wisconsin.  Then we came down to a large valley that was very well developed with agriculture.  Perhaps this is because of the Pinios River.  We arrived in the city of Kalambaka the area of the Meteora.

 Meteora is beside the Pindos Mountains, in the western region of Thessaly, these unique and enormous columns of rock rise precipitously from the ground. But their unusual form is not easy to explain geologically. They are not volcanic plugs of hard igneous rock typical elsewhere, but the rocks are composed of a mixture of sandstone and conglomerate.  Here is the second most famous grouping of Orthodox Monasteries in Greece, second only to Mount Athos.  The word "Meteora" in Greek means suspended in air.

We drove up one of the Meteora where tourists can visit an active monastery.  We visited the Convent of St Stephen where 40 Orthodox nuns live.  Their chapel was filled with amazing icons.  We could see other monasteries perched on other meteora from this point.  One  had a cable car pulley for one person transport to the monastery.  We stopped along the way to take pictures and we could see individual climbers scaling the huge rock pillars.  We return to the city of Kalambaka to visit an icon making shop.  We got a demonstration of how the icons are produced with various layers of paint and gold leaf.  Lunch stop was in Kalambaka.  We had Greek Salads of course.  Who can enough of the fresh olives and feta cheese.  

Meteora Monastery

We visit the Convent of St Stephen

Pilgrims entering Convent of St Stephen

Convent Courtyard

Kalambaka in Pinios River Valley

Climbers are scaling this rock!

Meteora  

Suspended in Air (Meterora)

Icon making Shop

Greek Orthodox Icons

Thessaloniki

Mt Olympus in the distance.

Green fields of Central Greece

Rivers flowing to the Gulf of Thessaloniki

Gulf of Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki.  Greece's 2nd Largest City

It's all Greek to me.

The Holiday Inn

The city's port, the Port of Thessaloniki, is one of the largest ports in the Aegean and as a free port, it functions as a major gateway to the Balkans.

As we descended through mountain ranges, we approached Thessaloniki through as many as six highway tunnels.  Once in Thessaloniki, we stayed at Holiday Inn.  Our group had Mass there in a conference room and after that we were served supper.  Fr Randy joined Sylvia and I at our supper table.  It was a very nice personal visit.  

 

Central Greece: Delphi and Kamena Vourla

 October 4, 2023

Road trip in Central Greece

We left Athens this morning heading north to Central Greece.  As we left town, there was a morning traffic jam on the expressway.  There are four million people living in Athens.  It was notable to me that many buildings and expressway underpasses were heavily marked with graffiti.  I asked our tour guide why this was so pronounced.  She began by saying that this was not a "gang" problem, but a soccer fan problem.  Obviously, it was not seen as a problem. 

Once out of the city, we passed many warehouses and corporate business type buildings.  I notice Nestle, Barilla (Italian pasta), Jumbo and other places labeled "cash and carry" markets.  Eventually the fields of corn, olive trees, and other agriculture become dominant.  I can see many solar wind mills and solar farms among the farming areas.  

Wind farms on hillsides

     

Solar Farms

     

JUMBO Warehouse

Central Mountains

We move into a mountainous area and went through small towns with Greek Orthodox Churches that are typically white cross shaped buildings with a red dome.  Along the way, there are rest stops for food and souvenirs.  As we see the mountains getting bigger, we go through an area known for downhill skiing.   Mount Parnassos in Central Greece is the largest and best known.  On the  south western slope of Mt Parnassos, is the ancient ruins of Delphi.  This was the home of an Oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world.  Our tour is going to visit these ruins today.  (I am still recovering from covid.)  I stay behind and wait out the hike to Delphi at a local restaurant.  Sylvia went with the hike.  

Hilly Highway 

Mt Parnassos

Ski Resort town Mt Parnassos

The tour group all came back from their hike to the Delphi ruins for lunch at this restaurant.  Very good Greek foods.  Sylvia had roasted wild boar and I had chicken shish-kabob.  Neither of us had room for Baklava.  The waiter put on a bit of show by continuing to say in very loud voice "Baklava!"

Now we continued by bus to a coastal resort town called Kamena Vourla.  It is on the Aegean Sea with many beautiful beaches.  The Knimis Mountains rise just south of the town.  It is crossed by Highway 1 which connects Athens and Thessaloniki.

We stayed at a 5 star resort on the shoreline of Kamena Vourla. The area looked a lot like a cross between Waikiki and Door County. 

After unpacking, we took a little walk along the beach and shops.  Seeing an Orthodox church, we stopped and lit a few candles.  

At the resort we had Mass for the Feast of St Francis (Oct 4th).  Supper buffet was grand as has been the case throughout the trip.

Athens...Day Two

 October 3, 2023

Athens

It was another sunny day in Athens.  We stayed isolated in our room at the Athens Avenue Hotel most of the day.  I was still pretty sleepy from my covid but had a little more energy.  We actually walked a few blocks to our favorite local restaurant, "Ciao Italiano", for lunch.  They had outdoor sidewalk seating and we wore face masks going and coming.  On the way, we stopped at a pharmacy to buy some cough drops.  They recommended some very effective ones that really saved the day for me for several days to come.  As long as I continued taking the cough drops, I didn't scare people with the sounds of me coughing.

During the afternoon, Sylvia took her own excursion to the National Museum of Archaeology.  She got their on her own with the help of an Uber.  I stayed at the hotel to isolate and rest.

The National Museum of Archaeology

Sylvia took an uber to the Museum.

View of Athens from my Hotel Window.

Athens

 October 2, 2023

During our last night on our three day cruise, I was experiencing body aches that signaled the onset of some infection.  I used a home test to see if this was covid related.  Sure thing, I was positive for covid.  We let our tour leaders know immediately in the morning.  Indeed, we were leaving the ship first thing this morning.  They decided that it was best to stay with the group and take the bus back to Athens (30 minutes) as long as I sat at the very back with an K-95 mask on at all times.  

Our first stop in Athens was to have Mass at the Catholic Cathedral of St Dionysius.  The Madison people from St Dennis parish enjoyed the name "similarity" between Dionysius and Dennis.  Sylvia and I were sure to sit way in the back of church away from the other pilgrims.  Deacon Roger was the one who brought the communion to us during the Mass.  Later Roger shared that he sensed a special grace flowing to me when he gave us communion.  Indeed, I had felt a certain strength from taking the communion.  I found this a reassuring sign that covid would not be too bad. 

Cathedral of St Dionysius in Athens

Our group went off to the Acropolis to climb to the Mountain of the Gods.  You won't find any pictures of it here.  Sylvia and I stayed at our hotel in Athens to isolate and rest.  I was super fatigues, runny nose, but no fever.  The rest of the day was rest and recuperate and figure out our next steps.  Sylvia was able to bring me a plate of food to my room from the supper buffet later in the day.