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.
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Uptown is outside the Old Wall
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Sun rise on Thessaloniki
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| University campus |
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Morning traffic
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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.
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| Excavated Philippi |
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| Greek Theater |
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Roman Forum
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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.
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