A Greek Recap

I am sitting in Leslie's living room in Vienna, and I think that it might be time for me to share about my wonderful trip to Greece. This might be repetitive...Leslie's already shared all the news on her blog, but I'll try my hand at it.

We arrived on Tuesday and were picked up at the airport by Linda and her Greek husband Youdis. We spent the day (and the rest of the week) getting to know her. She is one of the most amazing people that I have ever met in my life! She moved to Greece (by boat!) over 35 years ago to be a missionary, not knowing anybody or even any Greek. She has lived there ever since, married a wonderful Christian Greek man (Youdis), and raised her two daughters in their small town near Thessaloniki.

Anyhow, on Wednesday they showed us all around (my last post).

On Thursday we took a bus to a small town called Litochoro at the base of Mount Olympus. Though we never found Zeus, we did get to eat some amazing Greek food and see a quaint Greek town!


Friday we took another bus to Dion, another small town with a museum of ancient artifacts. We didn't get to see the ancient wall and ampitheater (they were closing down for their afternoon rest), but we had another relaxing Greek meal.



The whole trip was extremely relaxing and such an encouragement to Leslie and I. We had never met Linda before, but Leslie is friends with Linda's nephew, which was our contact with her. She had such amazing stories of her entire life! We're hoping that one day she writes a book, or at least a blog. Just to give you a taste, she regularly crossed the border in (then) Yugoslavia and Albania during the days of the Soviet Union. She worked with a church and orphanage in Katerini. And many, many more things.

After spending the day in Thessoloniki on Saturday, we flew back to Leslie's home in Vienna. It was a great little trip, and now I get to explore more of Vienna! But that's another story for another time...

SINCE this is entitled A List of Gifts, I have to mention what a HUGE gift from God this week was. It's amazing how God works to bring Christians into each others lives. Linda was an amazing example for me of a woman who is completely committed to serving the Lord. I am also extremely thankful for the opportunity to spend time with Leslie again. We haven't seen each other since college, but I feel like it hasn't been nearly that long! She has been such an encouragement to me, and it's great to catch up and see where she is now (which is teaching at a Christian school in Vienna).



More on Vienna next time.

It's just so...Greek!

Well, I've been told that I need to get this going...ahem...so I figure that Greece is as good a place as any to start!

A little background first: I left Korea on Friday night and arrived in Vienna on Saturday afternoon, after about 24 hrs travel time. I was sick, I was exhausted, but I made it. When I got off the plane in Vienna, Leslie picked me up from the airport, and beside her was Joanna!!! Joanna lives in Budapest and had come in for the weekend to surprise me. I was completely surprised, but it was so great to see them after almost two years (I hadn't seen them since the summer of graduation in 2007).



They showed me around Vienna on Saturday and Sunday, when Joanna returned to Budapest. Then on Monday Leslie and I went shopping and saw more of Vienna. It's such a beautiful city. And then yesterday (Tuesday) we flew to Greece.



Ah, Greece, it is so wonderful here! We are staying with the aunt and uncle of a friend of Leslie's...meaning that we had never met them before, except on facebook. They are such warm, welcoming people...Linda is an American who moved here over 30 years ago as a missionary, and her husband is a Greek man born and raised here in Katerini. We are an hour outside of Thessaloniki, and everything feels so Greek. The food, the sounds, the smells, the weather, the language, everything is so different.

Linda and Jotis acted as our personal tour guides around the area. We started off seeing where Paul fled to Athens in boat (in Acts...I have to look it up).



From there we worked our way down to the grave of Philip II of Macedonia, Alexander the Great's father, in Vergina. It was discovered almost 40 years ago, and it is quite elaborate. (The history here is incredible, obviously...I can't get over it.)

After that we went down to Berea and saw the steps from where Paul supposedly preached. There is a monument there to him.



So, to finish up, I am sharing with you my top reasons that I love Greece (in no particular order):
1. They stay up late and sleep late here.
2. Thus, they take naps.
3. They speak Greek, and I can read the signs (though I can't understand them.)
4. They eat all kinds of rich, delicious food.
5. They are always talking and arguing.

We'll see how long it takes for me to do another blog.