October 17, 2009: The Parthenon and Temple of Athena Nike

On the very top of the Acropolis are the ruins of the Parthenon and the Temple of Athena Nike.

October 17, 2009: Mars Hill, Athens, Greece

Paul visited Athens on his 2nd missionary journey between 49-51 AD. Paul was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols as recorded in Acts 17:16.
Paul’s sermon on Mars Hill is recorded in Acts 17:22-31. “Men of Athens!” It reads. “I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you”. Then Paul went on to tell the Athenians about his God and his Savior Jesus Christ.
As you can see from the picture, Mars Hill where Paul delivered this sermon is a large rocky hill about 377 feet high on the Acropolis, the highest hill in Athens.

First Stop - Athens, Greece: October 17, 2009

Athens is a city of 3 million people. It is very congested with traffic and people. Cars park 2 and 3 deep along the streets, and it is difficult for the tour buses to get through the maze. You can see in this slide the contrast between the old city and the modern city.

Thursday & Friday, October 15&16, 2009: Divani Caravel Hotel, Athens

Thursday, October 15, 2009: We arrived in Athens earlier than expected at 12:30 p.m. There was a very light rain falling, just enough to wet the ground. We transferred to a deluxe hotel, the Divani Caravel Hotel, for dinner and a night of rest. I couldn’t believe the room price of €540 per day. The hotel was nice but I would never pay that kind of a price if I was traveling on my own. I had planned to attend a Rotary meeting at 9:00 p.m. at a restaurant about one mile from our hotel but I just wasn’t feeling up to it. After having been up for 36 hours the bed looked very good. We stayed in the hotel for the night.


Friday, October 16, 2009: Frank is still not feeling like traveling today. He stayed at the hotel while Sharon went with the tour group to Corinth. Along the way we see several olive trees, a major product of Greece.
Corinth was one of the most important cities of ancient Greece. Its location, on the isthmus that connects the Peloponnesus with the rest of Europe, was ideal for trade both by land and sea. Paul visited Corinth in 51 A.D. and founded a Church there during his stay.


It is recorded in Acts 18 that when Paul departed from Athens he went to Corinth where he resided with Priscilla and Aquila who were tent makers as was Paul. Acts 18:4 "every Sabboth Paul reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks." The Jews were upset by Paul's preaching. Acts 18:12 "the Jews with one accord, rose up against Paul and brought him to the Judgment Seat." Dr. Stanley spoke to the tour group at this site.



Lechaion Road is a limestone paved road from the seaport to the city of Corinth, and is probably were Paul walked.

Seven of the original 38 columns of the Temple of Apollo, built in 552 B.C. still remain. They are all that really "stand" of ancient Corinth.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009: Our Flight

Wednesday, October 14, 2009: Our adventure starts with a flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, over the Atlantic to the birthplace of civilization, Athens, Greece. The flight aboard Lufthansa airlines was most pleasant except for the nine hours. The flight took the long way around flying north along the eastern seaboard up over New York and Newfoundland before crossing out over the northern Atlantic. We then followed a route over Scotland, southern England, northern France before landing at Munich. Our flight from Charlotte had 29 members of the tour onboard. We did leave earlier and therefore were able to get to Athens earlier than the balance of the group who flew out of New York and were not expect to get to Athens until 5:30 p.m. Frank wasn’t feeling well on the flight, having just recovered (so I thought) from a brief bout with the flu.

Visits to our Ancestoral Homes and Cemeteries

It's late and I'm having problems getting to the blog site. The Pittsburgh, PA posts will have to wait until a later time. Sorry.

We depart in the morning for our trip to Athens Greece and Turkey. Hopefully I'll have better luck when I'm not pressed for time

We've arrived in Pittsburgh, PA

Sharon and I arrived in Pittsburgh this evening and are settled in at our hotel.
Tomorrow is the big day to visit the ancestoral homeplaces, schools and cemeteries. Tomorrow eveining the folks in Pittsburgh have arranged a dinner and reunion of Frank's Mother's three sisters. At last count we are expecting 57 for dinner and a time of fellowship to renew family connections. I have my genealogy information available and am looking to some of the cousins to update a few missing dates and places.
Will post more tomorrow evening.
Enjoy the travels.
Frank

We are on the road again? Or should I say SKY and Water?

Sharon and I are preparing for our next trip. But this time, instead of hitting the road, we will be flying the skys and then sailing the water.

We depart October 14, 2009 from Charlotte, North Carolina and fly to Athens, Greece. After three days in Athens, we will board the ship Ocean Majesty and tour the Aegean Sea to follow the routes of the travels of St. Paul.

Our tour will start in Athens, Greece and over the next few days will take us to places such as Corinth, Thessaloniki, Kavala, Philippi. Then it is on to the Turkish port of Ephesus. The next day we dock at the isle of Patmos and the day after, to the island of Rhodes and the city of Lindos. Then we sail to Santorini, the jewel of the Aegean Sea where we will take a donkey/cable care ride to the mountaintop city of Thira. After a day exploring the island we sail to the port of Piraeus where we will disembark the Ocean Majesty and transfer to the airport for our return flight home.

Our host on this tour will be Reverand Charles Stanley of the First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. We look forward to his teachings during this trip and are excited about visiting each of the places that Paul wrote about in his letters to the early Christian Church.

The Apostle Paul wrote much of the New Testament through the inspiration from God and the Holy Spirit. Before his conversion, Paul was called Saul. Saul was the persecutor of Christians: he witnessed and approved the stoning of Stephen, who was the first Christian martyr. Acts 8:1 reads: "And Saul was there giving approval to his death."
Then Saul was converted on the road to Damascus and from that time on Paul was on fire for the Lord.
God used Paul in powerful ways to spread the news about Jesus. Paul took three missionary journeys to Asia Minor to spread the good news. Our trip in October will allow us to visit many of the places where the Apostle Paul visited and preached, and, in many cases he was persecuted because of his message.

Family Reunion in Pittsburgh, PA

We are looking forward to a reunion with my mother's family in Pittsburgh, PA over the October 2-5, 2009 weekend. We arrive late Friday evening and after a nights rest, visit several ancestoral homes and addresses on the North Side. The folks in Pittsburgh have arranged a catered meal for Saturday evening which is the time that we will all get together with the cousins that we have not seen for many years. We are looking forward to that special time. On Sunday we do what all Pittsburghers do and that is to take in a Steelers Football game.