8/26/09: I am writing from the hotel, where there is no internet reception unless we want to pay a small fortune for a short period of time – a complete tourist trap. So, I am writing this in my journal in the hotel lobby and will send it when I find more cost-effective internet access. It is a little after 5 a.m. I can’t sleep any longer.
We arrived in at the airport in Athens, which is about 40 minutes outside the city – on the other side of a mountain range. We have nice busses – 8-9 busses for the entire group. Miles was doing better by the time that we arrived. We were, of course, going on very little sleep. I did not sleep on the plane. Miles probably slept for one-third to one-half of the flight. He really missed his pillow.
We were taken on a tour of the city. The city is in a valley surrounded by mountains on three sides with a long slope down to the Aegean Sea, interrupted by various hills. Within the valley, there are several hills, one of which is the Acropolis, where the Parthenon was built along with various other temple buildings. Mars Hills is a large rock outcropping below the Parthenon. The remains of the marketplace where Paul walked are down below Mars Hill. We took photos of everything and we will send or download photos (via facebook?) when we have the chance.
We saw the 1896 Olympic Stadium and then went to the Acropolis, where we hiked to the top and took lots of photos. It is around 100 degrees, but there was shade from Olive trees and various buildings. We were at the Acropolis for about an hour and a half and then took the bus back to the hotel.
The hotel is a typical tourist hotel – the lobby is nice, but the rooms are tiny with small, hard single beds with one pillow each. Fortunately, the rooms are airconditioned. While Miles showered, I walked to McDonalds and bought chicken Caesar salads, water and milk shakes. We ate and then slept for about 2.5 hours before dinner.
Dinner was good. The desserts were especially good. Miles ate adequately, but not well. His throat was sore by the end of this exhausting day. Athens is 10 hours ahead of California, so our scheduled is completely off. We slept for about another 6 hours, then I got up and left Miles trying to sleep. He said that his throat pain is down to about 6.5 out of 10. So praise God for the improvement since it was 9.5/10 in the NY ER.
We saw Mark Driscoll briefly at the Acropolis, but that is it. He is supposed to give a Bible study to us at Mars Hill this afternoon or evening. The film crew is essentially just filming his bus, which includes the doctor and his wife from Auburn. I did run into them at the Acropolis and introduced them to Miles.
We are scheduled to drive to Corinth this morning after breakfast. We will stop at Mars Hill on the way back. Miles is looking forward to eggs for breakfast.
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