This is part two of following along as my family traveled part of Europe during our sabbatical in the summer of 2019. You can read Part One here.
Thessaloniki
We flew the next morning from Athens, Greece to Thessaloniki. Little did we know that there to greet us were soon to be our two favorite people of the trip, Ms. Athina our tour guide and George our driver.
Ms. Athina took us all around the city and explained to us the deep history and culture of Thessaloniki and the surrounding area of Greece. We learned a lot about the Greek Orthodox religion and that Thessaloniki is one of the few places in Greece that has been continually inhabited since biblical times.
That day we also ventured around on our own a little bit to find lunch and successfully ordered food without knowing a bit of the language, and also we ventured into a Greek grocery store. We did this in every country, in order to give some cultural reference to our children, and also ourselves.
We know that Paul upset the Jewish population in Thessaloniki on his travels through there and that the mob brought believers in front of the city’s magistrates. The believers in Thessaloniki quickly sent Paul and Silas on their way because of the anger they incited (Acts 17:1-10).
The walls of Thessaloniki from the Byzantine period
Greek Grocery Store
Philippi
The next day Ms. Athina and George had us out bright and early, ready to visit the rest of our Greek sights and learn so much more about the Bible. But first Ms. Athina taught me how modern Greeks drink their coffee, instant espresso blended with ice and cream. Then we were off for our drive out of the city and through the countryside to Philippi. We learned about the unique climate that the Greek mountains create and allow for all types of agriculture on a very small amount of land, and we made a quick stop at the Amphipolis Lion from the time of Alexander the Great (4th century BC) and brief stop on Paul’s journey (Acts 17:1).
We first stopped at the place it is thought that Lydia believed and was baptized (Acts 16:13-15). There is a beautiful church near the spot in the river, and we sat to listen to part of a service being held at the outdoor area by some Spanish tourists. This out of everything was the least “touristy” and most serene area we visited. We wandered the outdoor area and dipped our feet in the water.
We made our way to the excavation site of Philippi where we walked the same paths once again that Paul would have walked. We had grown accustomed to navigating ancient Greek and Roman cities, and found the theater, gates and walls of the city, the agora, and the public baths. But Philippi held an interest for us because still mostly intact is the prison where Paul and Silas were kept after driving out the demon from the young girl in Philippi. What caught us off guard about this is the fact that prison “cells” (really dug out caves in a hillside) were right along the Roman road. So it would have been travelled frequently by all sorts of people and there would have been people stopping to talk or interact with the prisoners. When looking at it that way, it’s not as strange to understand that Paul and Silas were singing and praying and others were listening to them (Acts 16:24-26). It would have been a fantastic place to preach the gospel of Jesus, right along the busy road.
Standing in the river where Lydia was baptized by Paul.
What is thought to be Paul and Silas’s jail cell.
Neapolis
When we left Philippi we went to see the city of Kavala which was known in ancient times as Neapolis. This is the port where Paul first landed in Macedonia after receiving a vision for his time in Greece. It was a bustling and busy port back in ancient times and would have been the perfect place to encounter new cultures and preach the news of Jesus (Acts 16:9-11).
Kavala (Ancient Neapolis)
After eating a meal near the water in Kavala we headed back to Thessaloniki and our last night in Greece. I left Greece with an overwhelming humility at having seen and walked where people out of the Bible had been. Walking these streets, seeing the common everyday things like the markets and baths and what would have been homes and businesses made the Bible come alive in a way that cannot be explained in pictures and words (although I will keep trying). To understand how their lives were different and also very often more similar than we think, to ours is so very important to bring to life the words of the Bible. Once we understand more of the culture and physical surroundings of those writing the Bible, we can also understand a little more how their words apply to our own lives. My constant prayer while on this trip was for the Lord to show me His divine truth, His glory in all that He’d done a long time ago, and all He’s doing now in this present time, and how we can be a part of all that.
I can sometimes, in my fiction loving way, distance myself from reading the Bible. I love the Words, know Its Truth, but can sometimes forget to let it change me each and every time I’m studying. This time in Rome and Greece reminded me of Its tangible power and ability to change lives.
At the beginning of our trip, nothing in Greece was not in my top 5 most anticipated sites, if I’m honest. I grew up wanting to visit the Vatican, the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace (all places we saw on our trip). But something about Greece stole my heart. The kindness of the people, the richly steeped history and pride in their culture. The mix of European and middle eastern influences (having been part of the Turkish empire until the early 1900s) was such an unexpected and welcome twist for me. The major bonus was the way they allowed access and visitation to biblical sites and grounds while holding them sacred. They made them accessible to someone like me without any sort of Bible degree, to my husband with his doctorate, to even my tween-aged children. I have often said since we’ve been back over a year now, that Greece unexpectedly stole my heart, and I can’t wait to go back.
The Rest of the Trip
Our trip was split almost in half between church history and “regular” touristy things. Even some of our time in Rome and Greece was touristy and then some of our time in France and England were spent ministry minded. But we left Greece to fly to Paris the next day, spent a few days sightseeing, went to EuroDisney, and then took the train under the English Channel to London. My anglophile heart sang as we spent some time there, and I regaled my children with my deep (and mostly unwelcome) knowledge of 19th century Britain, terrible and chilling tales of the Tower of London and seeing the Crown Jewels, visiting the home in which Jane Austen lived her last years, driving through a 16th century castle to stay on its grounds in the English countryside, and walking where CS Lewis walked with JRR Tolkein in Cambridge. We also spent a few days on holiday in a classic seaside town and ate fish and chips as well.
We came home exhausted and forever changed. I hear my children sometimes spout off a fact about Versailles, or talk about the best gluten free pasta we had in Rome and I remind myself about the importance of travel. It makes me dream of going to the Middle East to visit our friends who live in Dubai, or visit the Holy Land in Israel. I now keep a list of the things I didn’t get to do this last trip in Paris and London that I will do on my next trip there. I have phone alerts set up for flight deals to Athens (still eerily quiet on that front, but I’m hoping that’s not forever). Our family has always held travel and cross cultural immersion as an important thing in our travels around the United States, but this trip broadened our comfort zone to God’s big and wonderful world.
