Pilgrims are persistent

The pilgrims started the day early, as we left the city of Athens at 7:30 am...glad to have had our time there, exploring many fascinating areas, but also glad to leave as planned protests were scheduled to begin in the afternoon.  Judging from the news we have seen, there were some fairly rowdy hotspots, so praise and blessings that we were well on the road north, away from the crowds and demonstrations.

Our theme today comes from the text Philippians 3:12-16.  There are many examples of persistence in the stories and travels of Paul, John, all of the towns and churches that they visited or wrote to in their day and the generations that have followed since.  For us as a pilgrim group, we recognize that it is all about how we approach this time together - as pilgrims on a journey - not only as tourists.  We grow and learn in the experiences of our time, not just the events.

Our first experience of the day was a rather long but enjoyable journey on the coach.  We made a few stops along the way on the trip that would eventually take us to Meteroa (more details on this to come in a moment).  Most notable of our stops before lunch was Thermopylae, site of a battle known as the battle of Thermopylae with the Spartan 300 (We all have a desire to see the movie "300" for varying reasons, the predominant abs on all of the Spartan warriors have nothing to do with it!).  After a few pictures and rallying cries of, "We are Sparta" and, "Come and get it", we jumped back on the coach and continued north.

The long road trip was totally worth it.  As we rolled into Meteroa, our mouths dropped at the sight of the rock pinnacles, especially those with beautiful Byzantine monasteries perched on top, and especially when you do the math and realize that these were first built back in the 14th century. Neither the steps nor the original monasteries themselves were easily visible, constructed by hand using primitive lifts (translation = ropes and nets) to move everything up the mountain.  The monks built in this location because they were persistent (recognize that theme?) in having a place to practice and worship where they would not be easily spotted and persecuted.

Today was a great day for the pilgrims, and the pictures, much like our experiences, are AMAZING.  Hope you enjoy them!