ST. PAUL'S JOURNEYS, JUNE 27 RECAP

Before I forget, our cabin steward was Nasser Farouk. Pretty good. Maybe not quite as good as Armando the Magnificent, our cabin steward on our cruise to Hawaii last year but still, pretty good.

We docked at the the port of Athens. Our intrepid tour guide was Aliki. Like the rest of our guides, she was impeccable. Our bus took us first to the Corinth Canal, built in the late 1800s. [REMINDER! You have to find Lois' FB page to see pictures.] This canal cut through the Isthmus of Corinth, connecting the Aegean to the Adriatic Sea. We met some people from Omaha & Norfolk there. Small world. We walked across the bridge to get a better view of the canal. It's 3.8 mi. long & very narrow, so only one small boat can navigate it at a time. The canal is 300' feet deep at its deepest point & blasted out of solid rock. We were in the Pelopynese province, the southernmost province in Greece.

Our next stop was at the site of Ancient Corinth. We had a view of the acropolis, 1800' in height. [I was grateful that we didn't have to walk it.] The archaeological site was excavated by Americans. Everything is in ruins. A fountain house provided access to water. The museum contained, as usual, lots of headless statues. The most interesting room contained many clay body parts. People made these body parts to correspond to parts of their bodies that needed healing. We're talking feet, hands, ears, heads, private parts, & more. People would take these to the temple, pray to them, & worship them. It's possible that St. Paul witnessed this, which inspired him to write about the Body of Christ being one body with many members, all equal in the sight of God.

Ancient Corinth had been inhabited since 7,000 B.C. Archaeological sites in NE maybe date back to the 1200s A.D., so we were continued to be amazed at the age of the ruins we encountered. The Romans conquered Corinth in 146 B.C. & destroyed the city, except for the Temple of Apollo. You can still view the massive columns. This temple was built in 600 B.C. This is where people bought meat sacrificed to idols, also witnessed by Paul, which probably led to his admonitions in 1st Corinthians. Anyway, Julius Caesar rebuilt the city as a place for army veterans. This was the city that Paul knew--the place where he, Aquila & Priscilla made tents. Corinth was one of the 4 major cities of the Roman Empire & may have had a population of 500,000 at Paul's time. By 700 A.D. the entire site was in ruins, due to earthquakes & barbarian raids, until it was discovered by Americans.

We had our group devotion near the supposed site of Paul's hearing before Gallio. At the conclusion of our devotion, we sang "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name." A nearby group, which included some people from Nebraska, applauded when we were finished. Very moving!

We had lunch at the foot of the Corinth Canal, where it opened into the Aegean Sea. There's a bridge at the mouth of the canal which sinks into the water when a boat approaches. Never seen anything like it! We had lunch at the restaurant. No gyros, but I did have souvlaki. Then it was back to the ship for a return to Athens. On our way back to the port, our guide pointed out "hills" that were actually the fill material from the construction of the canal. We had a buffet supper at the hotel, & an amazing thing happened. A woman approached me, because she recognized my last name. She asked if I was familiar with Ocheyedan. I replied that my grandpa had a farm near Ocheyedan, & my dad was raised on the farm. She introduced me to her husband, who was related to my grandpa & dad. What are the chances?

Thus concludes my travelogues. I hope you've enjoyed them. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, & we are so glad we went. So many high points that it's impossible to identify our favorites. We've been invited by friends to accompany them on a tour of the Holy Land in 2024. People who toured the Holy Land a few years ago, including David, Carmen, & Anita, strongly encouraged us to go, so we've got a big decision to make. So long!