Monday 3-24-25
Somehow the wake up times get earlier and earlier, but today is the last official day of our 2025 trip to Greece. This place already has such a special place in my heart with it being where I first travelled internationally, and where I visited for my senior trip. There is something so admirable about how the Greeks appreciate the slower pace in life and are not always in a rush or on to the next thing.
I ended up skipping breakfast to get a few extra minutes of sleep before heading out on our last adventure. Once our group was together, final disembarkation began.
We headed straight to our charter bus to meet our favorite driver but we were just missing Jenny. Our new tour guide Millitza, introduced herself and told us the plan for the day. We had a four hour drive to Corinth, where we would see the ruins of the ancient city, the museum, and the surrounding village.
Along the drive, we stopped at the famous Corinth Canal. It was like the Grand Canyon of Greece. There was a skinny bridge you could walk out on to view it below and take photos. Somehow, giant freight ships manage to pass through this NARROW waterway. I so wish we could have witnessed that! They began building the canal in 1881 and completed it in 1893. It stands at only eighty feet wide but four miles long.
Farther down the road, the bus passed the ancient port of Kenchreai, where Paul would have entered on his way to Corinth. After another two hours or so, we arrived at Corinth. Our tour began with a walk through the site where we saw the temple, shops, the Bema Seat, and the palace. If I am being honest things were beginning to run together by this point, so we definitely saw more, I just cannot identify exactly what it was.
Paul stayed in Corinth for about eighteen months as indicated in Acts 18:11. Silas, Timothy, Pricilla, and Auquila worked with him as we preached and converted people to Christianity. Paul spent a significant amount of time preaching in the synagogues but some of the officials greatly opposed this. At one point, the Jewish leaders brought charges against him and he was taken to “place of judgment” before Gallio. However, he refused to hear Paul’s case because it was a religious matter and not considered a crime. He went continued to preach, establishing a church and writing two letters to the church at Thessalonica during his time in Corinth.
It was so powerful to see the very place were Paul faced judgement from the king because of his efforts to preach the gospel. It is one thing to read about it in scripture but another to stand in those very same places with your own two feet.
Following our tour, my mom and I went into the small village and shopped, ate lunch with our friends Brooke and Mandy, and got gelato. Before we got back on the bus, we walked through the small museum to see some really cool artifacts. One of the pieces I found fascinating were the mosaic. I cannot imagine how long that took to complete.
At about three o’clock we got back to our hotel in Athens (The Stanley), checked in put our bags in the room. We had a few hours to kill before our farewell dinner, so my mom, our friends Eleigh Kaye and Jenn and myself, went out for one last adventure in the city. It was a short metro ride to Plaka, where we shopped and looked around for a few hours. It was so nice to have some time to wonder around and explore. We also tried raw coconut, which tasted like a watery almond pretty much, not bad but not great.
It was bittersweet getting to enjoy our last meal. Sad because it was the last one of an unforgettable trip but sweet because I got to spend it with some of the people I love most. After dinner I enjoyed some quality time with one of my best friends sharing some good laughs and looking back on the trip.
Our group definitely grown closer together throughout the trip. All the bus rides, tours, meals, early wakeup calls led to the best memories. I am so grateful to have gotten the blessing of getting to travel to a bucket list destination with my friends that feel more like family now.
efcharisto, ellada!
Thank you, Greece!
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