On Thursday we traveled up to the monasteries of Meteora. It was absolutely breathtaking. These rocks are over a thousand feet high and are rounded so that they almost look alien. The monasteries are perched at the top like they are just clinging to the rock. The monks who built them in the 14th century had to scale the rocks with the building materials on their backs and it took 25 years just to carry the building materials up. Once the monasteries were built, the only way to access them was by being lifted up in a basket or net. Now, thankfully, there are winding roads to the top. After taking several fun pictures on the rocks with the marvelous landscape of the valley behind us, we visited one of the convents. It holds about 30 sisters now. Women were required to wear skirts that covered the knee and have their arms covered to the elbow. Men had to have pants or shorts that covered the knee. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but I have some good shots of the outside. The chapel had beautiful artwork on the walls of Byzantine icons and biblical scenes.
Lori and I doing some rock climbing in our long skirts. |
The convent we visited. |
Part of the group on a rock overlooking the valley. |
Following our tour of the convent, we went to a nearby town and visited a workshop where they make icons. They showed us the wood that they use, how they make the parchment, and how they paint or technically “write” the icons. We got to see some iconographers at work, which was really neat. I purchased a beautiful icon of the Holy Family. When I was on the bus, I wanted to take a picture of it to post on the blog, and may camera was set to the close-up setting. But the face-recognition feature picked out Jesus’ face and automatically changed the setting to portrait! Jesus’ presence is more real than we let ourselves believe!
My icon of the Holy Family |
The iconographers in the workshop. |
We arrived in Athens on Thursday evening without enough time to really see the city, but with plenty of time to take advantage of the roof-top pool! It was lovely swimming on a balmy evening in the Mediterranean under the Athenian moon, with a view that overlooked the Acropolis. We joked that Biblical Studies are rough this semester…
The view from the pool. The "classical" sign is on the next hotel over... just in case you forget that it is a classical monument! |
Natalie, Maria, Me, Lori and Rick in front of the Parthenon |
Friday we went to the Acropolis. It was absolutely incredible. These ancient temples are magnificent and so perfectly constructed, that you wonder how they could have done this without the advanced technology of today. It makes us look pretty silly having to depend on our calculators and computers! We also stopped at the Areapogus which is where St. Paul addressed the Athenians. His speech there is absolutely beautiful, and once again we got to hear it read right in the place where Paul originally gave it. So surreal.
Me in front of a temple to Athena |
We didn’t have any group plans for the afternoon, so Lori and I joined Sheila and Kathy (two lovely Mercy sisters from Ireland and New Zealand) on an adventure on the metro to a small museum. The metro was actually surprising clean and bright (Athens is not a pretty city), but the neat part is that every time someone tries to build something in Greece, a full-scale excavation must be done because there are so many treasures in the ground. So some of the walls in the subway stations had glass showing ancient walls behind them, and even small exhibits of pottery found while constructing the subway. We got off the metro at the Parliament building just in time for the changing of the guards! The wear traditional kilts with pom pom shoes and do a great routine with their legs kicking in the air! The museum was beautiful with art through the centuries of Greek history ancient pottery and jewelry, through medieval icons, up to today’s modern art.
The changing of the guards. |
Today we visited Corinth, which was one of the biggest and most important cities in biblical times. Seeing the ruins and artifacts really gave a great glimpse into the social life at the time which helps explain the difficulties the Christians were having and why Paul was so frustrated with them in his letters. We are beginning to understand the layout and design of ancient cities and the shapes of different ruins, so even after our tour ended Lori, Rick and I were able to pick out different features and figure out what they were. Yes, we are nerds, but we fully embrace that! We also stopped by the Corinth canal, which was neat. And the city of Cenchrea which is now mostly underwater, but you can see the outline of a basilica peeking out. Paul stopped here and made a vow and cut his hair lol. I’m really getting very familiar with Paul. He is like a friend to us on this trip.
Me, Efi and Lori in front of a temple dedicated to Apollo in Corinth |
The Corinth Canal |
The underwater basilica of Cenchrea |
This afternoon Lori and I took advantage of the rooftop pool again because we have to get to sleep early tonight. We leave for Samos bright and early!
1 comments:
Miss Darcy I loved reading about your adventure so far! You do such a great job describing everything that I can imagine myself climbing rocks with you and sitting on the steps listening to Paul. It looks so sunny and clear in your pictures, like California right now! I want to go on an adventure! One day you, me, Collette, and Alicia (and whoever else wants to come) should go on a tour somewhere and have an adventure together. I'm glad you are having a great time!
Post a Comment