Here is a map of Paul's second missionary journey. If you look at the province of Macedonia in Greece, you can see the places that I visited such as Neapolis, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea.
DAY 1:DELPHI
We set out early Thursday morning for the city of Delphi, where the famous “oracle of Delphi” used to be. People would travel to Delphi to the temple of Apollo and bring their questions to the priestess there. She would then put herself into a self-induced hallucinogenic trance and “talk” to Apollo for the people. Her answers were typically vague so that one could ever say she was wrong. Delphi is also known as the center or “navel of the earth” according to legend. The morning we were in Delphi, it poured rain on us.
Our hotel that night was really nice. It was in the middle of nowhere I think we were its only tenants. It had a geothermic spa, where the heat was naturally generated from nearby hot springs. We had to wear shower caps in the spa while we swam (I guess that's a European thing?).
DAY 2:
METEORA
We started the second day off at Meteora. It reminded me of what the earth probably looked like when the dinosaurs roamed. The place had a mystical feel, maybe because it was sprinkling and foggy as we wove up the uninhabited mountains in the bus. I'd never seen rocks like that - gray, huge, tall. And there were monasteries on the very top of them, where monks and nuns had lived, seeking complete solitude. In antiquity, the only way to reach the monasteries was in a basket that would be lowered, or a rope ladder, but our group climbed up the steps that have recently been added.
Meteora was one of my favorite places. All the girls had to wear skirts to enter the monastery, so it was definitely a trek climbing up the slippery steps to the monastery, holding my umbrella in the rain in my long skirt. Reaching the top, I enjoyed seeing where many people have spent there entire lives, in solitude and prayer. I would like to spend a couple days there, just to see how they live, but I think living in isolation is NOT what Christians are called to do. We need to be a light to people around us. 
VERGINA Next we visited Vergina, the site of the tomb of Phillip II, king of Macedon and father of Alexander the Great. I don't have many pictures because photography was not allowed, but it was really neat to see how preserved the tomb was. The tomb is marked with a tumulus (see below), a mound of earth. Although the royal tombs around it have been heavily looted, the tomb of Phillip II has never been moved. The bones from the tomb have been uncovered and examined by surgeons, who confirmed it is the tomb of Phillip II. The surgeons noticed a mark on the skull above the right eye socket that would have caused blindness, and we know that Phillip II's right eye was blinded in war. Neat!
BEREAOur last stop of the day was the city of Berea, mentioned in Acts 17:11, "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." Paul fled from Thessalonika to Berea and entered the Jewish synagogue.
The small town of Berea was really cute, with ch
ic cafes and store fronts, overlooking a valley full of olive trees. We stopped at the bema, an outdoor shrine displaying several mosaics of Paul and the Bereans. No ancient ruinsactually still survive though.
Our 5-star hotel in Thessaloniki (or Thessalonika), Grand Hotel Palace, was overwhelming. I'd never stayed in such a nice place, and I felt very underdressed, arriving sweaty at the end of the day in my travel clothes. All the other tenants wore black suits and fine dresses, a woman played the piano in the hotel lobby, and the place was immaculate with crystal chandeliers and marble floors. We were served a full-course meal every night after a full day of touring. That is the kind of place I thought I would only be able to stay in during my honeymoon!
DAY 3:
PHILIPPI
Our third day was spent in the city of Philippi, called Kavala today. First, we visited the site where Paul supposedly met Lydia in Acts 16:13-15: "On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. 'If you consider me a believer in the Lord,' she said, 'come and stay at my house.' And she persuaded us." We know that Paul met Lydia
outside the city wall,
by the river, but we don't know
exactly which river or outside which wall. Here I am standing in that freezing cold stream in Philippi.
Nearby, we visited the only baptistry in Greece, a place for baptisms
only, not for church services. A Greek family was setting up for their baby girl's baptism. In the Greek Orthodox church, a baby is baptized before the age of one. First, the baby is covered with oil and then immersed three times. You can see the small baptistry that looks like a sink in the middle of the building.
We then visited the archaelogical site of Philippi with its many ruins.
We also saw the "prison" of Paul and Silas mentioned in Acts 16:16-40. This was Paul's first known imprisonment. He and Silas cast a demon out of a girl that was a fortune teller. Her owners got mad and beat and imprisoned Paul and Silas. But they were miraculously released from the Philippian jail when an earthquake came. Paul and Silas saved the Philippian jailer from committing suicide, and he and his family were saved that night. There is no evidence that the site we saw is even a prison, but below is a picture of what has become a shrine according to oral tradition.
The Via Egnatia, the main road in antiquity, borders the city of Philippi to the north and we were able to walk on it. We
know that this is the road Paul travelled on so much during his missionary journeys - how neat!
Below is a picture of the port of Philippi called Neapolis - very pretty. : )
DAY 4:
THESSALONIKI
The fourth day, our last day, we checked out of our hotel and toured Thessaloniki before we set out for home. Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece (second to Athens). We visited an ancient basilica (church). A church service was going on, but went in quietly anyway. It was very awkward because I felt like a big group of tourists disrupting a church service, but it was cool to observe their service and hear the congregation droning on in their chants. I, like everyone else, paid to light a candle and offer a prayer.
Below is a picture of the famous White Tower of Thessaloniki. It was built by the Ottomans as a prison. It used to be called "the bloody tower" because so many people were hung on the top of its battlements, and their blood would drip down the outside walls. : /
It was the perfect day for touring. The leaves on the trees were all changing colors, and it definitely felt like a brisk, cool, fall morning - ahh. We walked along the Thessaloniki coast...
And stopped by a park that commemorates Alexander the Great. Below is the giant statue of Alexander on his horse Bucephalus. The more I learned, the more I thought Alexander the Great was amazing, but he was also very proud, so not as impressive.
Here I am with some guys in my group. It was kinda chilly...
Below is a picture of Thessaloniki that I took from the top of the city.
THERMOPYLAE
On our way home, we stopped by Thermopylae, the place where the 300 Spartans stood against the nearly 250,000-man Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae. If you've seen the movie "300," that is what it is all about. The storyline is very amazing to me, how the outnumbered Spartans refused to surrender to the Persians.
After 10 hours on the bus, we arrived back "home" at the Artemis Hotel. It was a great trip, although I'm very worn out. Today is a recovery day, so I got to sleep in and have no classes. : )
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