Finally...Arrived in Greece!

The Parliament Building

Well it took about a year, but the St. Paul's pilgrimage to Greece and Turkey is a reality.  This trip was originally scheduled for last April, but the Icelandic volcano a year ago forced us to reschedule.  Now, however, 18 intrepid folk, mostly from St. Paul's, but also two from Nevada, two from Virginia, 1 from North Carolina and one from Georgia have arrived in Athens safely.  We left after being blessed and commissioned at the 11:15 AM service yesterday at St. Paul's.  Even our departure out of Miami was not without some adventure.  60 flights were canceled yesterday from Miami due to an explosion in the fuel system earlier in the week that knocked out a bunch of the fuel tanks.  Our Luftansa flight managed to depart, but we had to stop in Orlando to fuel!  This added an additional hour plus to the trip.   After, that however, it was uneventful (which is a word I like when I'm traveling.  It was 8 hours to Frankfurt and then a quick dash to another terminal to catch our 2 1/2 flight to Athens.  We arrived in Frankfurt at about 1:30 and were met by a staff member of NET (working with Friendship Tours).   It was a 45 minute coach drive to our hotel, The Titania Hotel in downtown Athens.  There were no planned activities for the afternoon, so people took walks, or rested until we gathered for our first meal together at 7 PM.  Tomorrow we'll visit the ruins at Corinth and take in some of the sights of Athens!

Strolled with Matina and Gudrun through the National Gardens

During our walk, we could see the Parthenon in the distance.  You can too if you look carefully!