Back to Athens

Waking up Sunday morning was a little bittersweet...ready to move on, but hating to say goodbye to Syros. 

We slept in a bit, went to breakfast--especially enjoying the last morning's view from the breakfast porch--and back up to pack.


We gathered once again for a time of worship together. 

Gathering for the last time on the nice shaded porch beside the sea.

Hard to believe we'd been together all these days...looking at each face and thinking of all the shared experiences. Instead of a group, I now knew individuals. What a blessing!

Since we were going to Athens and, hopefully, to Mars Hill itself, Jeshua read the sermon Paul preached there recorded in Acts 17:16-34. We sang together and prayed together. 

Then it was time to bring our luggage down for its journey around the harbor to the ferry station.

Thankful I didn't have to drag it around myself!

I set out a little early so I could do some last minute shopping and meandering on the way. As it was, the ferry was a bit late arriving and it was just plain hot while we waited...but glad for a place to sit and a little bit of shade.

Finally it arrived and made it's 180 degree turn, let down it's loading ramp and we could board. 

I stopped, turned and took a picture...I was no longer on Syros.

This ferry was much bigger and very crowded. Jeshua and I finally found a little stack of chairs up under one of the stairwells. A couple of the Indiana folks joined us. A Greek older woman and her middle aged son had also pulled up a couple of chairs in the shade. The engine noise was loud and, because we were in the corner, the odor of cigarette smoke seemed to occasionally waft our direction. However, once again I was glad to be sitting and to be in the shade, so decided to count my blessings--choosing joy! We decided we were in the ferry's version of steerage...you know the part of the ship that provided accommodations to the passengers with the cheapest tickets. 😎 

The view from my seat.

Choosing to smile!

The ferry coming over was almost a 4 hour trip...I think this one was not quite three and a half. I kept track of our progress on my phone using My Maps. It was fun to see us get closer. And then we started seeing Athens across the water.

A city along the peninsula as we got closer to Athens.

And, then, finally, Athens itself.

Close to the harbor.

Getting our luggage was again a confused mess, but it all righted itself in the end and we headed for the bus to take us to the hotel.

Lots of buses lined up, so had to make sure we found the right one!

And we were off. Not quite so tired as when we first saw Athens.

We thought that getting the luggage from the ferry was unorganized, however we were not prepared for the disorganized mess at the hotel. We were staying at the Wyndham Grand Athens, considered a bit of a luxury hotel-and it was nice.

However...all of the choirs and the orchestra arrived at the hotel lobby at once...they had four elevators--and true to European elevators, they were very small and one of them was not working. Of course, they could have overridden the regular controls and moved them up and down in some semblance of order, but no...that was not to be.

Patience was waning.

Lots of kids finally picked up their luggage and climbed the stairs. I was on the fourth floor and didn't really think that was an option for me. So I waited and waited and eventually got to the room. Whew!

The room was spacious and the whole wall between it and the bathroom was a large closet and storage spot. This photo is from the hotel...our actual room had blue tones and there was another three feet between the bed and the window, along with another chair.

A spacious bathroom with a tub and a separate rainfall shower--which I found hard to breath in and shower at the same time. But it was fun to try!

My goal was a long shower to wash away the sea salt and sultriness from the ferry. Jeshua, however, had already looked up the closest McDonald's, discovered it was only a couple of kilometers away and off he went. He has a tradition of eating in McDonald's in all the cities he travels to. We started it together in Vienna! Well, no, I guess he started it in Japan with the youth orchestra--where he had a Green Tea Milkshake. 😀

As I laid in bed, I could hear the sounds of the city outside. Gone was the quiet and the sea views of Syros. Outside our windows was the bustle of a city in the late evening. Lots of traffic as well as people out. Tomorrow we would join them. But for now...sleep--dreaming of what we heard was an amazing breakfast buffet! We would see!

(And what we didn't anticipate was that devastating fires would be breaking out tomorrow near Athens. One to the east and one to the west. Like California, Greece has multitudes of fires in the summer, but, also like California, they sometimes include the loss of homes and life. The two fires near Athens were to be sadly of that class.)