So here we are.
After a loooong journey from Orlando to Frankfurt to Thessaloniki — departing Florida (delayed an hour) at 8:30 Sunday night and arriving in Greece at 6 p.m. Monday — we’re off and running. There are 19 of us, including me and Siobhain and my friend, Father Jeremy Canna (and his mother and brother!) who is serving as our priest for the pilgrimage.
It’s been a whirlwind so far, but what a trip. (More on that in a moment.) Our hotel for the first couple nights, the Capsis, in Thessaloniki, has wi-fi that can be erratic; it depends on what corner of the room your choose to use your phone or laptop. And our bus and many of the places we’re visitng don’t have wi-fi at all. So I’m just now, very early Wednesday morning, getting a chance to sit down and post some pictures.
First, Thessaloniki. It’s a busy, bustling city, and several people on our tour expressed surprise that it’s quite a teeming metropolis. Who knew?
Our hotel sits on one of the busy thoroughfares running through the city, not far from the sea and a short walk to shops, restaurants and bakeries.
Rooms are comfortable. There’s a big widescreen TV hanging on the wall, but I haven’t turned it on.
Food has been very good and plentiful. Buffets, of course. Lots of groups populate the hotel, and there’s a steady stream of people wearing lanyards around their necks, looking vaguely lost. I know the feeling.
We had a brief Mass Monday night in a small hotel meeting room. After a good night’s sleep (and the best shower of my life), we were up and out the door at 8 a.m. on Tuesday to head over to Philippi, about a three hour drive to the east.
Our guide for this adventure is the superb Sofia Valsmaki, who is a walking encyclopedia of Greek history. She’s also exactly what you want in a guide: she knows how to beat the crowds and get the most out of every hour. She’s just great.
We had two highlights on Tuesday. First, we visited a corner of Philippi where they have preserved the baptism site of Lydia (mentioned in Acts 16), the woman considered the first Christian to be baptized in Europe. We celebrated Mass outdoors over a stream of the river where the baptism is believed to have happened. The roaring water was a beautiful and insistent music playing under the liturgy, and a blessed reminder of the remarkable history that took place nearby. As I mentioned in my homily, all of us who trace our beginnings to Europe can, in some way, call ourselves the children of Lydia. This was where so much of our story begins.
Our lector was my friend Deacon Tom Sommero. (His wife Pat was the ace photographer who snapped these pictures!)
The Greek Orthodox baptistry nearby is stunning.
After that, it was on to ancient Philippi, to see some truly remarkable ruins of the city’s agora. To realize that Paul himself walked these cobblestones was humbling and, really, overwhelming.
After lunch, we headed back to Thessaloniki, pausing for a brief photo op on the hillside overlooking Kavala, where it’s believed first landed in Greece to begin his missionary work.
The day concluded with a quick bus ride through Thessaloniki and a visit to an ancient basilica that is still, incredibly, in use.
We took a brief stroll along the promenade of the Thessaloniki waterfront, to get a glimpse of the Aegean Sea.
So far, our pilgrimage is off to a great beginning — and it was, fittingly, a day of important beginnings, visiting so many places where the Christian faith first took root.
Wednesday, we depart the hotel — gotta pack! — and visit the Meteora Monastaries and take in some Byzantine history. Stay tuned.
