We drove into Athens in the rain. Our hotel was "somewhere" in the vicinity of our church - we took my Oklahoma City pastor and his wife there several months before. But we decided to let "Ian" (our trusty GPS who speaks with an Australian accent like our friend in Abu Dhabi -- hence the name) guide us. We do NOT know what happened - if there was a glitch in Ian's system or if the satellite signal got lost. But after about half a dozen times of "in 200 yards turn left then turn left," followed by "at the end of the road, turn left" and "in 200 yards turn left, then turn left" - I told Glen ... FOUR LEFT TURNS MAKES A SQUARE IN ANYBODY'S COUNTRY! So I took matters into my own hands (since I was driving) and turned RIGHT at the end of the road and there in front of us ... was the Royal Olympic Hotel! It's in a sort of dodgey looking neighborhood and the front isn't anything to write home about. Oh my goodness the inside is GORGEOUS! We had paid for parking so we took the car around to the parking (being instructed to do so by a natty looking uniformed welcomer at the front of the hotel), gathered our belongings and went into the brass, polished wood and marble lobby. Our room was almost TWICE the size of the one we're living in - and soooo very luxurious! But we dumped our things and set out for a walk.
Less than a block from the hotel, we found this. We need to do some research about what this place was - it is in the shadow of the Acropolis - a HUGE field with these magnificent ruins. You can also see that the clouds are threatening a deluge!
There was a young couple from the UK snapping pictures next to us - so we traded cameras and got photos of each other standing near this magnificent arch. Imagine the fence that stood around this place - and what treasures it must have held to have been SO huge. You can see the mountain thru the top - where the Acropolis sits - what a glorious thing this must have been - so sad it was dedicated to "gods" and not to our God!
We strolled past the government building where the "changing of the guard" takes place - two uniformed young Greek soldiers stand at attention, wearing the traditional garb - short pleated skirt, big pom poms on their shoes - while tourists run up and stand beside them for photos. Reminds me of Buckingham Palace everytime I see it.I had seen the "bag guys" (these are the Athens LOTs guys - young men from all over Africa who have fake designer bags displayed on dirty white sheets) when we drove in and was determined to SHOP! However, when we turned down one street, the guys were very nervous - police were in the neighborhood. It's not at all unusual to see them grab up their bags and sling the sheets over their backs and run. In fact, we bought one bag for a present for our granddaughter (who NEVER reads my blog ) and the guy who sold it was in at least 6 different locations while we had a cup of coffee! Most of these guys have risked their very lives to come here to make a better life for their families. SUCH a sad situation! You can say what you will about buying fakes but if I give someone a few euros to pay for his fake, I've also give him money to send home.
We have a young man in our church who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up in prison. He's been there over a month, wearing the same clothes, experiencing unbelievable horrors and has now been told he is free - he can go ... WHEN the lawyer signs his release papers. Only the lawyer is demanding THREE THOUSAND EUROS for this signature! Bribery is rampant here - so you think YOUR country has trouble?!
The threatening clouds did indeed dump on us - and we ran for cover. But just as quickly, the shower was over and the crowds were once again thronging the streets. We window shopped and came out in Monastiraki to find these guys lounging around on top of the skylight over the Metro. Almost all of them had collars on - big dogs are all over Athens - and I'm proud to say, I've never met an unfriendly one!
On our walk home, we passed block after block of police. We had NO IDEA what was going on - but they were everywhere. Behind this motorcycle group was a big blue "police" van - maybe there to house all the bag guys they catch???
We watched our favorite Greek football teams play on Saturday night - and were very happy to see Olympiakos win! GO RED! After a luscious breakfast in our hotel, we checked out and headed for church on Sunday morning. It was a fabulous service and I got to sit in with the music team and play keyboard. Such fun! This shot was at the very end of the service - the closing song. Pastor Rick was wiping his fevered brow - it was VERY HOT up there. We had lunch at The Mall and chatted with Rick, Lori and Zsolti til almost 4 o'clock. What a GREAT WEEKEND!
This morning, I opened my devotion book on prayer and found scriptures and devos based on "Gread peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stume." (Psalm 119:165)
This morning, I opened my devotion book on prayer and found scriptures and devos based on "Gread peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stume." (Psalm 119:165)An interesting thing is this: on February 26 of last year, I had written "Smith Wigglesworth said keep our eyes off the symptoms - problems, waves - and focus on Jesus! SO SIMPLE!"
So this year, I wrote "and here we are - hotel bound in Greece, waiting for Egypt to settle down. These are SOME WAVES!"
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