Greece

Location: Athens and Corinth, Greece

Travel Time: June 24-30, 2014

The moment has finally arrived: visiting Athens, Greece! As you might know by now, the purpose of Tj and I visiting Europe was because we had been accepted as delegates to attend the 2014 “Keep Seeking First God’s Kingdom” International Convention. Tj had attended an International Convention in Rome in 2009, but being my first and our first as a couple, we were VERY excited! We arrived in Athens a day earlier than expected. Since we had the extra day available, we asked for permission to tour Bethel since it was not part of our itinerary. The brothers were very kind and informed us that as long as we made our own arrangements for transportation, the tour would be no problem. So we took a taxi and headed straight for the branch. The Bethelites had a lovely tour set up for all the delegates, including a brief video presentation explaining the history of the preaching work in Athens. We had a lovely sister (who also had a part on the convention program) give us a tour of the facility. I was amazed at all the hard work that goes into the translating of publications and what a huge need there is for the preaching activity in Greece. It was such an amazing experience and we were both so thankful for the opportunity to visit.

That night, we had a nice rooftop dinner at our hotel. The view was perfect; seeing the Acropolis light up at night was breathtaking! We were very happy with our stay at the Novotel Hotel (http://www.novotel.com/gb/hotel-0866-novotel-athenes/index.shtml). We didn’t do much research on the hotel ahead of time since it was already on the recommended lodging list. However, I will say the staff was very friendly. They even let us mail all of our convention gifts to the hotel 2 weeks in advance so we wouldn’t have to carry them around. Each morning, a continental breakfast was set up where we could go down and socialize with some of our fellow brothers and sisters from Africa, Korea and Turkey to name a few. Our first scheduled itinerary tour was that of Ancient Corinth. There, we saw some of the locations where the Apostle Paul had traveled and where he also wrote the letters to the Romans. We really enjoyed how George and Evi (our tour guides) were able to incorporate the scriptures into what we were seeing on our tour. For example, 2 Timothy 4:20 mentions ‘Erastus stayed in Corinth’ and there we were, standing in front of a stone with the name ‘Erastus’ engraved. Then, we saw the votive offerings inside the Corinth museum, revealing to us the degraded state of spirituality some of the people were in. After lunch, we took the bus to see the Isthmus of Corinth. Naturally, my heart was racing because I am very afraid of heights; but I made it across the bridge! We sang songs, took pictures, cried a bit and smiled all the way home.

That evening, the local brothers and sisters planned a gathering for us at the Kingdom Hall. This was by far one of the highlights of our visit! The friends had a program arranged of interviews from different delegates, including some from Malaysia and the Dominican Republic. We also heard experiences from some of the local sisters both from the Greek congregation and the Russian. They gave us gifts and showered us with love. Afterward, we went downstairs where a full Greek buffet was fed to us. There was live music and dancing; definitely a fun filled night that we will never forget. Everyone was all smiles!

Our final tour while in Athens was that of Ancient Athens. We took a tour to the top of the Acropolis. I will say it was extremely hot so if you are planning to take the tour, be sure to drink plenty of water and bring either a hat or an umbrella for shade. The experience was well worth it though. We took photos in front of the Parthenon and climbed the stairs of the Areopagus where the Apostle Paul held his famous discourse in Athens (Acts 17:19). Standing there on the top with the view of the Acropolis and the Parthenon in the background really put Paul’s words into perspective! (Acts 17:24) After our tour, we visited the old marketplace and museum. Then it was off to lunch where we were served delicious authentic Greek cuisine. We did a little shopping and then visited the Acropolis Museum (http://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en). The group then headed back to the hotel. Tj and I decided to stay behind and do some more walking around the downtown area. We were only 2 metro stops from the hotel so it was very easy getting back. We really had a fun filled day of activity but I must say after all that walking, we were exhausted. It was time to call it a night and get ready for the convention!

Three days of spiritual bliss. Words can’t explain the joy and love that was felt. The convention was held at Olympic Stadium. The set up was perfect; no matter where you sat, you had a great view. A little hot perhaps, but what do you expect from Athens in June? The brothers had cold water bottles available and everybody did their best to sit in the shade. There were four languages: Greek, Russian, English and Albanian. Tj and I sat in the English section most of the time but a few times we sat in the Russian section to see how much I remembered. Brother Samuel Herd of the Governing Body was our guest speaker. It was great having him there. The interchange of encouragement was way greater than I could have imagined. Tj and I had made about 300 gifts to give to the friends; and yet, we returned home with almost double! The friends were so generous, thanking us for coming to visit them. Photos were taken, hugs were given and tears were shed. When the convention was over, a loud applause roared in the stadium. Then, all of us broke out singing Song 134 “See Yourself When All Is New”. Banners rose around with sentiments such as ‘we love you’ and ‘see you soon when all is new’. This was by far the best moment of our entire trip. To one day know that the whole world would be filled with the love we felt that week was the greatest gift from Jehovah.

That night, we went back to the market square, which to our surprise, was filled with witnesses. Everywhere we turned, we saw friends with their lapel badges hugging and saying goodbye. We ate at our favorite restaurant Thanasis. It as so crowded! Another couple asked if they could share the table with us and come to find out, they were witnesses as well from a congregation outside Athens. Although we had the slight language barrier, we laughed and had a great time. An older gentleman sitting at the table next to us made the statement that in all the years he had lived in Athens, never has he seen so many strangers show love to each other like he had seen that week. That really served as fine witness to our God Jehovah. We then took a walk with the couple where we saw a group of young ones gathered in the city square singing Kingdom Songs. It really felt like a moment in paradise.

Overall, Greece was definitely one of my favorite destinations. The International Convention and the friends we made is something we will never forget. As a vacation destination, I would still highly recommend Greece. The food was great and the people were very friendly. One night, Tj and I needed to do laundry since we had already been on vacation for 2 weeks. The gentleman at the laundromat said he was about to close, but when we told him we were leaving the next morning, he offered to do the laundry for us and have us pick it up before we left. Then, as we were checking out the hotel, we needed to find a post office to mail all of our gifts that we had received. Again, a complete stranger offered to show us how to get there. I definitely would have no hesitation about visiting Greece again, even if there was no convention. Just the history and the beauty alone is well worth it. Add in the loving brothers and great food, and you have the perfect destination.