Day 13 – Thursday, October 22: Corinth, Mycenae, Cenchreae, Athens
Today we drove south to the Peloponnese of Greece. The weather started overcast and a bit cooler. But sunny skies returned by mid-morning! We read from 2 Corinthians 4 & 11 as we left the hotel at 7:30 a.m.
Corinthian Canal
After breakfast at the hotel restaurant, we departed about 7:30 a.m. We drove south to the Peloponnese of Greece. First we stopped at the famous Corinthian Canel. It was built over a 11 year span (1882-1893) and is about 4 miles long, 85 feet wide, 300 feet deep, with the water level around 26 feet. No one bunt-jumped! (HA)
Ancient Corinth
We then drove another 15 minutes to the ancient site of ancient Corinth. This huge city (400 – 500,000 at its peak perhaps) was the once glorious city near the Isthmus where Paul met Aquila and Priscilla and spent a year and a half preaching the Word of God.
We first walked down to the area of the theater where we saw the Erastus Inscription (he donated his own money for the public works, see Romans 16:23). Next, among the ruins we saw the Temple of Apollo (one of 14 total pagan temples), the forum (agora in Greek), and the bema (judgement seat). During Paul’s stay here during his 2nd mission journey, he wrote letters to the Thessalonica church. During his brief stay here at the end of his 3rd mission journey, he wrote Romans. It was delivered by Phoebe (Romans 16). We read from Acts 18 about Gallio dismissing the case brought against Paul. Before leaving Corinth we drove to the Acropolis “Acrocorinth”) for a peak of where the Temple of Aphrodite was and a spectacular view of the plain of Corinth below. Most in the group hiked up to a wonderful viewpoint, while nine also made it to the highest peak. We came back from the hike and enjoyed a wonderful lunch.
Mycenae
From here we drove to Mycenae. We first made a stop at the “Bee Hive” tomb of King Agamemnon (or the Treasury of Atreus). We enjoyed singing in the tomb. We even sang “Silent Night” and a group from Spain joined us! At the archaeological site, much of what we saw dates from 1,350 – 1,200 BC. At the site we saw the famous Lion’s Gate (1,250 BC), the shaft tombs (where over 13 pounds of gold was found in the 1870s excavations), the palace area, and the cistern. Most in the group made a loop at the top. The view was stunning!
“We drove south to the Peloponnese today to visit Corinth, Mycenae, and Cenchreae. Ancient Corinth is quite incredible. To see it from high above on the ‘Acrocorinth’ was spectacular too! The view from the top of the highest peak was worth the climb!”
Cenchreae
Leaving Mycenae and on our way back to Athens, we made a brief stop at Cenchreae (Acts 18). This is the port where Paul sailed to Ephesus at the end of his 2nd missionary journey. Aquila and Priscilla were with Paul. We considered Paul’s life “own the road” amidst his many mission journeys.
Upon returning to the hotel, we once again enjoyed dinner. Following dinner, some in the group enjoy da longer walk to Constitution Square to see the hourly changing of the guard at the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.” It was a 3-mile walk round-trip.
Day 14 – Friday, October 23: Day Cruise to Hydra, Poros, Aegina
