Today after breakfast in the hotel, we boarded our bus and drove to the ancient city of Berea, which is now called Veria. I think that is the same name, but Veria is the Greek version. We have a man in our group who tore a gash in his arm at one of the airports coming over and it has become inflamed and today he had red streaks moving up his arm. The one nurse (we also have a pharmacist) drew a circle to see if it spreads and it did. So they discussed with our tour guide what to do. It was decided we would drop him off at a hospital along the way. Eventually our tour guide called in a favor with a pharmacist in Berea and when we got there he took the gentleman into the pharmacy. There a doctor was called and he gave a prescription of what the nurse recommended and the pharmacist filled it. So we were on our way once again with our friend being treated and now comfortable with the plan. The tour guide said their company has agreements with various businesses to aid in situations tourists find themselves in. What a relief that was. We had another lady who suffered from the heat and one of the nurses went with the others and got her some over the counter medicine and she is also doing better.

At Berea we stopped at the monument dedicated to the Apostle Paul. It is a very nice location, up a few steps from the street and an area with a statue of Paul and an area where Fr. Zack placed a makeshift altar and we had Mass. Mass has been the most special time of the day for us and Fr. Zack is a wonderful priest. His Mom is with us on this trip and she is a very sociable person. We also start each morning on the bus with prayer and today the prayer was about healing for our injured and sick travelers. We all took a little time to shop at a tiny shop across the road. The proprietor is the one who is responsible for maintaining and setting up the altar site for our Mass. We showed our thanks by buying lots of things at his shop.

When we departed Berea we drove to Kalambaka but before we got there we stopped at a restaurant for lunch. Apparently this restaurant caters to only the tour buses because we were the only ones there and it was very large. It’s possible they had another area and food service for other travelers but we were the only ones in the place that we could see. Before we left, two other tour buses arrived! They had a buffet set out for us and we got to choose our food and it was a timesaver as we didn’t have to wait.

Our tour guide is Constantine and he then took us to a shop where they create religious icons. They showed us the process by which they make them in the ancient Byzantine method using silver and gold leaf to decorate them. I bought a small one. They were expensive, but we learned that the family who owns this business is Constantine’s family! How cool is that? He lost his father when he was young and the uncle who owns this shop took him in and raised him so he has also considered them his second family. We all bought stuff there just to have a “special” memento from our trip and to show our gratitude for the family of our guide.

From there we traveled to Meteroa to the mountaintop monasteries. This will eventually become a wonder of our world some day. They are now. They are beautiful monasteries. We visited two. I think the first was the highest one. To think of how these were built, using a sling to haul rocks and other buildling materials up the cliffs to build these huge structures is mind boggling. We drove to the top and then there were steps leading all the way up. Some people chose not to do that, but I was able to. We have done a lot of walking and we have lots more to do. I’m hoping I am able to do it all. We also toured another monastery which is for nuns. The churches in these places are large rooms basically with gold decorations and icons painted all over the walls and ceilings. Icons, more specifically iconography was how stories and life experiences were passed on from age to age because so many of the people of the time could not read. So the icons tell the story of what was happening. Many apostles and the Holy Family are depicted in these icons and our guide interpreted them, telling the story of how Paul came to the area and evangelized the people.

We got to our hotel about 6 p.m. These are long days for us as we start at 8 a.m. every morning. But we have seen a lot and Constantine makes sure we see the most important things as we venture out.

Till next time. . .

Dale