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LEAVING
OUR BAGS
in the lobby, we went for breakfast in a nearby side street, to a small
Greek-style deli offering dairy products, pita bread, and an
ever-turning spit of roasting lamb for souvlaki. It was so early that
the Greeks were still asleep, but in case any came walking by we chose a
small table by the window, and ordered bread and coffee. The owner
didn’t mind that we laid out some of our own food: Joy had summer
sausage (acquired somewhere along the way) and I had a jar of Vegemite
(I’d spent my childhood in Australia and never travel without a jar of
Vegemite as a standby for spreading on bread in case the local food is
inedible!)
Joy
wrote in a postcard to her friend Chazz, a musician
friend who was house-sitting for her: Dear
Chazz, We’re in Athens and will fly on some little airplane to Egypt
tonight, since we are having all sorts of problems trying to get to
Israel. Today we are going to take in some ruins—some of them a
thousand years before Christ. It’s awesome to think about it. I’m
having a hard time finding you any Greek musical souvenir so you might
have to settle for a regular souvenir …We’ve been having pretty nice
weather—in the 60s during the day. I’m sure I’ve gained 10 lbs or
more eating this wonderful Greek food. It’s difficult to take a shower
here in Greece. More later. Love, Joy.
Next
on the agenda was a long hike uphill to the Acropolis, first passing
through some winding streets where I had lived for some time in 1979 in a
three-story hippie haven called The Link. It was owned by one of
Stefanos's friends, who gave us our own room which I'd decorated with
Greek posters and refurbished junk furniture as part of my “Greek
adventure.” Peeking through a peephole in the gate, I could see that
it had been remodeled into a splendid private residence, something I had
always envisioned doing myself if I’d had a lot of money.
Videotaping the streets where I used to
live.
Joy points to our goal.
Just
a few hundred feet from The Link we entered a gate admitting us to the
confines of the Acropolis, a large hill with the Parthenon,
amphitheaters and other remains of ancient Greece where excavations are always in
progress. We clambered over the ruins, many of which had been dug up
since I was there last. (I didn’t recall seeing many of these new digs
before, but it could also be that I was now twenty years older and more
observant.)
After
examining the ruins for a few hours, taking pictures and videotaping the
panoramic views, we descended and exited through a different gate in
search of the
"Areopagus" where Paul preached “...under the shadow of the
Acropolis."
The Areopagus.
| The
Hellenization of Christianity started in earnest on that eventful
day when the Apostle Paul stood before the council of the
Areopagus in Athens and told the Athenians about "the Unknown
God." There, under the shadow of the Acropolis, this
Roman citizen proclaimed to these Greeks his version of the new
religion which had taken origin in the Jewish land of Galilee.
[2071] |
Finally
we found it -- a tall hill with many
people clamboring over it, and with steps built into it. (As I was
videotaping it I slid and fell, and have footage of some topsy-turvy
rocks!)
| At
the time Paul stood up in Athens preaching "Christ and Him
Crucified," the Greeks were spiritually hungry; they were
inquiring, interested, and actually looking for spiritual truth.
Never forget that at first the Romans fought Christianity, while
the Greeks embraced it, and that it was the Greeks who literally
forced the Romans subsequently to accept this new religion, as
then modified, as a part of Greek culture. [2071] |
Below
are some more views of Athens, looking down from high vantage points:
After
stopping for lunch down below in an outdoor café, we walked through the
Sunday flea market. Joy, ever on the lookout for unusual musical
instruments for Chazz back home, bought a bouzouki. The market was
packed with Greeks and tourists, every seat in every outdoor taverna
taken. I was constantly amazed at how much more of Athens had been
unearthed since I left. Was it always like this or was I just not paying
attention before?
Ruins of ancient Athens amid modern-day street vendors.
The flea market where Joy bought a
bouzouki.
At
four we picked up our luggage at the Adams Hotel, leaving our largest
bag, full of superfluous items, behind in one of the storage rooms. This
assured the owner that we would be back. Now we were each down to one
backpack and were more mobile. It is remarkable how little one needs
when traveling and how quickly an unneeded item becomes a dead weight!
At
the airport we headed directly for the offices of Egyptair to buy our
tickets for Cairo. The staff treated us like royalty and two uniformed
men personally escorted us to the check-in counter where all went
smoothly.
While
waiting at the gate to board our plane, a middle-aged couple from India
who had been sitting across from us approached us and asked if we knew
about hotels in Cairo. We pointed to the one we’d picked out in our Lonely
Planet book—Hotel Cosmopolitan, close to the Cairo Museum and in
the center of everything—and as it sounded good to them also we agreed
to share a limousine.
Immediately
upon landing in Cairo and collecting our bags, a swarm of Egyptian
“tour guides/taxi drivers” approached us, offering to give us tours
of the pyramids and the Sphinx, etc. The Indian man, Ramses, was willing
to hear them all out and give them a chance, but I bulldozed through
them all, emphatically shouting, “No! No!”
The
limo ride was legitimate, costing us each around $3. The hotel was
grand, a refurbished 80-year-old Victorian affair with TV and minibar,
but at $50 per night it was over our budget.
On the way there, in the
car, I had begun telling Ramses about the Urantia Book’s version of
the story of India—the Sethite priests, the Andite and Indo-European
migrations—and he seemed open to reading more. Within five minutes
after checking into their room, they were knocking on our door.
Ramses told
us he was a higher caste Brahmin, an engineer working in Saudi Arabia
but here on vacation.
Before
he left I gave him my Urantia Book, pointing only to the passages
dealing with the Indian racial mix and history. *
* *
CLICK
HERE TO RETURN TO CALENDAR
or
read on by clicking on any of the following
links:
1.
From Los Angeles to Amsterdam
2. The Flight to Greece
3. Ancient
Corinth
4. The
Citadel
5. To Piraeus
6. Hania on
Crete
7. A
Day in Limbo
8. Back
to Athens
9. From
Athens to Cairothis
page
10. Cairo
11. The Pyramids
12. The Bus to Israel
13. Jerusalem
14. Bethany and Bethpage
15. An Old Palestinian Hotel
16. The Drive to Galilee
17. Capernaum and Environs
18. The Ancient Boat and Nazareth
19. The Golan Heights and Mt. Hermon
20. The Eastern Shore and Scythiopolis
21. Mount of the Beatitudes
22. Ptolemais and Caesarea
23. A Day in Piraeus
24. Santorini
25. A Rainy Day
26. An Eventful Day in Athens
27. Return to Amsterdam
28. Going Home
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