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| Alexandra, our tour guide, waiting for our bus. |
The last two nights of our pilgrimage, we spent in the second largest city in Greece, Thessaloniki.
Most of what we saw of this million person plus metropolis was from the windows of our bus.
Being up so high, we had an intimate view of the cars below. With many universities in the area, Thessaloniki is a city of young people. They are in the process of building a subway in Thessaloniki but they keep making archeological discoveries which has delayed the process by years.
Alexander the Great is one of the big figures of ancient history. He was a gifted military leader who conquered much of the world before dying at age 39. He is one of our tour guide Alexandra's heroes.
Thessaloniki is named after the half sister of Alexander the Great. She was married to one of Alexander's successors, Cassander, who founded the city in 315 BC. To consolidate his position of power, Cassander had Alexander's mother, brother, and son killed. The ancient Greeks were great in many ways, but there was something so cold about them too.
I would have liked to have explored Thessaloniki more but we didn't have the time. Above Fr. Michael and Leigh, our intrepid leaders, speak at our farewell dinner.
In Thessaloniki, we stayed at a Holiday Inn, the hotel of my childhood dreams.
Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians may have been the first epistle he wrote. In it, Paul instructs us to "admonish the idle, cheer the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient with all. See that no one returns evil for evil; rather, always seek what is good both for each other and for all. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:14-18
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