this bridge goes over the Corinth canal [Μετάφραση αυτής της σελίδας]

i’m not afraid of heights, but i am claustrophobic.

that struggle is real. when it’s tight quarters, i’m not your girl.

so, i’m not sure i’d love to ride on a ship through the Corinth canal, which connects the Aegean Sea to the Gulf of Corinth. it’s quite a close squeeze, even for the skinniest of ships. interestingly enough, i sat down with my Papa [my 84 year old grandpa] a few hours before i left on this trip, and he asked me about this canal. at the time, i had nothing interesting to say. i have lots more now.

[facing towards the Gulf of Corinth]

[facing towards the Aegean Sea]

true story: bungee jumping is offered off the pedestrian bridge. it was not open during the hours that i happened to be there, which is probably for the best. my mom would’ve fainted.

so today, it was a 90 minute bus ride from Athens to Corinth, and the drive along the Aegean Sea was truly breathtaking. according to Alp, the water is among the cleanest in the world, due to lack of filling by polluted rivers and heavy commerce.

Paul wrote several letters to the people in Corinth, more than two [although we only have two]. they were pretty screwed up. Corinth was like the Las Vegas of that era.

 

 

[oldest pillars known: circa 550 BC]

[and pretty flowers, because i’m a girl]

nowadays, Corinth is looking a bit different than it might’ve it’s heyday.

 

 

 

[many thanks to McKenna for snapping this photo of me]

around the outside of the ancient city ruins, there was a beautiful museum of ancient sculpture . . . and it activated something artistic deep down inside me.

 

the apostle Paul spent quite a bit of time in Corinth.

[by the way,

the apostle Paul = to people who love Jesus

as Bono = to people who love rock music]

he started out in Turkey (Tarsus), then crossed the land bridge over to Macedonia. from there, he went to Thessalonika, Athens, and Corinth. he wrote Thessalonians while in Corinth.

while in Corinth, he preached at Bema, which was a gathering place. the remains still exist.

it’s fascinating that a city that caused so much trouble could fit into Pioneer Square.

 

[the bathhouses where all the prostitution went down]

so, Paul had his work cut out for him there. but people responded in one of three ways: ignored him, yelled at him and threatened to kill him, or accepted what he had to say. i mean, the odds aren’t that bad.

after exploring Corinth, we went to lunch. i’m becoming obsessed with olives. and olive oil. and fried cheese.

oh, and this. it’s cafe gelato: iced coffee with vanilla ice cream. holy smokes!

Ericka, my roommate and travel companion, and i are both suffering a bit from jet lag. the coffee helped!

after lunch, i was a bit exhausted and in a food coma. so, i wasn’t listening all that well. here’s what i know: this is a large tomb where the Greeks used to bury dead people. and it’s very large. and it was made using superhuman means, apparently, because even in 2014, creating this would be a real feat.

 

and then, we walked up a really steep hill, and the view was worth it.

 

 

 

[Alp is pretty much a real-life Thor]

around 5:30pm, we sat on the pebble beach of the Aegean Sea. the water was so tempting, of course a few of us dove in. it was cathartic, especially after sweating my guts out all day.

 

 

God is so faithful! i am reminded that He loves me so much that he counts the hairs on my head. the same way He counts the pebbles on that beautiful beach.

tomorrow i head to central Greece to visit a monastery in Meteora.

as always, xo