Day 4

The one where I upset a Greek customs policeman.

12:50am alarm ⏰

1:30am taxi to airport; Tel Aviv still so full of people in the streets, on scooters, out & about; I felt very old and very impressed with their commitment to fun so late in the night

2am airport - absolutely packed 😳🤯 // we needed almost every bit of the three hours we arrived early. Everyone was leaving before Shabbat. Lots of security. But everything went smoothly. Praise God!

4:50am boarding

• not full so we got a seat between us

• I should have slept but wrote and read instead

• Fast 1.5 hour flight

7:30am arrive in Athens

• Followed the crowd and ended outside the exit (maybe the strategy?) & had to start all over 🤷🏻‍♀️

• Had to go thru security again, bag got flagged again which was much worse because it was so full; Scoffed at my sand and shells and then said, “okay” and had me put Humpty Dumpty back together again 🧩

• Through more doors and into customs and he gave us stamps!! Yay!! Young policeman smiled when he scanned moms passport 😏 and when he was stamping mine, I wanted to take a video and he very sternly said “no picture! Delete now. In front of me.” I did right away and apologized and said I was just excited to get a stamp in my passport. He did not respond and just shooed us away with this hand. I’m actually surprised it took me this long to get into a situation like that. 🤦🏻‍♀️

• Athens airport full of shopping; could be mistaken for a mall

9:45 boarded

• very full flight; everyone going away for the weekend?

• Very fast— up in the air and down again

10:30am arrive in Thessaloniki

• Luggage made it!

• Thanos had namecard to pick us up!

• Drove past International Hellenic university; want to research this more

11:30am arrive at hotel, check in, get settled

12pm explored Thessaloniki

• very busy city with traffic, shops, and people; crossing any crosswalk is risky

• Prices are MUCH cheaper here

• We had a delicious shared lunch in the square by the sea— Solomon salad and chicken burger and fries for €15

• Did some shopping and walked back to our hotel

• Glorious afternoon naps

5pm cappuccinos and Bible study time of 1st Thessalonians together — written by Paul from Corinth after spending only a small bit of time with them; one of the first letters he wrote

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/1-thessalonians/

7pm hotel buffet dinner - meats, vegetables, potatoes, salads; met some of our tour mates, a family from Australia, no pun intended; so excited to know the rest

8pm massages with our hotel masseuse // oh, this was a surprise delight! We saw the sign posted on the elevator and she just happened to have two slots open tonight. Again, things are much cheaper here so it was very affordable and felt sooo good after the travel and schlepping of baggage.

10pm - bedtime 😴; going to bed grateful and thanking God who He is and what He’s done in this world.

Tomorrow we begin our journey through Greece— going to Philippi and Neapolis and the river where Lydia was baptized! So excited!

what’s my tally for saying “so excited”??