Saturday Morning Liturgy

On Saturday mornings, I usually serve Liturgy by myself at our parish here in Panorama, St. George's. But Pelagia doesn't like to take photos, so it was nice to have Presvytera Sophia here to take a few.

The Market

On Friday, the moms and I had an adventure in the center of Thessaloniki. We went down to the university, where I dropped off some books at the library, and then walked across town to Aristotle Square, where the market is buzzing. On the way, we stopped at the Church of Panagia Dexia and venerated the wonder-working icon of the Panagia there, and then went on to see my spiritual father, Fr. Spyridon, at the Church of Panagia Ahiropoiitou, the enormous basilica church built in 450 AD. The photo at top is of the moms outside the entrance to that church. As you can see, it's situated significantly underground the modern street level.

Finally, we made it to the market, which began with a colorful tour of the fish market section, as you can see in the photos immediately above and below. We ended in the clothing and fabrics section of the market, as you can see at bottom.

Quite tired by this point, we then met my friend Philip Navarro and an American pilgrim passing through, Herman, for lunch near the Church of St. George (Rotunda). We had a very nice, traditional Greek meal, and then headed off to visit Pelagia during visiting hours.

Moms

Early last week my mom and I walked over to Villa Luna, the cafe/restaurant with the great view near our house. We had a blended fruit mix and enjoyed the sunset over Thessaloniki, as you can see above.

On Thursday, my "other" mom, Pelagia's mom, Presvytera Sophia, arrived after an extremely long trip from the West Coast of the US. After a quick lunch, we took her down to see Pelagia during the visiting hours from 4:00-6:00. Amazingly, she stayed awake the whole time, although you can see her fading in Pelagia's hospital room in the photo at bottom. :)

The photo immediately below is of Pelagia playing hookie from her room and hanging out down in the hospital cafe, which has to be one of the least attractive cafes of all time. It's always interesting to see someone dragging their IV behind them into the cafe.

12-13 June 2009 Mom and Kh. Sophia

The Nursery

Here are the first pictures of our new nursery, which Pelagia created. This room was formerly our guest room, then my office, and now the nursery.

In the top photo you can see our cat sleeping in his favorite chair.

The mural on the wall was designed and painted by Pelagia.

Now we're just waiting for the babies to arrive. It will almost certainly be this week, some time between Tuesday and Friday.

Lunch at the Beach

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Well, today, my mom got the afternoon off work. For one of the few times since she's been here, she got to do something else besides work around the house and visit Pelagia in the hospital. It was a beautiful, sunny day, with a high around 80, so we invited our neighbors James and Ann Lillie to go with us to the beach for lunch (to Nea Kallikrateia in Halkidiki, to be exact -- see map above). We had a nice, traditional Greek meal, then walked to a cafe next door and had a coffee on the beach before heading back home.

Ann was the only one to test the waters, so to speak, as you can see from the photo above. The rest of us just enjoyed the smell and sounds of the ocean and the nice breeze. In the photo immediately below, you can see my mom and some of the remnants of our lunch. At bottom, you can see where we were sitting. The Greeks really know how to live!

At the very top is a photo from a few days ago of my mom watching sunset falling on Thessaloniki from our balcony.

Liturgy in Volos

This is actually an addendum to a post from a few weeks ago. I just received these photos from a friend who also attended the conference in Volos, and I liked them. For a few more, click here.

These are from the Holy Liturgy on Sunday, May 10, at the Church of the Ascension in Volos, Greece.

The four bishops serving are Metropolitan Athanasios of Chalcedon (EP), Metropolitan Alexander of Nigeria (Alexandria), Bishop Maxim of Western America (Serbian), and Metropolitan Ignatios of Volos (Greece). You can spot me in there somewhere, too.

Take a look at the Metropolitan Alexander's African-inspired vestments in the photo immediately above.