The National Gardens in Athens

After we finished our work at the US Embassy, we took the subway over to the National Gardens in the center of the city. The kids enjoyed the subway.

Here we are the Parliament Building and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is ceremoniously guarded by three traditionally clad guards. They stand motionless and stone-faced, changing places only on the half-hour. People can pose next to them, but only with serious poses. Just before we reached the guards (you can see them in the background), we fed seeds to the birds, who actually came and stood on our arms to eat them out of our hands.

Paul was the only one brave enough to try it.

We then headed into the National Gardens, which were built in 1840 as the King's gardens, directly behind his palace (which is, today, the Parliament building). I told the kids the story of how the course of history was changed in these gardens in 1920, when King Alexander, who was out for a stroll, was bitten by a pet monkey and died three weeks later. His death brought the return of his father, King Constantine, whose pro-German sympathies changed the delicate European alliances and led, possibly, to the Greeks' loss of Constantinople and western Asia Minor.

I assured them, however, that there were no monkeys in the Gardens today. Instead, there were lots and lots of turtles, which Damiani loves.

Here is a great mass of turtles. The Gardens also have a large playground area for the kids, where, of course, we spent some time. In all, it's really a very nice respite in the middle of bustling Athens.

Lake Vouliagmeni

Recently, we had to take the kids to the US Embassy in Athens in order to renew their passports. This was quite a hassle, so we made the best of it by combining it with a trip to Lake Vouliagmeni, which the kids thoroughly enjoyed.

The first thing you notice is the small fish tickling your feet. Actually, though, they are feasting on your dead skin, and people come from far and wide for this spa treatment. The kids actually said they didn't feel anything, so I guess they don't have enough dead skin.

The green dot in the middle of the photo above is one of the kids floaties. Paul grabbed one and headed out full-steam for the middle of the lake.

Here's Phoebe at one of the stairs, where the hungry little piranha fish tend to gather.

As you can see, it's a gorgeous location in a suburb of Athens, far from the chaos of the city.

Here are Pelagia and Benny watching the fish tickle their feet.

Around Town

The long-awaited spring weather has given us the opportunity to get outside and work in the garden areas around the church. Above, you can see that even Damiani has been helping out. Pelagia has established a sort of "work party" every Friday. To this point, it's just me, Pelagia, Damiani and our catechumen Omari (from Congo), but we're getting some things done.

We had some friends over for a BBQ, and their kids brought their inline skates. Our kids were very excited about them. Here's Benny trying them out.

Last week, I was asked to give a tour of Portaria and Makrinitsa to a group of Catholic theologians from Bari who were meeting in our region. Here we are at the other parish in Portaria, St. Nicholas. The group included one wonderful Catholic nun from Tanzania, who is in charge of an orphanage near Mt. Kilimanjaro. She is working on her doctorate in ecumenical theology at Bari. You can see her on the right in the photo above.

When I went to meet the group at their conference, I ran into the local religion/culture reporter, who had been trying to track me down for a story. Not able to escape, I spoke with her, and she published this very nice article in the local paper. Here is the Google Translate version.

Conference in Athens

I recently had the chance to go down to Athens for a fascinating conference on Digital Media and Orthodox Pastoral Care, which basically examined if and how the Orthodox Church should use the new digital media.

On evening I was there, the organizers (mainly Pemptousia) took us out to dinner along the seaside. It was a chance for me to visit with my fellow American, Fr. Patrick O'Grady (right), as well as Prof. Jean-Claude Larchet (left).

The next morning, I attended a seminar put on by the Volos Academy for Theological Studies. Thanks to the Farah Foundation, an Orthodox philanthropical institute, the Volos Academy puts on an annual lecture and seminar series. This year's speaker was Prof. Richard Swinburne, who is most famous as being the counterpart to New Atheism's Richard Dawkins in the public debate about the existence of God. Swinburne, a convert to Orthodoxy, spoke in Athens and Volos on the existence of God and the problem of evil (theodicy). I was fortunate to be able to host him in Portaria and we had a lovely conversation for several hours as we walked from Portaria to Makrinitsa.

Swinburne's visit to Greece came as a counterpoint to the recent visit of Richard Dawkins, who spoke in Athens at the presentation of the translation of one of his books into Greek.

May Day at Panagia Xenia and Amaliapoli

As you may know, May 1 is a holiday in Europe, celebrating workers' rights. In Greece, it is also connected with an ancient Greek (pagan) custom of going out into the countryside at the start of spring to collect flowers and weave a wreath. This is the one holiday in Greece that has no connection with the Church.

In any event, schools are closed, so we decided to take a trip with the kids to the Monastery of (Lower) Panagia Xenia. There, we met with the Gerontissa and were able to venerate one of the monastery's most treasured relics, two small pieces from the Holy Belt of the Theotokos. According to the inscription on the reliquary, they were given to the monastery by Vatopaidi Monastery of Mt. Athos in 1552. The Gerontissa told us that they say the belt is made from camel hair, and you can see where it was embroidered and protected with gold and silver thread during the Byzantine period.

For the kids, perhaps even more exciting were the monastery's deer (above) and quail (below).

Here's Dami looking at the quail. 

And here's the entrance to the monastery.

After our visit to the monastery, we headed over to Amaliapoli, a picturesque town on the shore. We tried to find a place to eat, but the town was hopping for the holiday. Nevertheless, the kids had a good time sticking their feet in the ocean, playing at the playground, and--especially--playing with a snail they found in front of the church.

Here they are with the snail.

The church, dedicated to the Transfiguration, is built on a slope overlooking the ocean.

The kids also found some turtles -- including baby turtles -- that were being cared for, it seems, by one of the restaurants.

And here they are playing in the water on a very nice, warm day.

Mt. Athos, Part 2: Hike to the Top of Mt. Athos

On our first full day at the cell, we decided to hike up to the peak of Mt. Athos, which stands at 2033 meters (6670 feet). It turns out Kerasia is the best starting point for this hike, so it was a great opportunity. My friend Iakovos went about an hour up with us, to make sure we found the right trail. We also went with two older gentlemen who were also visiting the cell.

Here I am with Iakovos during a brief stop.

We left the cell (500 meters) at 8:00 AM and reached the refuge, called Panagia (1500 meters) at 11:00 AM. The refuge has about 15-20 bunk beds in a single hall, along with a rudimentary kitchen and a chapel. We stopped to take our photo at the cross marking the spot, and then took a rest in the kitchen and filled up on fluids and bread. 

We also went into the chapel, prayed a petition and sang some apolytikia.

Then we set out again to conquer the last 500 meters, and reach the chapel at the peak, dedicated to the Transfiguration.

As you can see from the photos, the last 300 meters or so had quite a bit of snow. The wind was also quite strong, making it cold up there.

I hadn't expected to climb to the top and I didn't have good shoes, so I actually stopped about 200 meters short of the peak, when it became clear that the semblance of a trail was impassable due to snow and ice. Three of the other four decided to scramble up the rocks to the top, while I went back down to the refuge with the other man.

I headed back down to the cell at about 1:15 and reached there around 4:00. The others came back around 5:00.

The next day, boy, were we sore! So we spent the day reading, relaxing, and talking with Fr. Theologos about St. Paisios.

We also went up to a neighboring cell dedicated to St. George. There are only a few other cells in Kerasia, and it seems that most of them are "zealots" (i.e., "Old Calendarists"). This was also the case with the large cell of St. George, which has about 10 monks. Ironically, they themselves are split now into two groups. But they were very kind to us during our visit, and they showed me their woodworking workshop, where they make incredible ecclesiastical products. They gave me a CD with photos of all their work. When I get time, I'll post some photos. Really, it's some of the best work I've ever seen.

A photo of the church at St. George's from the backside.

And here's a photo of me as we hiked up to St. George's. What you see in the background is the Cell of St. John the Theologian, where we stayed.

For more photos from the pilgrimage, click here.