Travelling in Greece

3 Sept  2013.
Visiting Greece is a much delayed trip - I had wanted some 3 years ago to visit Greece but with the financial crisis and threatened security in Athens, it seemed not very practical. This longing to visit Greece must have come from teaching Bible Knowledge - the whole book of Acts centers around Israel, Turkey and Greece.So this year I got desperate and do or die, I had to visit Greece. Something to that effect

We flew in to Athens. That first day we walked up to the Acropolis and up Mars Hill twice - once by day and the second time by night. The Acropolis is a good 1500 m above sea level. .

The Acropolis and Mars Hill.

Jason on the Acropolis.
Note the thick columns

Up there, just before the Acropolis,  I found Dionysus' amphitheater. It looked so familiar. I then realized this was the place of a photo my students Sara and gang  in SMK Seksyen 5 used for teaching parabola.

At Dionysus amphitheater

                                                Greek busker on the way up to Mars Hill.

The Acropolis by night . Photo taken from Mars Hill.
No wonder Paul had that discussion on Mars Hill.
It overlooks the busy city and is cooler and
 is a good place for people to lepak and hear the latest fancies.

We took  a day trip to Corinth, about an hour drive away. Until  the day we visited Corinth, I never understood why Paul wrote two such thick letters I Corinthians and II Corinthians. Guess the location of Corinth?

Corinth was a very important city located at the narrow isthmus of Corinth. The word isthmus means neck. This is a narrow land bridge connecting the Peloponnese peninsula with the rest of mainland Greece. Ships had to take many days to sail around the treacherous coast of  the Peloponnese peninsula  but if they came to Corinth, They saved precious time and lives! 

Here at Corinth, they were rolled across on wooden logs ( smoothed with animal fat) on land, for a hefty fee of course! This made Corinth extremely prosperous! Her strategic location at  the connection between the Mediterranean sea and the Aegean sea meant a meeting of cultures.It is no wonder the very word Corinthian means ultra liberal. If you view the map below, you will find Corinth is not far from Sparta and Olympus and the 3 cultures - spartan versus liberal versus rigorous sports training in Olympus are very very different despite the nearness in location. 

Paul spent much time in Corinth. He stayed here twice, the first time for more than one and a half years. In Acts 18:18, we read that Paul sailed from Cenchrea ( the harbour near Corinth) and sailed to Ephesus. Look at the map and you find Ephesus is almost in a straight line slightly above Cenchrea across the Agean sea.

The Corinth canal was built with the invention  of dynamite
and ships now sail across instead of being rolled across.

Paul must have preached at this place
overlooking the agora (market place )  in Corinth

Corinth was the place where the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and encouraged him to stay there and to speak. God assured Paul he had many people here and that He was with Paul here and no one would attack or hurt him here.

Are there difficult places where God calls you to stay?