Easter in Greece & Turkey

Athens. Monastiriki District with a view of the Acropolis

Island of Mykonos outside an orthodox church on Good Friday.

Once again I was blessed to spend Easter in Greece. It happened to be the weekend I was with a group leading a tour throughout Greece. The focus of the trip being on the early Church and the Apostle Paul. Part of the tour is spent on a cruise visiting Mykonos, Rhodes, Patmos and Ephesus Turkey.

And so on Easter morning, we were up before the sun for the early morning shore excursion to Patmos. Half willingly at 6am, we disembarked by little boats. As we boarded, the sun was beginning to rise. Sitting there on the boat, watching the distance between our ship and the little boat where we found ourselves rendered speechless grew as the sun made itself known it all it’s glory. Easter morning. Those of us on the boat sat in revered silence drinking in this moment.



We spend the early hours of the morning on the island of Patmos where the John the Baptist is said to have had the vision to write Revelations. Later in the day, our ship took us to Turkey where we toured ancient Ephesus and watched flying carpet demonstrations while drinking apple tea. Turkey is a country that sits on the edge of familiarity and uncomfortably. Now I’ve only visited a tiny piece of this massive country, which is said to be close to 71 million people- making it larger than any European country. It’s considered Asia Minor. It’s not quite Europe. It’s not quite the Middle East nor is it Asia. Ok so let’s say Eurasia ;) I’d love to see more of this country, especially Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and to go south along the coast.



This ended my last tour in Greece for the season. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Greece- not just the islands, but the mainland- it's beyond worth it. This country is something to experience! Athens, as you can read in my previous posts from last year, is beyond a paint job yet because it's not what you expect, it leaves the door wide open for a great adventure!