(Written Wednesday, 5/15, a day I’ve been indebted too for some time.)
After 42 hours, 3 planes, 2 cars, 1 bus, and 2 boats, I’m at my intended destination and received the joy of seeing Elder Paisios again. Thank God. It was largely an uneventful journey, filled with acts of kindness directed toward me, a foreigner in strange lands.
Here are a few photos to provide a taste of my travels.
Second of three planes:
Early morning car ride to bus:
Christos’ parents, Constantinos and Dimitra, who joyfully picked me up from the airport, provided abundant Greek hospitality (including Constantinos’ homemade Tsipouro), arose early to take me to the bus station, bought my ticket, and stayed with me until I was safely on the correct bus.
The bus:
The first boat, Axion Estin:
Pilgrims on the top deck:
Coming into Daphne, the main port for the Holy Mountain.
Pilgrims ready to disembark:
Simonopetra Monastery, twice:
Grigoriou Monastery:
Dionysiou Monastery:
St. Paul’s Monastery, twice:
Approaching Nea Skiti (New Skete), my destination:
My welcoming party. (Aside: Nea Skiti is one of the few places on the Holy Mountain that does not have access by roads, which is wonderful because it is a lot quieter. They use older forms of transportation for heavy objects.)
H. H. of St. John the Theologian, one of the 27 huts that make up Nea Skiti.
My view from the stone terrace:
Paradise has a way of easing the struggle of the journey.
