Corinth to Rome

Good evening from Rome!

We hope you sincerely enjoyed the posts from some of the students yesterday!  We had a relaxing morning on Samos yesterday, doing some swimming and shopping, before we made our way back to Athens in the evening and checked into the Hotel Poseidon on the coast.  We had a delicious beachfront buffet meal, and enjoyed another wonderful evening in each other's company.

This morning, we awoke at 7 a.m. to travel to the ancient city of Corinth.  After a stop along the way to see the canal, we arrived at the ancient city.  The bus parked at the base of the Acrocorinth, which is where the acropolis would've stood on the very top of the city.  Many students chose to hike up to the top, and they could really get a feel for how intense it would've been to be a part of these fortified ancient sites.  After the Acrocorinth, we made our way to lunch.  Not just any lunch, however, but a lunch where we sat overlooking the ruins of the ancient city.

After lunch we went into the ancient city of Corinth and toured the site.  Eleni showed us the layout of where the temples and the agora would have been, and we tried to hide under some Cyprus trees to keep cool.  We found an area with a few benches in the shade, and that was where we had the amazing experience of taking communion together just a few feet away from where Paul would have lived while he stayed in Corinth as a tent maker.  

Once communion and our worship together was completed, the students were given their letters from home to read and reflect on.  As you will surely hear upon their arrival home, the students were very touched by the kindness, thoughtfulness, and support of those friends and family who took the time to write letters.  This day was one that they will surely remember all of their lives.

We drove straight from Corinth to the airport and took a two hour flight to Rome, changing time zones again.  After checking into our hotel, some students took a short hike down to the Colisseum and Constantine's Arch.  We will be waking up tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. for the first of our two days in Rome.  We will be going to see the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, the Scavi, and St. Peter's Basilica in what will surely be a long and busy day.  Please continue to pray that in these finals days of our journey we remain energetic and bear with one another even in our fatigue.