Bob and Ann in Greece 2008

Byzantine Church


Priest Handing Out Eggs

We had a magic moment today - more like a magic 30 minutes. Not only was it Ann's birthday, it was also Greek Orthodox Easter. Here is Ann's narrative:

The Herodian Hotel breakfast was bountiful with Easter touches - red-dyed hard boiled eggs and special pastries. It was nice to sleep in and create our own day. We meandered through the Plaka in search of the Athens Cathedral and the smaller 13th century Byzantine church beside it.

After we explored eclectic exterior decoration on the closed small church, we joined the congregation and tourists in the huge cathedral for a very high Easter mass complete with cameras and sound crew in place to broadcast the service. Two choirs of four men each and a male soloist were miked maybe because the interior dome and upper part of the basilica were covered by scaffolding as was the exterior. Still the music was haunting and the array of Greek orthodox priests officiating with their colorful garments was splendid. After the recession out of the cathedral, the priests were met by a military band and honor guard. The parade wound its way to the gates of the church headquarters followed by parishioners with their lighted candles. A short service was performed followed by distribution of red-dyed eggs wrapped in white netting. We saw that we were about the only tourists left so when we were leaving a black-robed priest walked down the street behind us, tapped Ann on the shoulder and handed her an egg - a touching gesture we will long remember.

Syntagma Square

After walking up to Syntagma Square, we returned to the Plaka and ate lunch - chicken gyros plated with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and yogurt on pita bread. Tiramisu was our good dessert.

On our next walk back to Zappeion Park near Syntagma Square, we began to know this section of the Plaka pretty well. With the help of our GPS and a WC stop at Starbucks, we made it back to Philippos Hotel where we checked into our room for the next two nights.

There was no sign of Harris Karagiannis, our guide, at 5:00. As more ElderTrekers arrived, we gathered in the lobby and chatted. When Harris arrived, he took a head count and led 14 of us to the Herodian Hotel for drinks and then walked us to the Plaka for delicious repast of Greek specialities at Taverna Vizantino.