What A Ride!
American Tour Summer 2025 Begins NOW!
Phew! What a whirlwind!!
We kicked off our American Summer Tour 2025 this past week.
Not gonna lie, I am experiencing a bit of whiplash! It takes resilience to adjust. But so far, I am doing well.
First stop, Athens!
To begin our journey we rode the train from Thessaloniki to Athens where we spent three nights. It was extremely windy when we arrived, so we stayed in the first night and the next day. It helped us focus on work, which was good. You know, work-life balance and all.
But by the second day, I was ready to explore! And explore we did!
We’ve been to Athens before, but there were some places we were excited to revisit.
First priority: Areopagus, also known as Mars Hill (top left photo.) This is where St. Paul spoke to a group of Athenian philosophers. It is at the base of the Acropolis (in the upper right photo.) The text of his sermon is inscribed on the side of the hill.
This small rock-of-a-hill will forever be the location that cemented my faith. It was here that I realized for the first time the stories I heard as a child were not just stories…they actually happened!
Another place we explored was the Holy Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. It is stunning! The relics of two saints martyred during the Ottoman period are displayed there:
Saint Philothei from the 1500s on the left, and
The Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinopole (modern day Istanbul, Turkey) from the 1700s on the right.
Both gave their lives for their faith in Christ. I am always speechless when being among such sacred sites. It’s incredibly important for us to leave space and time to just sit and “be” in these places.
And just like that…we were off!
That 4:00 AM wake-up was a bit stretching, but we always have a plan!
We use the app “Timeshifter” which seriously helps manage time zone transitions during international travel so you don’t deal with the typical jet lag. Maybe you’ve never heard of it before. But this is how it works:
You input your flights from point A to your destination.
The app then sets up what day to begin your shift.
It tells you when to sleep and for how long.
When to wake up, when to have coffee, and when to stop drinking coffee.
How much light to have, how to incorporate melatonin if you choose,
The plan goes through the first couple of days at your destination so you are completely set for that timezone. We have used it for all of our trips over the past two and a half years and it has been amazing!
🇺🇸 Arriving in America!
We flew Norse Atlantic Airlines into JFK in New York. We highly recommend them. It was an affordable flight in Premium Class! I can handle coach for puddle jumper flights. But when your flight is long, you need to sleep and lay back. This summer, Norse will start flying from LAX to Athens. Something to consider if you want to visit Greece.
This was our first time together in New York City! Jeff traveled there with his family when he was in Jr. High.
Our travel-hardened transit skills were put to the test. After landing, we took the subway and shuttle bus to LaGuardia, and boarded a plane to Cleveland. When we finally arrived at our AirBnB, we had been on the move for 24 hours since leaving Athens.
After spending the night, we got on a bus, and finally arrived at our first destination:
Detroit, Michigan!
We have arrived!!
Let the U.S. adventures begin!!!