City Walking

One of the things Bryan and I promised each other wouldn't end when my sabbatical ended was walking together. We got City Walks: LA and in three weeks we have been on three walks. Our first walk was through the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. We saw the headstones of Mel Blanc, Cecil B. DeMille, Tyrone Powers, Jayne Mansfield, Johnny Ramone and others. We experienced the mausoleum and got a good walk in. My grandfather was a sociologist and anthropologist. He believed that if you visited a cemetery you learned quite a bit about a culture. I have been visiting cemeteries since I was a little girl. My mother even brought along butcher paper and charcoal so we could make rubbings of the most interesting things we found.

The second week we went to Echo Park and Angelino Heights. What an interesting part of the city. In Echo Park we enjoyed watching a painting class depict the beauty around them. In Angelino Heights we saw Victorian homes, decorated for Halloween, with the city skyscrapers in the background. As we left the area we drove past the Angelus Temple where Aimee Semple McPherson planted her Foursquare Gospel Church. When we got home I read about the colorful life of McPherson!

Then today, after Commission Chair and Staff Liaison training we headed for Marina Del Rey. What a gorgeous place. It was a good walk...but I would rather have been out on a sailboat.

30 Minutes Vs. 30 Years

When I was on sabbatical I did not involve myself in the day to day events of the La Verne Church of the Brethren. What I didn't realize was that I also was on sabbatical from the denomination. Then today, through the wonders of Facebook, I learned of the "Letter of Deepest Concern" from the Standing Committee Delegates and District Board of the Southern Pennsylvania District. (See the letter pasted below.) I sat in a funk for a long time contemplating the future of our beloved denomination.

This week in Sunday School we heard excerpts from Earle Fike's article on forbearance from the recent issue of Brethren Life & Thought. The question that was posed in Sunday School was whether our denomination, consisting of such divergent viewpoints on human sexuality, could continue to stay together. I have continued to want to be hopeful about the possibility. After all, dividing would be so painful. How do you divide up property and membership? What good is a peace church that can't work on its differences?

But this letter from Southern Pennsylvania depressed me so much. It was the tone of the letter....the idea that people left crying, bruised, angry and broken from the experience of listening to a different viewpoint for 30 minutes so that means we need a "very sincere public apology" from Earle Fike. 30 minutes? Really? What about 30 years of denying and bullying BMC? What kind public apology will that require? I have watched many, many people leave Annual Conference crying, bruised, angry and broken from the experience but this is the first time I have heard of a District Board asking for a "very sincere public apology" to be made. What is the difference? In the past the ones who left injured were the ones without power or a voice.

Each District is supposed to be having hearings on the topic of homosexuality. The hearing in our part of the District happens on January 22 at 3 p.m. at Pomona Fellowship. The question before us as a denomination is how do we move forward?

I for one have little energy for this denominational struggle. I would rather give my time and passion to working for peace, feeding the hungry, standing up against bullies and preaching what Jesus preached. I would like to be about this work with those who understand that God is always bigger and more loving than we are.

Southern Pennsylvania District Church of the Brethren

Standing Committee Delegates: Larry M. Dentler & John A. Shelly

(letter was approved & affirmed by the Southern Pennsylvania District of the Church of the Brethren District Board, meeting at Upton Church of the Brethren, July 24, 2010)

August 9, 2010

To: Annual Conference Office
2010 Annual Conference Officers
2010 Program & Arrangements Committee

Letter of Deepest Concern

Dear Sisters & Brothers,

As Standing Committee delegates for Southern Pennsylvania District we are writing this letter following 2010 Annual Conference. The decision to write this Letter of Deepest Concern comes after discussions with many of our constituents from Southern Pennsylvania District who attended Annual Conference in Pittsburgh. We write in humility for we know that Annual Conference involves a mind boggling myriad of details to care for. There is much about Annual Conference that we affirm and applaud as being inspirational, well planned, and exciting. But this year we come home with some very deep concern that was not just expressed by one or two but by many of those who attended Annual Conference from our District.

1) The 10 year old granddaughter of one of our families was in the exhibit hall. Persons at the Womaen’s Caucus booth gave her a rainbow scarf and told her, “You should wear this.” The little girl went back to her grandmother‘with a lot of confusion. This was very distressing for the family. Annual Conference should be a safe place for children, not a place where other persons’ controversial viewpoints are thrust upon them. Since this booth this year seemed to be singular in focus — handing out scarves to support homosexual acceptance – we believe that Womaen’s Caucus should either be denied further exhibit space or placed on a probationary status stating clearly that they were in violation of #2, #3, and #6 of “Expectations of Exhibitors” (2010 Annual Conference Booklet, pp.52,53) this year, and any future disregard for Program & Arrangements Policy will result in future denial of exhibit space.
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p.2

2) The “rolling BMC booth” was present again this year. This seems to laugh in the face of the decisions of Program & Arrangements and Annual Conference policy. This seems to us to reflect a total disregard for the authority of church leadership. Persons find the in- your-face nature of the “rolling booth” to be embarrassing. We understand that we stress “no-force,” but we have also stressed respect for leadership. Something must be done!

3) When new fellowships and churches were welcomed we were introduced to Common Spirit in Minnesota. In only slightly shrouded language it was made clear that this is a congregation with a main focus on acceptance of homosexuality, in direct violation of the 1983 policy. We understand that new fellowships and congregations are acknowledged as part of District responsibility, but many delegates from our District felt that they were manipulated at this moment in Annual Conference. There was no time given to ask questions, and only a vote on accepting all four at once. These procedures lead to a gnawing, growing, festering belief that Conference officers are not being forthright and honest with the delegate body, and that we are being “set up.” I can’t tell you how many times we as our District’s Standing Committee delegates heard this kind of discontent and skepticism. Trust is eroding.

4) The moment causing the greatest concern for us was the sermon of Brother Earle Fike in Monday evening worship. Perhaps you noticed as we did that many persons left the convention center with tears. Others with faces gripped in anger. Have no doubt, this message will be noted as a milestone in the record of the debate before us. Anyone with conservative viewpoint on the human sexuality issue left feeling beat up and bruised. We affirm Brother Earle’s right to his viewpoint, but this message came across more as a “lobbying speech” than a message from God’s Word. This is especially true since, as many have noted, Earle completely ignored the fact that what brought acceptance was Zacchaeus’ repentance. This message came after we had been told repeatedly by the Conference Officers that there would be no speeches on this issue this year!

When I questioned Moderator Shawn about the message he said that Earle didn’t deliver the message that Shawn had asked him to. He also said that Annual Conference Director Chris had informed him,
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p. 3

upon receiving Earle’s manuscript, that “it was going to be controversial.” Why then was there not some intervention? This 30 minute “moment” did great harm to the unity of the Body, great harm to the spirit of the Annual Conference, caused further brokenness and division at a very moment when we are trying to encourage people to listen to each other!

Again, please hear us affirm that Brother Earle certainly has a right to his viewpoint. But to use the message time during worship for this one-sided “lobbying speech” with no chance for rebuttal or discourse, not only showed very poor taste by Earle, but extremely poor leadership by those who might have intervened, and was in reality ‘out of order’ in keeping with the Special Response Process before us, and as one District Executive noted, may well have been in violation of the Ministerial “Code Of Ethics” (Ethics in Ministry Relations – 1996, pp.AC80.5-7).

In our minds a very sincere public apology is in order from those in leadership to the Body of the Church. This did great damage, very likely even hindering the Special Response Hearing process which is just before us.

Let us conclude by saying once again that we celebrate and affirm all the hard work by many faithful servants to make Annual Conference the wonderful “family reunion” that it is. Our love for you as our leaders, and our love for our Church compels us to share these concerns at this tenuous moment in our history when the rumblings of division rattle around us. Please understand that we would be remiss in fulfilling our responsibility as our District’s Standing Committee delegates if we did not share our concern.

Your brothers & servants in Jesus’ love,

Larry M. Dentler
Bermudian Church of the Brethren, 279 Bermudian Church Road, East Berlin, PA 17316 / office ph: 717-292-1861

John A. Shelly
7535 Talhelm Road, Chambersburg, PA 17202/ph: 717-375-2510

Last Day

Today is the last day of my sabbatical. I am doing laundry, cleaning house, making sure the hummingbirds are fed, and trying to finish up my sermon. It isn't pouring forth like I had hoped. I have always found that when I have been on vacation for awhile, the first sermon back is hard. I am brimming with new thoughts and learnings and I haven't filtered through them yet. Plus, I am nervous about jumping back in. Will I keep my balance?

But I am also excited. I have missed my church home and the people who make up my church family. I am ready to be reconnected to those who comfort, challenge and love me. I can't wait to sing soulful songs in worship again....alongside people who I know how to harmonize with. I can't wait to get my hands in the game and work for a better world.

Long Beach Congregational Church

Since this was the last Sunday of my sabbatical, Bryan and I tore ourselves away from the surf at Laguna Beach and headed for Long Beach for church. I wanted to visit the Long Beach Congregational Church where Jerry Stinson is the pastor. When I was pastor of the Manchester Church of the Brethren, Jerry Stinson was a pastor in Carlsbad. We ended up in a small group together at an Albin Institute training in Connecticut at the time that Rev. Stinson was moving to Long Beach Congregational Church. About halfway through the week-long event I said to him, "I've heard of you. I have a notebook full of your sermons in my office." A couple from the Manchester church had worshiped in the congregation he served in Carlsbad. They were so moved by his preaching that they had asked for copies of his sermons, three-hole punched them, put them in a notebook, and gave them to me with a card that said this was the kind of preaching they appreciated. Ever since I came to pastor in La Verne, I have wanted to attend the church where Jerry Stinson preaches.

For awhile it seemed like Bryan and I wouldn't make it. As we neared Long Beach we discovered, to our dismay, that the Long Beach marathon was happening today. We were rerouted twice until we got on the 405 to the 710 and tried to get into the downtown area from the west. We finally arrived to the church a half hour late. I had visited the church's website numerous times and it is an excellent and informative website. I wished that there had been mention of the marathon on their website, with information on how to get to church on October 17.

Long Beach Congregational Church was celebrating Children's Sabbath, started by the Children's Defense Fund. Rev. Jerry Stinson's sermon was passed on the Exodus story of passover. He is completely authentic in his preaching, sharing his progressive reading of the Bible. The church is definitely inclusive. There was a interpreter for the deaf but it appeared that no one there today was deaf. The ushers included people of different races and an older man in a wheelchair. People were extremely friendly to us and no one welcomed us by telling us it was their job to welcome visitors!

Gratitude for this Extravagant Respite

My last "fling" on my sabbatical has been a weekend at Laguna Beach for my 50th birthday. Bryan and I are staying at a hotel so close to the beach that the sound of the waves makes it hard for us to hear each other. The picture at the top of my blog was taken here at Laguna Beach. For those of you who can't read what it says: In this fleeting moment, what extravagant respite, as booming surf speaks its mystical passage across the undreamed depths.

I am so thankful for this extravagant respite called a sabbatical. I return to work on Thursday. I am rested, tan and filled with ideas. I am a tad bit thinner and I walk a little stronger. I have a few new questions and am saturated in gratitude. I got to spend such good time with my family.... father, sister, brother, sons, husband and extended family. I have been silly, weepy, overjoyed and incredibly moved. I have taken about 3,000 pictures. I will return to work older, bolder and more balanced.

Thank you for the gift of this experience!

Feeding our Bodies and Our Souls

This morning, Bryan and I attended worship at Irvine Congregational Church. I chose this church because Fred Plummer, the President of the Center for Progressive Christianity (of which the La Verne Church of the Brethren is an affiliate), was the founding pastor there. When I looked at their website I learned that on September 12 their church passed around a Qur'an in a way of recognizing the Muslims as their neighbors. That was the same weekend that Terry Jones, a pastor in Florida, threatened to burn copies of the Qur'an. I was impressed with their reaction as a church.

This church expects visitors. There are four parking spaces marked specifically for visitors. There were two greeters who shook our hands as we walked through the front door. The leader did an excellent job of welcoming visitors and telling us how welcome she felt when she first came to this church. But only three people spoke to us while we were there: the lay person in charge of greeting visitors, another visitor and the pastor. Genuine hospitality is so very important to how welcome you feel when visiting a congregation for the first time.

The sermon was amazing. The text was from Luke and it was the story of the ten lepers Jesus healed and the one who returned to thank him. The pastor, Paul Tellstrom, spoke of the connection between that story and the bullying that is happening to gay teens today. He called us to be proactive against hate speech. He told us to speak truth to power and referred to religious groups who used this specific time to speak against homosexuality. His sermon was passionate and compelling and relevant to today. The congregation responded to his sermon with loud applause. Bryan and I were moved beyond words. As soon as the sermon was over the congregation stood and moved across the aisles toward each other, holding hands and singing, "Alleluia." It was beautiful. The benediction was loving and challenging.

Bryan and I went out to lunch afterwards. Through yelp.com I found a vegan restaurant down the street. One of the benefits of having vegetarian sons is that we have learned the joy and flavor of fresh vegetables and ingredients. We ate amazing food, sipped lavender lemonade and tried to share how deeply affected we were by the sermon. To hear someone take the gospel and speak truth to power through it was so inspiring. It made me want to stand up and speak out and love more...and isn't that what it should be all about anyway.

I'm 50!

I turned 50 today. Nothing is different and everything is different. I had lunch yesterday with my best friend from high school. She is exactly one month older than me and we have been celebrating our birthdays and half birthdays together for over 35 years. I told her that turning 50 wasn't bothering me because my partner loves me and thinks I'm beautiful.

I went through the whole day thinking, "Wow. I really am okay with turning 50." But about 6 p.m. I got weepy. There have been several events this week that have reminded me that Bryan and I are now empty nesters.

Last Friday, our oldest son, Matt, and his girlfriend, Kairee, left for a year in S. Korea. Our youngest son, Brett, left on September 13 to do his senior year in college in Norwich, England. Talk about an empty nest. We have an empty continent. We had last year with our youngest at college to get used to the idea. We didn't mind the empty nest because both of our children were easily reachable by phone. Both Matt and Brett left their phones on our kitchen island as they took off for the airport this time. At this point, we are dependent on them to let us know how they are doing. Thank goodness for email and Skype. How did our parents do it when we headed off to live our lives without email or cell phones or Skype or Facebook?

Then yesterday Bryan and I sold our third car. We had been keeping an old car around so that our children could get around when they were growing up. Obviously they have grown up and we don't need a third car because our children don't even live in this country.

I am 50 and nothing is different and everything is different.

The Gift of Art

Matt and his girlfriend, Kairee, are visiting for a few days before they leave for a year in South Korea. Needless to say, I am wanting to spend as much time with them as possible before they leave. Yesterday we went down to San Diego so that we could meet the newest addition to the family, Mackenzie, who is less than 2 months old. Since we were in San Diego already and it happens to be one of my favorite places, we went early and wandered around La Jolla and Balboa Park.

The Nikkigator at Balboa Park

One of the things I have noticed on my trips this summer is all the public art. I told Matt and Kairee that I love public art, even if it is cheesy. I love the fact that I get to interact with art and not pay a cent. I love the fact that something that is not needed is still there just for the enhancement of life.

Toliet seat cover -- Artist's Cafe, Chicago

Matt asked me what defines public art. After fumbling around I finally said, "I know it when I see it." So today I looked up public art on wikipedia. I know wikipedia isn't the final say on anything but here is how it is defined there: ....art in any media that has been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all. The gate at the La Verne Church of the Brethren is public art. It is not only functional, it is a gift to the community.

Bryan in the International Terminal -- Toronto

Wikipedia doesn't answer the question Matt and I were discussing because it didn't define art. Maybe someone can define art for me. Is graffiti art? Even if it is drawn in 2010 on a B.C. ruin in Greece?

While on this sabbatical I visited the Judson Memorial Church in New York City. Part of their statement uses these words: We think the arts make life worth living and celebrate the secular and sacred in all that we do, including worship and how we use the inheritance of our glorious space. Judson Memorial's sanctuary is plain, as churches go. It has a nice stain glass window in the front. But poetry, music and drama are regularly a part of their services. The need to create art is valued there. I think that is true of La Verne Church of the Brethren, as well. It is one of the many things that makes LVCoB so incredible. Could we do an even better job of naming it and claiming it?

Leaving Athens

We returned to Athens via ferry. I discovered that it is probably my least favorite way to travel. There are no directions on what to do. People race onto the ferry as if their lives depended on it. As it turns out we had assigned seats and no reason to hurry. However, some people don't buy seats and they have to find a place on the deck or in the shared areas. So every time Bryan and I got up to look outside or use the restroom someone tried to take our seats. When we went back to the burger joint in the back of the ferry to order some food the man behind the counter told us they were out of meat and had lost the ability to heat food. We arrived in Athens at midnight, eager for our familiar hotel.

We got up the next morning ready to make the most of our last day. We caught a taxi to take us to the funicular that travels to the top of Lycabettus Hill. It is a high point and a great vantage point to see the city. It helped me put into geographic perspective all I had seen up to that point. We walked the treacherous, down hill road back to level ground and back to our hotel to run our boarding passes for our flight home the next day.

Then we boarded yet another bus tour to take us to Cape Sounion to see the Temple of Poseidon. When I had booked this tour I had made the false assumption that I would be at the ruins during sunset. So much for my assumptions. But the ruins are spectacularly placed on a hill above the sea. We had actually seen them from the cruise ship. The drive down and back was beautiful and we sat behind a woman who took a picture of the sea every 5 to 10 seconds, so she was obviously impressed.

When the bus dropped us off we hustled back to our hotel to watch the sunset from the rooftop. It was almost finished by the time we arrived but I was able to imagine how beautiful it would have been 5 minutes earlier.

We ate a relaxing meal in Monastiraki and said good-bye to the Acropolis.

Santorini.....sigh

Jet lag is an insidious thing. I have been home for several days and I am still falling asleep in the chair in the living room by 7 p.m. only to find myself wide awake at 3 a.m. So I will continue this blog about Greece.

We got off the ship at Santorini feeling exhausted from a week of traveling in Greece. As the driver took us from the port to our hotel our blood pressures decreased immediately. The driver stopped in a parking lot on a hill in Imerovigli, tried to put our two suitcases on his shoulders and took off down a narrow staircase towards our hotel. He was met halfway by the desk clerk at the Sunny Villas hotel. The desk clerk grabbed our bags and started off at a run down the staircase. Bryan and I were trying desperately to keep up with him but we kept losing him. We would be unsure of which way to go and then the man's head would pop back around a corner and say, "This way." We lost him four times in the descent to our hotel.

Sunny Villas is perched on the side of the cliff, as are many, many hotels on Santorini. When the desk clerk led us to our villa we were astounded. When he gave us a tour of our villa, built into the side of the cliff, we were overwhelmed. When he said, "...and this is your second bathroom" we wanted to move in permanently.

There was no rushing around on Santorini. The bus system there doesn't make that possible. So we just relaxed, sighed and watched the sky and the caldera from our villa and private balcony. The front window of the villa had four large panes of glass that could be moved to the side for a completely unobstructed view of paradise. Every morning we would get up, roll the windows to the side and eat a Greek breakfast while the breeze blew through that open space. I had told the desk clerk I wished I had brought a CD to listen to on the stereo in our villa. He gave me a CD he had and said, "This is the best music in all of Greece." I would call it Greek classical music. I listened to it 8 times while I was there, staring out at the beauty around me.

At night we would sit on the balcony, eat pistachios and wonder how each sunset could be so beautiful.

Each day we made an excursion:

a ride in the cable cars down to the port

sitting on the black sand beach in Kamari

eating waffles overlooking the caldera from Oia

hiking the cliff walk from Fira to Imerovigli

On the morning we checked out I went into the office at Sunny Villas with a sad look on my face. The desk clerk said, "Did you like it here?" "Loved it," I said. "I bet you never want to leave," he said. "I could live here," I said. He said, "You know, the funny thing is, I have spent my whole life trying to figure out how to get off this island." Behind his head, on the filing cabinet, was a magnet from California. I guess the grass is always greener....or the caldera always bluer...on the other side of the ocean.

Four Islands in Three Days

After four days on a bus with a husband who is 6'3" we returned to Athens for one night to prepare for a cruise, stopping at a few of the Greek islands. We were only in Athens for the night so we spent it staring at the Acropolis. I really couldn't get enough of it.

We were on a Greek cruise line. It wasn't a luxury cruise. It was a way to see all the islands I wanted to see. Our first stop was Mykonos. We saw the windmills, the Little Venice area of the island and had a most incredible dinner. We sat next to the water, ate Caprese Salad and people watched. It was beautiful.

While we slept, the boat took us to Kusadasi, Turkey. Our excursion to Ancient Ephesus began at 7 a.m. Our guide, George, was a Turkish man who seemed more interested in making sure we spent money on Turkish carpets than that we get to see Ephesus. That being said, Ephesus was most impressive. Only 15% of it has been currently excavated and it is already huge. It has a library with a beautiful facade and a theatre that seats 44,000.

After rushing us through this ancient wonder, George walked us through a shopping area where people were trying to get us to buy "genuine fake watches" and pictures on a camel.

Then he hurried us off to the Turkish carpet co-op. After offering everyone alcohol the carpet salesman put on a display of his carpets that left Bryan and I giggling. The cheapest carpets started at around $1,000 and went up quickly to over $6,000. While some of our fellow excursionists were actually considering buying carpets, Bryan and I snuck out by way of the elevator only to learn that they also sold jewelry and we had walked right into the middle of that store. We settled for fresh Turkish delight and hurried back to the ship before anyone else tried to sell us something.

We ate lunch on the ship and prepared for our afternoon excursion to Patmos. It was here where John of Patmos received his vision that we know as the Book of Revelation. The cave where this supposedly happened is now a church. A steep staircase leads down to the cave. Hundreds of people were either on their way down or on their way back up again. We joined a long and slow procession for a very brief tour of the cave.

Next we made the intense trek up to the Monastery of St. John on the hill above Skala, Patmos. Inside the monastery is a small Greek Orthodox church and a museum that houses some amazing artifacts -- one being a copy of the Gospel of Mark from the 5th century A.D. In the library, which is housed below the museum, the books are kept in the dark.

Back to the ship for dinner and bed. We awoke in Crete and a 7 a.m. excursion to Knossos Palace. The palace was Minoan and built in 1700 B.C -- reconstructed from a palace built on the same site in 2000 B.C. It is estimated that there would have been 12,000 people living here with four times that many living around the palace. It is heralded as the birth place of European civilization.

Back to the ship to pack our bags because we were getting off on Santorini. This truly was a dream trip for us.

Ancient Greece in Four Days

On Monday, September 20, we found ourselves on a four day bus tour with 48 strangers. The guide was a no-nonsense, practical Greek woman who was leading a bi-lingual tour for French and English speaking tourists. We were the only people on the bus from the United States. Our first night we sat at dinner with a couple from Australia and a couple from Belgium. We became fast friends with Don and Ros from Sydney. Even meeting up with them again in Santorini for a lovely sunset and a good dinner together.

Each day on the bus trip had a rigorous schedule that included amazing ancient sites and a tour of some touristy shop with overpriced Greek souvenirs. Our first day included a stop at the Corinth Canal, the Theatre of Epidauros, Nafplion, the Treasury of Atreus, Mycenae and a ceramic's factory. (That is me center stage in the theatre.)

Day two was Olympia and it's museum, the new Rion-Antirion Bridge, a store specializing in Greek wines and the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia at Delphi.

Day three was the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi and the museum, the memorial to the Battle of Thermoplyles and an icon factory.

Day four was the Monasteries of Meteora and a fast trip back to Athens because of the truck strike.

When I looked at the itinerary ahead of time all I thought about was how it included the major things I wanted to see. I never processed what it would feel like to experience that many incredible places in four days. One woman on our bus told me that she never needed to see another archeological site in her life. I had the opposite reaction. I wished for more time at each location. I wished I could wander around in each museum so that I had a better understanding of what each site would have looked like when it had all its statues, pillars, and friezes. I wanted to imagine the chariots riding through the gate at Mycenae; the athletes entering the stadium at Olympia; and travelers sharing their questions with the oracle at Delphi. I wanted time to be overwhelmed by the fact that some of what I was seeing at Mycenae was constructed in the 17th century B.C. I got a taste of Ancient Greece and I wanted to savor it.

Our Introduction to Athens

Bryan and I are now home from our longed-for trip to Greece.

Since I couldn't share pictures with you while we were in

Greece I feel compelled to add some now. I took over 1,000 pictures. I promise not to share all of them.

Bryan went to Greece for an abroad experience while attending school at the University of La Verne. It had always been our hope to go there together. We just never guessed it would take us 33 years. It was fun to have Bryan serve as travel guide, although some things had changed since he was last in Greece.

We stayed at Central Hotel, close to the Plaka. A little Byzantine Church was located right under our window and

above it was a view of the Acropolis. We were too excited to be in Athens and so we took off on a walk. We arrived at the Acropolis too late to get in and so we walked over to the New Acropolis Museum. It is built over an excavation site. Much of the floor is glass so that you can see what is below. We ate dinner in the Plaka and returned back to our hotel after dark. We sat on the roof to stare at the Acropolis. It is mesmerizing.

I woke up at 4 a.m. Unable to sleep I eventually gave up and went to the rooftop to stare at the

Acropolis some more. It was a Sunday morning and the city was still. A parachutist flew over the Parthenon. Because I woke up in the middle of the night we got to the Acropolis early. Already the place was crowded with other visitors. It is mind boggling to imagine what these temples must have looked like when they were whole. We would have stayed longer and taken even more pictures but the heat and the need for water forced us back down the steps.

We stopped for something cool to drink at Syntagma Square. Across the street is the Parliament building. The Evzoni guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of Parliament. There is a changing of the guard every hour but on Sundays at 11 a.m. it is a more elaborate affair. We happened to arrive for this special event.

We headed to the National Archeology Museum. It is a place that Bryan didn't go 33 years ago and always wished he had. They have many of the treasures found at Mycenae and other places. I found myself eager to begin our bus tour of the Peloponnese and central Greece to see these sites.