Random Ramblings and Ramifications

The Greek trip blessing all began with Brad being invited to teach for a week-long intensive course at the Greek Bible College near Athens.  Here is my man in action, along with Jeff Baldwin, our friend and Brad's interpreter for the week. 

These are all Brad's students for the week, along with the fam and Jeff Baldwin, who also happens to be the Academic Dean for the Greek Bible College.

Jeff and the students presented Brad with this bust of Aristotle for his week here...they also gave the kids replicas of marbles from ancient Athens...really cool...

I love this shot here on the campus.  Brad and Victoria are talking with Mrs. Helen, who was the unofficial Green Family Coordinator while we were there.  She loved on us, spoiled us, and kept us abreast of things all week...she was SUCH a blessing!!

The kids snagged this shot...LOTS of compact cars in Greece.  Point of interest about this type of car is that they are so small that they do not have to parallel park in such parking spaces...they can just pull in straight to the curb! 

The primary religion in Greece is Greek Orthodox, and this Greek Orthodox Church is just down the street from the Greek Bible College.  Only 0.3% of the population is evangelical. 

Inside, Greek Orthodox Churches are very ornate, as is this one, with many icons and other decor...

Our dear friend Myrto, whom we met in Cambridge, treated us to English tea one afternoon at her place, and Victoria helped her prepare the whole affair, even going to the bakery with her.  Myrto is a complete delight, and served our tea on china she brought back from Cambridge, and served us baklava and other irresistable Greek pastries.  We laughed and reminisced of our days in Cambridge...pure joy...

One of our fondest memories is eating dinner and spending the evening with the Mark Doebler family.  Mark is Dean of Students and a professor at the Greek Bible College, and does an outstanding job leading worship there as well.  His daughter Christina and Victoria are the same age and really hit it off...

While the girls were playing with the hamster...

the boys were outside having a massive Nerf gun fight.  My boys felt right at home...next to Caleb is Phillip Doebler and the blonde on the right in the white t-shirt is his brother Stephan.  They were great guys, and really made the boys feel welcome.  I learned that Greek and American 10-yr-olds and 12-yr-olds are VERY much the same...

Half of Catarina Doebler, Mark's wife, is seen in this photo...she prepared a FEAST for us, and was such a joy to get to know...did I mention she prepared FOUR different desserts for us?!?

Here's the adult half of the table, along with the two youngest Doebler boys...their family of seven seemed quite normal to us, but is not the norm at all in Greece, where the average number of children per family is 1.2...

 These slippers win for favorite new custom...while we were visiting the Doeblers, we slipped off our shoes, as is the custom, and they gave us slippers to wear around the house while we were there.  Our toes were so warm and toasty.  (Brad is in the pair that is stepping on my pair. :) )  We're thinking of incorporating this into winter life in Tennessee when friends come a'calling...

Dancing With The Stars, Here We Come!!

So, we went to this dinner theatre-type restaurant in Athens with several friends from the Bible College on Wednesday evening, and oh! the fun we had!  It was a delectable feast of traditional Greek food, and 8 traditional dances were performed as the entertainment, with the dancers in the traditional costume for each particular dance.

The funny thing about these previous two pictures is that this dancer was standing on OUR table to do this--right in front of me--OH MY!!  

Well, the advantage of being at a table right next to the stage was that we had a great view of all the dances...the DISADVANTAGE was that when they choose people to come up on stage, folks from those close tables were chosen...So, here is yours truly trying some sort of Greek move with traditional Greek music...you see Brad up there too...oh yes, FOUR of us from our table were sacrificed to the stage...

Brad was a natural, even adding twists and turns...I was proud of my man!!

Next up were Myrto, who not only danced, but sang with the gentleman in white, and Viorica...

...who very wisely opted to cheer on Myrto, thereby not having to sing with the Greek crooner..

Brad's rave of the evening...this gentleman was a master on his instrument 

Caleb and Viorica enjoying the show...

Our friends Robert and Myrto...

On our way home we stopped by the Olympic stadium there in Athens where the 2004 Olympic games were held.  This stadium was built over the earliest Greek stadium where the games were originally held.  Still today the corridors underneath thru which the runners run to enter the field are THE SAME ONES used by the ancient Greeks at the first games...impressive...

Valentines Day Here We Come!

With Valentines Day just a few days away, my thoughts turn to sweets, and oh! how we've been enjoying all the goodies Cambridge has to offer...

Take for instance Newnham Bakery, a small, neighborhood, family-owned bakery just a 5-minute walk from Tyndale House, where Brad is studying.  My favorites are the chocolate croissants, but there are these flaky cinnamon butterfly-shaped creations that come in a close second.  We try to frequent their shop often!  Then there's Fitzbillies Bakery, which was listed as #9 in the most recent copy of the Cambridge City Guide of the Top 10 things you absolutely must do in Cambridge.  Their "Chelsea Buns" in particular are what made the list, and let me tell you, they are SOME KIND of scrumptious!!  They are a bit like dense and very sticky cinnamon rolls...Y-U-M-M-Y!!

The kiddos newest hot spot is called Mr. Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe, and they have almost 800 different kinds of candies and confections.  I have never in my life seen anything like it--they have two stories of cannisters with any kind of candy, chocolate, gum, you name it, on the planet.  It's a wonderful place to have discovered BEFORE Valentine's Day. :)

So, there you have it...a wrap-up of our favorite sweet spots and candy shops...I'm just thankful I have an excuse to NEED to go to at least one of these places before Feb 14th!