Thursday, 9 May 2024

Having arrived at Valletta from Sicily the previous evening on the Virtu Ferries ‘Jean De La Vallette’ from Pozzallo, the Villa del Porto guest house in the district of Kalkara, proved to be a quiet and comfortable residence with a lovely breakfast bar on the top floor/ roof.

This morning our party took the local Birgu-Valletta ferry crossing and used the Barrakka Lift back up to Valletta to see ‘The Malta Experience’ an excellent audio video show for anyone unfamiliar with the 7000 years of Malta’s history. This was followed by a visit to the War Museum at Fort St. Elmo – again most informative.

In the evening, a taxi ride to Rabat/Mdina enabled us to take part in a two hour walking Dark Malta Tour entitled ‘Mysteries & Histories of Mdina’ – quite scary! After which it was back to our base in Kalkara.

Friday, 10 May 2024

Today we visited Rabat and looked in at the Domus Romana, the home of a well connected family in the Roman period which contains some excellent mosaics and statuary, including a really superb statue of Emperor Claudius.

We continued on to St. Paul’s Catacombs where a good understanding of Roman burial practises may be observed albeit at a period later than St. Paul’s.

After lunch we journeyed on from Rabat, thanks to a very helpful taxi driver by the name of Clifford, to the headland overlooking St. Paul’s Islands near which the famous shipwreck is believed to have occurred. It was a special place where we felt the Apostle’s presence and which cannot have changed much over the last two thousand years. On the way back to Kalkara, Clifford kindly took us to see Ballut beach, considered by some to be the best beach in Malta.

Saturday, 11 May 2024

Today the pilgrims visited Gozo, ‘the island of joy’.
We set off from the Fast Ferry Terminal at Ta’Liesse, Grand Harbour Valletta for the port of Maharr on the island.

We first called at the Ggantija Megalith site which are the second oldest Neolithic megaliths in the world.

This was followed by a walk around the Citadel at Victoria, which included its cathedral, where we spent some time in prayer and contemplation before returning to Valletta by the Gozo ferry, from which we had a seaward view of St. Paul’s Islands.

Sunday, 12 May 2024

Our last full day in Malta!
During the morning the pilgrims attended The Collegiate Parish Church of St. Paul’s Shipwreck in Valletta where they inspected the reliquary of what a is held to be part of the wrist bone of St. Paul and part of the column on which he was beheaded on the road to Ostia outside Rome.

In the afternoon our party visited the Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Archeological Park to see the two magnificent Neolithic temples there. These were really spectacular – huge and in an excellent state of preservation. The South Temple is perfectly aligned with the rising sun at the equinoxes with the sun in line with the main axis of the temple.

Monday, 13 May 2024

Homeward bound.
We said goodbye to our hostess, Doreen, at the Villa del Porto guest house in Kalkara and left for our flight from Malta to London Stansted which departed at 11:55 local time.

After an uneventful fight, the train connections from Stansted to home were all on time.
Cheeky Chaplain arrived back tired but spiritually refreshed.

Sunday, 5 May 2024

The three of us departed Taormina and headed for Syracuse.
On route the pilgrims visited Aci Castiello, the Norman castle, where the custodian kindly admitted us after the official closing time – he and Cheeky Chaplain even exchanged hats!

We then continued on to Lentini, the site of an ancient city, Leontinoi,  before arriving in Syracuse at about 16:45.

After parking the car, the three of us walked the short distance to our lovely apartment, La Colombaia Di Ortygia, in the middle of the island of Ortygia known as the Giudecca or Jewish quarter, where just like St Paul we where to stay for three days.

Monday, 6 May 2024

The morning was spent visiting the archaeological area of the Neapolis. Here is to be found the Greek Theatre (impressive, although at the time of our visit was somewhat obscured by modern seating for current performances), the Roman Amphitheatre (really impressive),

and the latomie (stone quarries) where 7000 Athenian prisoners of war toiled in 413 B.C. – of particular interest is the so called ‘Ear of Dionysius’.

In the afternoon we returned over the Porto Piccolo to Ortygia to visit a number of sacred places. Almost immediately we encountered  the remains of the 7th century B.C. Temple of Apollo, considered to be the first great Doric temple of its kind in Sicily.

A short walk brought us to the Cathedral built on the site of the ancient Temple of Athena, and which incorporates its columns into the structure – the three of us felt the sublime holiness of the place and offered prayers of thanks for our pilgrimage.

Then on to the roofless medieval church of St. John the Baptist, near where St. Paul may have preached in A.D. 59.

 

Finally returning to our apartment to freshen up for dinner.

Tuesday, 7 May 2024

We went upcountry today by car to visit the Necropolis of Filiporto, where there are over 500 rock-cut tombs dating to the 9th/8th Century BC.
Then on to the ancient city of Akrai, where a good 250 metre section of the Decumanus (the main east-west road through the town) has been excavated, together with a charming Greek Theatre, with 700 seats, and a bouleterion dating from the second half of the third century B.C.

We returned to Syracuse and returned hire car.

Wednesday, 8 May 2024

This morning, we checked out of our lovely apartment in Ortygia, then paid a visit to the Regional Archaeological ‘Paolo Orsi’ – one of the principal archaeological museums of Europe and contains a great collection of exhibits from all over the Syracuse area.
Of particular interest to the Christian visitor are two items found in the Catacomb of San Giovanni: The Euskia Inscription  – “Euskia the irreproachable, who lived an honest and noble life of more or less twenty-five years, died on the feast day of my Lady Lucia, for whom no praise is sufficient….” This attests to the veneration of St. Lucy, the patron saint of Syracuse, as early as the 5th century A.D.
Also, the magnificent Sarcophagus of Adelphia, datable to the second quarter of the 4th century A.D., shows Adelphia and her husband Valerio in a central roundel with scenes from the Old and New Testament above and below.

Sadly we said goodbye to Syracuse and boarded the 14:30 bus for Pozzallo to catch the ferry to Valletta in Malta. The Virtu Ferries ‘Jean De La Vallette’ departed Pozzallo at 19:00 and arrived at 20:45 in Valletta after a smooth crossing.

A short taxi ride later brought our travellers to their accommodation, The Villa del Porto guest house in the adjacent district of Kalkara.

Friday, 3 May 2024

Cheeky Chaplain with Anna and Edward landed safely at Catania Airport at 22:30 after an uneventful flight from London. Having picked up our hire car, the pilgrims headed north to Taormina, arriving at our delightful apartment, Casa Vico Romano2, some time after 1:00! We retired for the night, without supper, tired but content.

Saturday, 4May 2024

The pilgrims travel from Taormina to Mount Etna which showed its activity by sending a column of white smoke up into the sky. Apostle Paul may well have witnessed its activity on sailing from Syracuse to Rhegium?

In the afternoon the party returned to Taormina and visited the splendid Greek Theatre (much rebuilt in the Roman period) and the Roman baths (which are in need of interpretive signage).

That evening saw an excellent dinner in joint celebration of the birthdays of Edward and Cheeky Chaplain.

On Friday, 3 May 2024, Cheeky Chaplain sets off on the next leg of his pilgrimage ‘In the footsteps of St. Paul’, this time to Syracuse and Malta.
He hopes to visit Etna, Syracuse, Valletta, Rabat and Saint Paul’s Bay.

Do take a look at the Syracuse and Melita web-site pages and please add your comments (and prayers) to this blog.

Thursday, 2 June 2022

After sharing breakfast, the pilgrims split up into two groups. Ed and Anna continued their Macedonian visit with a visit to the tomb of Philip II of Macedon at Vergina.

Cheeky Chaplain visited the Kavala Archaeological Museum that morning (housing exhibits from the Neolithic to modern times):

then after lunch the three of us (Robin, Faith and myself) drove the 160km back to Thessaloniki Airport for our return flight to London, which landed at 22:10.

Monday, 30 May 2022
The pilgrims spent the day exploring Kavala (ancient Neapolis). We started at St Nicholas Church with the striking monument telling the story of St Paul’s calling to Macedonia and his sea journey to Neapolis.

Afterwards we visited the castle and the aqueduct.

Tuesday, 31 May 2022
Today we visited ancient Philippi where apostle Paul and Silas were beaten with rods  and imprisoned by the  magistrates of the Roman colony. We inspected the so-called prison and Curia where the magistrates  held court  at one end of the forum. The  site is extensive and in excellent condition and includes  an impressive theatre together with the remains of three basilicas,  bishops residence and octagon church.

On leaving the ruined city we travelled the mile or so up the road to Saint Lydia’s baptistery where Paul had baptised Lydia – the first person in Europe to be baptised.

We  five pilgrims joined together in a short service where we reaffirmed our  baptismal vows  and sprinkled each other with the water from the river –  A moving and spiritual experience for us all.

Wednesday, 1 June 2022
Our last full day in Kavala.  The five pilgrims spent the morning walking the section of the Via Egnatia from the port of Neapolis towards Philippi as did Paul and Silas. We  started at the junction of Macedonias Street and Egnatias  Street  and were soon climbing the well preserved and maintained Roman road  which ends about 1 km further on near the  Kavala General Hospital.  We certainly felt that we were walking in the footsteps of Saint Paul.

The afternoon was spent swimming at the Paralia Kalamitsa beach – most refreshing.

 

Thursday, 26 May 2022

Arrived at Thessaloniki airport 19:00, uneventful and strait forward flight. Picked up car hire and drove into the city of Thessaloniki. Checked into Hotel Orestias Kastoria for three nights. Shared delicious dinner at Restaurant Kanoya (21:00) with Robin and Faith by the Roman Forum. Returned to hotel (23:30), shower and bed – tired but well satisfied.

Friday, 27 May 2022
Early rise at 6:00, coffee and out to explore the city. The city of Thessaloniki is a splendid place rather relaxed in many respects for the second city of Greece. The historic city centre has many sites to explore.  With a glorious blue sky and temperatures from 30 to 32°C, the three of us made a start at the Roman forum which Paul and Silas would certainly have known in its first century form.  Current excavations and consolidation meant that much of the site, including the Odeon and Stoa, were not open to the public however.

Galerius, on succeeding Diocletian as Augustus of the eastern Empire in 305 A.D., made Thessalonica his Imperial capital and built many buildings to reflect this. The Rotunda is the best preserved of these, now the Church of St. George. Then on to the Arch of Galerius. Galerius was notorious for his persecution of Christians.

After a good lunch, we continued by visiting the remains of the Palace of Galerius and adjacent Octagon, then finally to the so-called ‘White Tower’ (16th century) on the seafront.

My Godson Edward and his wife Anna arrived at Thessaloniki Airport at 22:05, but had a ‘prang’ in their hire car driving into town and arrived at our hotel some four hours later! Mercifully no one was hurt.

Saturday, 28 May2022
Ed and Anna returned to the airport to pick up a replacement hire car and then joined the three of us for lunch and a visit to the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum. The museum is extensive, modern, and houses a large collection of Roman artefacts.

Previously, the three of us had walked the length of the eastern city wall to reach the north-east “Chain” tower from which magnificent views of the city below are available. The climb up hill to the tower was hard going in the heat with little shade, but well worth it. The five of us enjoyed a most convivial dinner, then back to our hotel (The Orestias Kastoria) which we can thoroughly recommend.

Sunday, 29 May 2022
Up at 8:00 to church bells, followed by the sound of the Orthodox morning office being sung. Checked out of the hotel to drive (in our two cars) to Kavala (ancient Neapolis), via Amphipolis.
Amphipolis is a delightful little town somewhat off the main traffic route today, but an important stopping off point on the Via Egnatia in St. Paul’s day. We pilgrims visited the famous Lion of Amphipolis monument (which the Saint almost certainly would have seen) before crossing the River Strymon into the town itself where the remains of its ancient Acropolis contains the ruins of four basilicas – which testify to its importance as a place of pilgrimage during early Christian times. The ancient river bridge and the Kasta Tomb were not open to the public during our visit.

A 62km drive east along the A2 road brought us to Kavala (ancient Neapolis).

 

On Thursday, 26 May 2022, Cheeky Chaplain sets off on the next leg of his pilgrimage ‘In the footsteps of St. Paul’, this time to Macedonia.
He hopes to visit Thessaloniki and Philippi (where his namesake was beaten and incarcerated and where, just outside the city, he baptised Lydia and her household).

Do take a look at the Neapolis, Philippi, Amphipolis and Thessalonica web-site pages and please add your comments (and prayers) to this blog.

13 December:
Cheeky Chaplain and his two companions travel down to Caesarea Maritima, about 130 km from Jerusalem.
The Apostle Paul would have known Caesarea quite well since he stayed here on return to Judea after his second and third ‘missionary’ journeys and, of course was imprisoned here for two years before his final journey to Rome. Our journey from Jerusalem was rather faster and more comfortable than his, but due to time constraints we were unable to visit Antipatris on route.

We entered the ancient city at its southern end with a visit to the much restored Theatre. It was here in 44 A.D. that King Herod Agrippa I was stricken with a heart attack after failing to correct those who hailed him as a god, and died five days later ‘eaten with worms’ , as recorded in Acts 12:21-23.
The Promontory Praetorium, a truly palatial residence of the Roman procurators of Judea with its rock-cut pool and broad vistas of the coastline, is the most significant Pauline site in the city. Cheeky Chaplain could imagine St. Paul, chained to the left hand of his soldier guard, but sustained by the Holy Spirit during his imprisonment here. He may have written one or more of his epistles as a prisoner in ‘Herod’s Palace’.

Continuing north from the praetorium, we viewed Herod’s splendid Hippodrome – more than 250m long with seats for 10,000 spectators, then on to the podium of the Temple to Augustus and Roma, built facing the once magnificent harbour on a natural eminence. Lunching here, pilgrims may gaze out to sea at the remains of the harbour breakwater. Its construction employed the innovative use of hydraulic concrete. The impressive remains of the High-level Aqueduct that provided the city with water may be examined at the public beach a short drive further north. This completed our visit to Caesarea and we returned to Jerusalem.

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Our last full day in Jerusalem. Walked the city wall, which gave a new perspective to many of the sites and places we have got to know.

After lunch shopping in Jaffa Street, Mamilla Mall and the Old city.

15 December:
Cheeky Chaplain and his two friends share a final morning in Jerusalem, then it’s off to Ben Gurion Airport for the return flight to the UK.

9 December:
Cheeky Chaplain and his old friend Robin left Luton Airport on the 9:00 flight to Tel Aviv on their way to Jerusalem. Four and a half hours later we reached Ben Gurion and Cheeky Chaplain was asked by officials the name of his father and father’s father! Then after taking a ‘sherut’ to Jerusalem, we reached our destination – a Self catering apartment in Yemin Moshe. A good dinner at a local restaurant set us up for a peaceful evening with stunning views of the Old City from our accommodation – a great start to the visit.

10 December:
Entered the Old City at 9:00 by the Jaffa Gate passed the Citadel and had an initial exploration of the many souks and passageways.

On to the Via Dolorosa and the Stations of the Cross – for me, the courtyard of the Church of the Flagellation, near station II and the Ecce Homo archway on the site of the Antonia Fortress, was the most moving as I contemplated the suffering and humiliation of our Saviour even though this traditional site is now questioned. The fifth station is understood to be where Simon of Cyrene carried the cross for Jesus.

On a first visit, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – the traditional site of Golgotha – takes a bit of getting used to, but beyond the marble and lamps it is possible to watch and pray in the simplicity of silence – and we were blessed with quietude since few tour groups were present.

 

Cheeky Chaplain experienced the Peace of Jerusalem with prayer in the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer on Muristan Road.
Standing in the Western Wall Plaza and looking at what remains of Herod’s Temple after it’s destruction by Titus in 70 A.D., the visitor may ponder on the enduring power of faith.
Lunch at the Cardo Maximus of Hadrian’s Aelia Capitolina, and a first look at Zion Gate, was followed by some down to earth supermarket shopping in preparation for the arrival of Edward (Robin’s son), the third member of our pilgrimage – who knocked on our door in Yemin Moshe at 18:30 after a safe journey from London.

11 December:
Today we spent some time exploring the Citadel at Jaffa Gate in the Old City and then revisited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Western Wall of the Second Temple.

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In the afternoon, it was down the Cardo and through Zion Gate to visit the Cenacle, David’s Tomb, the Church and Monastery of the Dormition and then the Church of St. Peter of Gallicantu.
The Church of the Dormition marks the place where, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary passed from this life in eternal sleep. Holy Eucharist, sung and sometimes in English, is very beautiful in this warm and welcoming church.
The present Cenacle building dates from Crusader times, but is believed to be on the site of the Upper Room where Our Lord shared the Last Supper with the disciples and where they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Cenacle very probably continued through the first century as the original church of Jerusalem.
Below the Cenacle is “King David’s Tomb” – highly revered in Judaism, and fully occupied by Orthodox worshipers in prayer and reading of the Psalms. Cheeky Chaplain was given the Hebrew priestly blessing – Birkat Kohanim (Numbers 6:23):
‘May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you peace.’
– and he replied with the first verse of Psalm 65, in English!
‘Thou, O Lord, art praised in Zion : and unto thee shall the vow be performed in Jerusalem.’
A very intense and moving occasion.

St. Peter’s Church – another must for the pilgrim to Jerusalem – is built on or near the site of the House of Caiaphas where Peter denied knowing Jesus three times before cock-crow (Gallicantu).

12 December:
Hired a little Fiat car!
Spent several hours at the Israel Museum until it closed at 14:00 it being the start of Sabbath at sundown. The Shrine of the Book houses the Dead Sea Scrolls – of particular interest is the Great Isaiah Scroll and those dealing with the rules of the Essene community.
The 1:50 scale model of Jerusalem in 66 A.D. is wonderfully helpful to Pauline pilgrims. The Archaeology Wing is superb and includes the Pilate Inscription from the theatre at Caesarea , the magnificent bronze of Hadrian and many other artefacts from the Roman period in Israel. This was particularly helpful on the eve of our visit to Caesarea Maritima.