WHY PHILIPPI? A PRETEND TRIP I NEVER PLANNED ON TAKING

 I just now put down the phone; now I am sitting here quietly for a moment, trying to take in what has happened. Somehow I let myself be talked into another pretend trip. I had spread the word among my friends that I wouldn't be making any more. But I just had a request that touched my heart...and without thinking it through, I said YES!!

You remember my friend Beanie. I did a rescue mission to Alaska to help her. Also, she went with our friend, Carmine, and me to Argentina to look for a lost treasure. (These trips can be found on annieinmemphis.blogspot.com)Now Beanie has been  back in Memphis for a month and is now requesting that we make another trip...to the ancient city of Philippi.

Beanie, Carmine and I were classmates at Humes High School. 
 

Beanie reminded me of another one  of  our friends there, Dorothea Costas, whose parents were from Greece. We  were not such close friends, mostly because she went home for lunch every day.  Their house was right across the street from the school. Don't know why I remember this, but Dorothea means "gift of God," which I always thought was such a neat name,

Well, like Beanie and me, Dorothea  is approaching 80 years old and wants to go to Philippi while her health is still good enough to try it.          
 

Beanie has already told Dorothea that I have unlimited funds which can only be used for travel, (monopoly money) and I will  pay everyone's way. Although all of us are widows, we should be able to do this because we will not tackle a long, arduous trip...but a short one only to Philippi and then home again.

But why this particular Biblical city? Beanie reminded me that Dorothea's husband had died there thirty years ago, when he was on a "Paul's Missionary Journeys" trip with a group of men from their Greek Orthodox Church. He sent Dorothea a post card from ancient Philippi. It said that he had written her a love letter and hidden it for them to retrieve when they could make a trip together there some day. The card arrived after his death from a heart attack. Dorothea thinks she can find the spot from some clues on the card. 


Who knows? But we can try and can at least let Dorothea be in the area her husband loved so much and where he died. 

The nearest airport is Kavala, Makedonia, Greece.

On my earlier trips I put all the flight information on the blog, but it took up too much space. I will simply say our route is Memphis, Atlanta, London, Athens, to Kavala. First Class. 19 hours and 50 minutes.

We will travel light, foregoing luggage for backpacks as I have done on all my pretend trips. (Alaska, Norway, Argentina,Poland and Geneva.)

Tonight we are not feeling so old; we are excited and feeling young to be doing this. I am thinking about Paul and his vision.


                               :

"Come to Macedonia and help us."

Now we are going there to help our friend who was married to another Paul...the love of her life: Paul Avgeris. Whatever the outcome, I think it will bless Dorothea and Beanie and me too!! This is a trip I never expected to make, but I am looking forward to it. Will tell you more as I know more.
Goodnight with love, from annie in memphis


Example of Greek writing from Rosetta Stone.
I am wishing my Ben could read this aloud as he did all the other pretend trips before I published them.... Miss him....
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