Every now and again, it’s good to have time off; to spend time with one’s self. That’s why some of the participants headed up to Agia Paraskevi’s local monastery for a 6:30 am service! For Katie Mahon Kuzin it was quite the spiritual experience: “Today was an incredibly eye-opening day and a wonderful way to begin to close out our time with Heritage Greece. I started my day at 6 am at Moni Agiou Ioanni tou Kinigou (St. John the Hunter’s monastery). They let us sit in on their morning worship. Although their prayers and conversations were in Greek, it was unbelievably cool to be standing in a place that has been used for worship since the 12th century AD. We sat outside and were offered loukoumi (Turkish delight) by the nuns who proceeded to give us a short tour and history lesson about the monastery. It was a beautiful moment. At 6:45 in the morning, as the birds were just waking up, me and some of the great friends I met over the two weeks discussed religion and Greek history while the early morning sun shun on our faces.”

The rest of the day was about relaxation. A long day at the beach and shopping. We visited the exclusive Balux Café in Glyfada and stayed there for the better part of the day, enjoying both beach and swimming pool! Christos Zourzoukis was in a rather pensive mood: “It was an emotional time but also a fun time; a time for celebration! It was our last beach time so it was fun to connect with all the people I’ve met over the last two weeks. But it also sad that this time with these people I’ve been bonded with is coming to a close.”

Later, the participants had free time to roam around Glyfada for shopping and a walk by the sea!

St. John the Hunter’s Monastery (Photography by Anthony Efstathiades)

Our last beach time together and there were many, many smiles!

Blog editor and photographer: James (Dimitris) Voutsas