This morning we slept in a bit again! (We could get used to this). A group got up a little earlier and found a cafe to go eat breakfast. The rest of us met at 11:00 and headed to the church. We met the others there and started our first tour day. We walked across the street from the church and we saw the Arch of Hadrian and the Temple to Olympian Zeus:
Our own tour guide Eli told us about each site...
These are roman baths that were discovered underneath the side walk.
Everywhere you look, there are ruins!!
This is the first Olympic stadium of the modern Olympiad, rebuilt on the ruins of an ancient horse racing track.
The whole gang at the stadium. Not a bad looking group!
We stopped by the presidential mansion and watching the changing of the guard.
Then we visited a Greek Orthodox church. It was stunningly colorful and beautiful!
The after another great meal, we walked back to the hotel, but this time, we took the scenic route right by the Acropolis.
This is a great view of the Temple of Hephaestus.
This, of course, is the Parthenon
Then it was back to the church for some individual practice time and then some amazing food. We all have talked about how we not eaten a single thing that wasn't amazing! And no offense to "church ladies" everywhere, the ladies that are taking care of us at the First Evangelical Church of Athens cook the best meals I have ever eaten in a church!!
Ivan looks happy about his meal!
Chocolate Mousse with Oreos and fruit for dessert! They are treating us so well!!
Then we headed to our gig at Neos Kosmos Park. This is a park where the church holds "festivals" for the kids of the community. We were all amazed at how it seemed like the whole neighborhood was out talking and letting their kids run and play and just be outside. It was a 7:30 start to the concert and there were kids and people everywhere. We had to dodge a few soccer balls that were kicked into the band and bicycles and dancing kiddos. We also had some fun chasing our music that kept blowing away, but it was a really fun concert. We played until 9:00.
This is the beginning of our set.
The kids sat so close to us!
John, the Pied Piper, had them mesmerized.
Fun fact of the day.....it's illegal to talk about politics and religion to kids in Greece. I almost broke the law talking to the crowd or kids today about the church that is sponsoring us!
Tomorrow.....Corinth! We do not perform tomorrow, we are just tourists!
Thanks for following us on our Journey,
THE....Baylor Jazz Ensemble
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