Meet up and tour of ancient Thessaloniki

Well a very early start to the morning! First of all I felt an earthquake at 4.30 am. I was lying there awake when I suddenly smelt smoke in my room. I got up and saw smoke billowing through the over head cupboard. I quickly knocked on Steve’s door and he jumped up and he said quick let’s pack up and get out. We raced down the 5 flights of stairs with our bags along with a few fellow travelers and got out. The fire engine’s arrived and it ended up being an electrical fire in the kitchen on the second floor.
We were so thankful that we all got out safely - albeit in my pj’s! Joe had given me a headlamp for a travelling present and it was too well packed to be of use. Lesson learnt - keep it handy!!
We caught an uber to our next motel dropped our bags off and headed down to the stunning foreshore for breakfast. I had a spinach and feta pastry - and flaky pastry it was! Simply delicious!
We then climbed the white tower built in the 15th century and the view at the top was incredible.
At 1pm the tour folk boarded the bus which took us to many interesting archeological sites finishing with the statue of Alexander the Great.

Back at the motel we enjoyed an evening meal together. It’s been a very memorable day in many ways

(The **Politarch Inscription** from Thessalonica serves as a "greatest archaeological defense" for the Book of Acts, specifically validating Luke's description of city officials [1]. The inscription, nearly six feet long and found etched into the Vardar Arch in Thessalonica (the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia and a prominent city on the Ignatian Way), lists city officials using the Greek term *Polyaru a tone*, meaning "those serving as polyarks". This term appears only twice in the New Testament, both times in Acts chapter 17, where Luke recounts a mob dragging Jason before the *polyarks*. For years, critics used the apparent lack of evidence for this specific title to question Luke's historical accuracy, but the discovery of this inscription—and subsequently **over 60 known inscriptions** using the term, with approximately half found in Thessalonica itself—proved that Luke "got it precisely right". This finding affirms the historicity and reliability of the Bible, demonstrating that Luke's writings were "rooted in first century reality" with the goal of strengthening faith through historical truth.)Read more