! ACADEMY INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL SERVICES, INC. ! ! Nativity !Church October 2014 Itinerary ! ! Greece & Turkey + 3 night/4 day cruise !October 8 – Wednesday – Departure Delta 1380 depart Huntsville 11:25AM Arrive Atlanta 1:23PM Delta 028 depart Atlanta 3:33PM Arrive Paris 6:10AM (Oct. 9)

!October 9 – Thursday - Athens Air France 1232 depart Paris 7:20AM ! Arrive Athens 11:30AM Arrival at Athens airport. You will be met and transferred to your hotel. Dinner and !overnight in Athens. October 10 – Friday – Athens Today you explore Athens, focusing on the Acropolis and other monumental remains of ancient Athens. At the base of the Acropolis, and provid- ing a panoramic view of the Hephaisteion, Panathenaea Path and Stoa of Attalos, is the Areopagus (Mars Hill) where Paul was brought before the counsel so that they may hear more of “this new teaching” (Acts 17:19). You will also visit the Pnyx, meeting place of the ancient Athenian assembly. Dinner and overnight in Athens. ! Athens: Parthanon on the Acropolis October 11 – Saturday – Delphi Delphi will be today’s highlight, but first a taste of the Greek countryside as you drive from Athen by way of Thebes, Levadia and the picturesque village of Arakhova to Delphi. Thebes will be remembered from Sophocles’ trilogy about its tragic king Oedipus--murdered his father and married his

125 Clairemont Avenue Suite 500 * Decatur, Georgia 30030 USA * (404) 687-2080 1-800-476-6943 * Fax: (404) 687-0390 * EMAIL: [email protected] mother without realizing what he was doing. Ancient dignitaries traveled from distant lands to the shrine of Apollo at Delphi to request prophetic guidance. Sometimes they misunderstood the guidance, as in the case of King Croesus from Sardis. You will visit !this shrine, and also Delphi’s outstanding museum. October 12 – Sunday - Meteora Leaving Delphi, you drive today to Meteora in central Greece. Here, containing priceless historical and religious treasures, are ageless monasteries that perch between earth and sky atop huge granite rocks. Meteora is a visual feast difficult to describe. Dinner and overnight. ! October 13 – Monday - Veria, Pella, Thessaloniki Today you continue driving north through the beautiful countryside of Thessaly to the city Thessaloniki. Along the way, you pass through Veria and Pella. Saint Paul remained in Veria for several days during his missionary journey to Greece. Pella was home of Philip II and Philip’s more famous son, Alexander the Great. Among Philip’s other children was a daughter born soon after he had conquered Thessaly. So he named her “Thessaloniki ,” which means “victory over Thessaly.” It was her husband, Philip’s son-in-law, who founded the city Thessaloniki and named it after !her. October 14 – Tuesday - Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki: the White Tower Philippi, Kavala After exploring Thessaloniki, you drive east into Thrace to visit Philippi. Philippi is an archaeological site today, but when Saint Paul visited in approximately AD 50, it was the leading city of the district of Macedonia (Acts 16:12-18). Philippi had been founded by and named after Philip II almost four centuries earlier. Also at Philippi, approximately one century before Paul’s visit, Mark Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus and his co-conspirators after their assassination of Julius Caesar. Dinner and !overnight in Kavala. October 15– Wednesday – Cross Greek-Turkish border, Istanbul Historic Constantinople/Istanbul will be your destination today, which means leaving Greece and entering Turkey. These two countries have been somewhat at odds since World War I. Among their differences, the Greeks prefer the earlier name !“Constantinople,” while the Turks prefer “Istanbul.” Dinner and overnight in Istanbul. October 16 and 17, 2014 –Thursday and Friday – Istanbul Two days in this historic city situated astride two continents, and so much to see. First there are notable remains from the city’s Roman Period, especially from the reign of Constantine. It was he, of course, who named the city after himself, ”Constantinople.” Representing the “Byzantine” era that followed, during which Constantinople was the center of Christian Orthodoxy, before it was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, is

125 Clairemont Avenue Suite 500 * Decatur, Georgia 30030 USA * (404) 687-2080 1-800-476-6943 * Fax: (404) 687-0390 * EMAIL: [email protected] the Agia Sophia. Built originally as a church by Justinian; the Turks would convert it to serve as a mosque; today it is a museum. Representing the “Istanbul” phase, 1453 and following when this city was center of the far- flung Ottoman Empire, are the Topkapi Palace and the Blue Mosque. Lunch included today, but dinner on your own both Istanbul: Hagia Sophia evenings. ! Overnights Istanbul. October 18 – Saturday - Istanbul, Dardanelles, Troy, Canakkale You depart this morning soon after breakfast, cross over the Asian side by car ferry, and then drive to Canakkale by the road along the Straits of the Dardanelles. (Lunch included along the way). Near Canakkale is the archaeological site of ancient Troy, which will be highlight for the afternoon. Troy is famous two reasons: First, for the role the ancient city plays in the Homeric account of the Trojan War. Second, for the colorful life and tenacious of its first excavator, Heinrich Schliemann. After enjoying an afternoon !visit to Troy, dinner and overnight in Canakkale. !October 19, 2014 – Sunday - Canakkale, Pergamon, Kusadasi Early departure this morning in order to have plenty of time for the remains of ancient Pergamum. On our way, we pass near Assos, visited by Saint Paul on his Third Missionary Journey (Acts 20:13-14). Pergamum itself was a major city during the Roman and Byzantine Periods, one of the so-called “Seven Churches of the Apocalypse,” and is represented today by extensive and photogenic archaeological remains. We will have lunch and spend most of the afternoon there, then drive south past Izmir (ancient Smyrna, also one of the “Seven Churches”) to Kusadasi for dinner !and overnight. !October 20 – Monday -Ephesus Today, the full day, will be devoted to Ephesus. This was another major Roman- Byzantine city that figures prominently in the New Testament and is represented by amazingly extensive archaeological remains. Paul visited Ephesus on his second and third missionary journeys (Acts 18:19-21, 24), wrote a letter to the Ephesians, and one of the early Church Councils was held there (Council of Ephesus, A.D. 431, dealt with the Nestorian controversy). Also, according to Catholic tradition, the Virgin Mary is buried at Ephesus. We will see it all, including the Slope Houses, John’s Church at nearby Selcuk and the Virgin Mary’s House. Back to Kusadasi for dinner and overnight. !

125 Clairemont Avenue Suite 500 * Decatur, Georgia 30030 USA * (404) 687-2080 1-800-476-6943 * Fax: (404) 687-0390 * EMAIL: [email protected] ! October 21 – Tuesday - Cruise Transfer to the port and embark on your cruise vessel. Vessel departs Kusadasi at !noon. In the afternoon arrive to Patmos Island. October 22 – Wednesday - Rhodos The cruise vessel will remain docked here from 07:00 to 18:00. Optional excursions to the old town of Rhodos and a tour to the picturesque town of Lindos where the temple of Athena stands on the Acropolis !of Lindos. October 23 – Thursday -Heraklion (Crete), Santorini Heraklion (Crete) is the largest of the Greek islands, well known for Rhodos: Lindos Acropolis its archaeological sites (07:00-11:30). Optional excursions to the Palace of Knossos. In the afternoon we arrive at Santorini (16:30 – 21:00). One can reach the whitewashed village on top of this volcanic island either by !donkey or by cable car. October 24 – Friday – Piraeus The cruise ends this morning in Piraeus. After breakfast disembark and continue with your half day Ancient Corinth tour. Taking the coastal road along the Saronic Gulf, we follow fairly the same route that the apostle Paul took and then into Ancient Corinth. !Return to Athens in the late afternoon for our farewell dinner. Overnight Athens. !October 25, 2014 – Saturday – Athens to Huntsville !Transfer from your hotel to the airport for the return flight to Huntsville. Delta 263 depart Athens 11:20AM Arrive JFK 3:18PM Delta 2201 depart JFK 5:00PM Arrive Atlanta 7:45PM Delta 1075 depart Atlanta 9:50PM ! Arrive Huntsville 9:52PM

125 Clairemont Avenue Suite 500 * Decatur, Georgia 30030 USA * (404) 687-2080 1-800-476-6943 * Fax: (404) 687-0390 * EMAIL: [email protected]