How to Get Here

Holy Trinity Monastery is about one mile north of the drowsy hamlet of Jordanville, New York, located somewhere in the Mohawk Valley, in the center of a triangle formed by Albany, Cooperstown, and Utica. People usually get here from Utica, Syracuse, or Albany, in order of distance. There's also a shuttle service for pilgrims going to and from New York City.

I arrived at Syracuse Airport around 11:30 am, after a long, eight-hour ordeal involving a red-eye from San Francisco, a 2-hour layover in Philly, and another flight. I did not wait long; Alejandro, a 5th-year seminarian (more on him later) spotted me right away. Apparently, he was there to pick up another seminarian, and thought that I was coming an hour later. We gathered my luggage, found the other seminarian (Peter, from Ukraine) and got some lunch. Peter and I went to a “Chinese” buffet near Utica. Note the quotes.

After getting to the dormitory, I rested a bit, then went out with a Matushka from San Francisco and her brother, a priest in Rochester, to the local fancy Italian restaurant. This trend of going out to eat on fasting days would continue for the next week or so.