Santorini

The next stop in our Greek island hopping was Santorini.  Craig, Stephen, Lee and I traveled by ferry from Paros and again, it was a beautiful clear day - great day to be on the sea.  Also on the ferry (coming from Piraeus) were Tony and Deane!  We were able to surprise them, as they didn't know exactly when we were getting to Santorini.  So we all landed in Fira together, and then headed off to our respective accommodations, with plans to meet later for drinks and nibbles. 

Stephen had arranged for a van to meet the ferry and take us up the mountainside to the small village of Imerovigli, where our villa was located.  Thank you Stephen.

Santorini is a flooded caldera, a long steep multi-colored arc of cliffs, a thousand feet above sea level.  It is totally dramatic, and with it's beautiful whitewashed houses with blue roofs, probably the most beautiful place we've ever seen.  Our ferry came into the new port at Athinios, at the bottom of a very step series of switchbacks.

Our ferry at the port of Athinios, as we were traveling to the top of the island*

Our home while in Santorini, Villa Lukas was a fabulous accommodation - there are 5 rooms at the villa and many of them are considered "cave" rooms, as they are built into the side of the mountain.  Great job finding Villa Lukas, Stephen!

Our living room, or sitting area.  The front of the villa was the only room with windows as the rest was built into the mountain.

The bedroom, and entrance to the closet and bath

And our little kitchen!  We felt right at home!

This is the view from our terrace - pretty much heaven!

Looking to the right of Villa Lukas

Craig and Stephen's terrace, which was adjacent to ours*

Tony and Deanne arrived for a cocktail before dinner.  We enjoyed some of the red wine that we had gotten at the winery in Paros.*

Sunset in Santorini!

No, I really don't think that it gets any better than this!*

The next day, we all walked to Oia!  That's the bit of white that you can see at the right of the picture.  It was about a 2.5 hour walk, and spectacularly beautiful!

Another little village along the trail.  The trail followed along the top of the ridge all the way to Oia

A cute little church along the way - a perfect spot for a rest.

The front of the Church

Stephen, Tony, Deane, Lee and I along the trail*

Pat, Craig and Lee*

Great group photo*

Approaching Oia!  This is the village you see in all those Greek postcards*

 

Lunch was our reward for the long walk!  And did we did have food, as well as beer!

 

The village of Oia

Isn't this spectacular!??

The village of Oia from the top

 

 

One of the beautiful stairways to an accommodation

Tony and Deane at their cave house

Drinks at Craig and Stephens!*

While in Santorini we visited Akrotiri - a Minoan town that was buried in ash after the volcano blew it's top around 1630 BC.  The eruption blew out 24 cubic miles of volcanic material.  Apparently there was ample warning of the major explosion, as there have been very few human remains or items of value uncovered.  Akrotiri is still in the process of being excavated.

The excavation was facinating*

Some of the ruins at Akrotiri*

Visiting Akrotiri gave us quite an appetite, so we took the bus back to Fira and had lunch at a lovely taverna overlooking the beautiful blue sea.  Did I mention that Greek food is fabulous??

The old port.  This is where the cruise boats dock, and where the excursion boats leave from.  You need to get either down or up the mountain, using a series of switch backed stairways!

One way to do this is to walk - up or down!  Another way is to ride on those donkeys.  We walked down, among the donkeys and their poop!  It was pretty odoriferous!*

Some of the ancient cave houses in the mountain

The little village at the port - and the steps leading up the mountain*

We took an excursion out to the volcanic island in the middle of the caldera*

The view of Santorini and the sea from the volcanic island

 

A small church at the foot of the mountain*

Craig went for a swim on the volcanic island - although he said that the water wasn't that warm!*

And here's the other way up and down that mountain!  After our excursion, we took the tram back up to the top*

At the end of the workday, the donkeys head back to wherever they spend the night

Craig took some amazing night shots with his new camera.*

We had a fabulous time in Santorini and it's definitely on the "do again" list!  Sadly, the worst weather we had in Greece was during the time we were in Santorini - we even got rained on!  But that didn't dampen the beauty of the island.

Next stop - Crete!!

*Thank you Craig for these photos!