Santorini

Santorini's volcanic origin makes it unique in this group of islands. It has also been settled since the Stone Age but a huge volcanic eruption in 1630 BC destroyed all this. A town preserved by ash is now being excavated. There are 13,000 residents, and more than 2 million tourists each year. Buildings cling to the cliffs. We were so glad to be there ahead of the busiest time! Above is the view as we arrived.

Thira (above)
Ia (right)

Our balcony has the arches bottom left.

Our view!

Wild flowers growing on the cliff.

We have seen these everywhere we have been.

When walking on a track around the nearby peninsula, we were passed by a bride going to the chapel perched above the sea on the far side. Not the usual bridal arrival mode! The photo shoot is happening below.

Grapes are not usually wired up here. Mike managed to open a bottle of Santorini wine without a corkscrew. It was good.

This photo was taken by a Thai couple we kept meeting up with on a very stormy day. They have invited us to home exchange with them one day!

This is the only really bad weather we have had. Fortunately it was our rental car day.

Santorini is on the cruise ship circuit.

This photo was taken from the crater on a boat trip to the volcano. Our hotel can be seen on the other side.

The chapel mentioned above is a dot on the left of the peninsula.

Some hardy souls dived into the cold water from our boat and swam to the warm water flowing from the volcano, which is just steaming slightly & heavily monitored. There is an eruption about every 75 years, though only small ones in recent times. Things may become very different again one day!





We went down to our boat for the above trip by cable car and returned a much more interesting way. Mike's competiveness even showed up on a donkey but Kay won, probably because she started first. The donkeys just keep going, regardless of their riders!

Here it is easy to see that walking is the slowest (or no) option.






An evening drink from our balcony. Again we enjoyed great Greek food and, by chance, the company of the couple we met on Naxos. And ended our stay with another lovely sunset.