Greek Cruise Day 3: Santorini

Today is the last day of our cruise before we go back to Athens and head back to Italy.

Today we took a bus tour of Santorini. We got to the new port by tender boat and then boarded our bus. There were 10 hairpin turns to get from the port to the top of the road. First we went to the village of Oia (pronounced ee-a). Along the way the guide explained that the island of Santorini was made from several volcanic explosions from a still active but dormant volcano. The cliff faces facing the volcano are made of lots of different rock, e.g. pumice, basalt and iron. On the opposite side of the island it is very agricultural because the soil from the volcano can absorb water from the humidity in the air (called dry farming).




In Oia we walked to a square which has a Greek Orthodox church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This is the only public church on the island. The other 450 churches with their well known blue roofs are all privately owned. This is where our guide pointed out that the churches would only be open once a year on the day of the saint for whom the church was dedicated to. There would be a big party and 1/3 of the island would visit.



Our guide gave us two hours to walk around the village, which after walking for 1/2 hours lost its shine. Dad forked out and bought Mum a beautiful necklace. After awhile we went back to the bus. Below are the picture post card 'cave' houses of Santorini. They are built by tunneling into the cliff face. Brad Pitt and Angela Jolie's place was a rather swank affair in the pricey Caldera (volcano facing) side of the island.






The last stop of the day was the capital of the island Thira. We ended the tour at the church and walked to the cable cars to take us to the port for the tenders back to the ship. There was the option to walk down or take a donkey. We took the cable cars because we didn't want to walk and the donkeys have learnt that at the bottom of the hill they get fed so the go really fast down and don't care if they scrap your legs against the wall a few times. In the first photo you can see the options for getting from Thira to the old port. The cable car on the left or the windy donkey path of 500 plus steps.






For the rest of the afternoon we spent it in the luxuries of the ship enjoying every last bit of it before going back to the tent. We spent it by the pool relaxing and drinking, watching English T.V and just chilling.


Jake

Location:Aegean Sea