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Published: June 20th 2007
Me and The Caldera
To the left are the cliffs of Fira, Santorini´s main town; to the right is the Volcano.Santorini started off great. On the ridiculously long ferry ride over (7.5 hours), some Torontonians I met at Pagration Hostel in Athens got on the ferry from Paros to Ios! They were awesome, and we had great conversation the whole way, plus they shared their wine... which is a great way to make friends! Haha. I was sad when they had to get off the ferry one and a half hours before me, but it just gave me some time to relax and watch the moon set behind the ferry.
On Santorini, I managed to book myself a palace! It was called Pension George and I had my own room with my own bathroom, terrace, fridge, and television! Plus, the pension had a pool! Lovely. My first day there I took my time getting ready and having breakfast and enjoying having a private space just for me (hostelling can get really exhausting that way, but it was many other perks!). Then, I headed to a beach named Kamari... mostly because it was easy to get to by bus. Actually, that was the one thing that disappointed me a bit about the Greek beaches: I had planned to go only to
nude beaches, but they are all impossible to get to by public transit and I was never on one island long enough to justify spending money renting a four-wheeler or a moped. So I just went to regular beaches, which allow topless sunbathing. Anyways, Kamari was just gorgeous! It had big cliffs on one side of the beach, with lots of greenery, and perfect turquoise waters and black sand. The beaches called Paradise on Mykonos had nothing on this beach, and it wasn't even one of the most magnificent (or so I heard)! When my body had had enough of the sun, I headed into the main town of Thira (or Fira or Thera... seriously, just pick one spelling and stick with it!). I wanted to watch the sun set over the
caldera, which is the one name for the sheer cliffs creating a bay around the active volcano on an island in the middle of the bay (check out the Wiki link for more info and a cool picture of Santorini from the air!). There were so many restaurants with caldera views, and all of them want to get you to sit at their terrace... I eventually chose one
Sunset on the Ferry
Could it beat the sunset over the Caldera in Santorini that I´d heard so much about? partway down the mountain and had a salad and some Santorini-produced white wine while the sun set. It was so romantic that I was sad to be alone.
The next day I couldn't go to the beach because of my sunburn (mild, but still there) all down my front, so instead I opted for a boat cruise to the volcano and a hike up to the top. That morning I had bought a lovely fire-opal ring for my right middle finger (finally, a ring!) and as I was relaxing on the boat I noticed that the colours of the opal were the same as the Aegean Sea.... sigh. I knew I had picked the right ring, although it was really expensive, espescially because the labradorite on my left middle finger is the colour of the Pacific Ocean! The hike around the volcano was incredibly hot, but so impressive. It is still an active volcano, and its explosion 3500 years ago and the subsequent disappearance of the civilization on Santorini inspired the myth of Atlantis. It was just amazing to see an active volcano, and our tour guide even dug a hole to let us feel the heat which the
Kamari Beach
Please note black volcanic rocks! They were scorching because they absorbed all the heat! volcano produced by vapourizing seawater. The volcano didn't have any boiling magma at the surface, but our guide said that made it more dangerous when it erupted because the pressure was ridiculous and rocks would fly everywhere... obviously I didn't get all the scientific information but you get the picture. The views of the main island from the volcano were also stunning. By the time I got back to the pension I was exhausted and overheated, so I hung around the pool for a few hours before leaving for my ferry to Crete.
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Candy
non-member comment
Bonnie!
Hello my dear lady, Sorry for the late reply to your email...just wanted to say "hey" and that I missed you. Very happy to hear that you are having the time of your life at Germany and will be extending your stay. I promise to keep myself updated with your blog and will pop in from time to time. Candy