Blogs from Santorini, South Aegean, Greece, Europe - page 5

Santorini We arrive to an overcast day and the water is a dirty gray, not the sapphire I remember. I have signed up for the same tour that Joe and I took when we visited years ago mainly because it goes to Oi (pronounced E-ah). The tender drops us off in the port of Athinios where the water is so deep that the ships cannot drop anchor. Our first stop is the highest point on the island and home to an ancient, but still active, monastery and a government installation. Neither is open to tourists. Instead we have a breathtaking view of the islands of Santorini as the nightly cloud dissipates and reveals the remains of the volcano that changed history. Back in 1600bc the volcano was at the center of a thriving island. It both ... read more

Stunning, really is one of the unique places in the world.... read more

Sadly we had not been able to visit Mykonos yesterday as the sea was too rough to go in by tender. Instead we were able to enjoy a day at sea to relax before sailing overnight before to our next port Santorini, a beautiful island about 200km southeast of Greece's mainland. Santorini is what remains after an enormous volcanic eruption in 1500 that destroyed a formerly single island, and created the current geological caldera. A giant central, rectangular lagoon, which measures about 12 by 7km, is surrounded by 300m high, steep cliffs on three sides. The depth of the caldera, at 400m, makes it impossible for any but the largest ships to anchor anywhere in the protected bay. From the tender port we were able to catch a cable car to the capital, Fira which clings ... read more

Another perfect day, another Greek island. Today it's Santorini! I suspect many readers have been to Santorini or at least know something about the island. It is truly unique in the world, and that uniqueness stems from its geological history. Very briefly, in 1450 B.C. Santorini was a typical Greek island with a bronze-age civilization dominated by fishermen—except that the island had been gradually formed over millennia by a volcano. In that year, the volcano blew up. It was the largest explosion in recorded history, bigger than any nuclear blast so far. Everyone and everything within a few hundred miles was vaporized. The island itself was shattered into a broken semi-circular ring of islands outlining the original circumference of the island, with a huge caldera in the middle, that was filled by the sea. An enormous ... read more

Aŕrived into the caldera of Santorini this morning and were taken ashore by local tender. We're decide to buy a ticket which combined a speedboat ride, bus to Ia, bus to Fira and cable car ride back. Great value at €20 each. We walked around , melting in the heat looking at the beautiful blue and white buildings that Santorini is famous for. Spectacular views. Had a nice cold beer and used the Wi-Fi and then boarded the bus to Fira and caught the cable car down. We passed on the donkey ride that is available t o either take you up or down from the port. Back to the boat for lunch and a snooze. We both agreed that we would love to return one day as Santorini had a great feel to it.... read more