The Blue Star ferry “Naxos: arrived in Naxos harbor at 12:50 p.m. and left promptly at 13:00 p.m. They don’t fool around.  We arrived in Santorini about 2.5 hours later.

    Santorini, officially known as Thira (Θήρα) is undoubtedly the most spectacular of all the Greek islands. There is this huge submerged crater, some 84 sq km large, the remains of the tremendous volcanic eruption at around 1450 BC. The result is a caldera with geologically marvelous and dramatically high cliffs. As the ferry approaches the island one can see, 250 meters up, on the lip of the caldera, the whitewashed houses of Fira, the capital.  From the port, on a very small piece of land, at the level of the watr, the road zigzags at least 10 times before it reaches the plateau where the city is built.

In the picture the small port is in the lower middle of the picture. There is a cruise ship anchored in the water.

left: Fira on the lip of the caldera. A cruise ship is moored at the small port.

    The hotel bus took us to Hotel Maistros in Karterados, which is located about 2 miles from Fira. To compensate for the distance from the city center we were assigned a huge room, a two-room suite with loft and kitchen, big enough for 5 persons in high season. Since it was outside of town, the place was spacious and it even had a nice swimming pool. But to get to town you need to hike for 20 minutes. A taxi, if you can find one, will do the distance for €3-4. The weather was very nice, but the sun was blazing hot; they say that in the summer, temperatures at the port can reach 45°C or 113°F. That place does get hot..

    We had dinner in Taverna Skaramagos in Karterados, just two blocks from the hotel. The house special for two was a large Greek salad, 6 deep-fried sardines, each about 6” long, French fries, and half a liter of wine for €12.

right: We ate a lot of deep-fried sardines in Santorini.

    After dinner Christine managed to get the owner of hotel to drive us to Fira, where we found a bar with a wonderful view of the caldera. But it was dark already and nothing much was visible. But there was a small alcove with a TV where we watched the finals of the Eurovision Song Festival. We liked Ireland, but the winners were Finland, where the singers were dressed as monsters and trolls. We found a taxi to take us back. Christine negotiated the fare. We were in bed by 1 a.m.

    The next day, for €40/person, we had purchased an all-day tour of the highlights of Santorini. The first stop was the archeological museum in Fira, which has extensive information on Akrotiri, the town south of Fira which was engulfed by pumice and ashes during the great volcanic eruption of 1640 BC. Excavations of Akrotiri showed it to be a modern town inhabited by rich merchants in multistoried buildings and with an extensive sewer system to remove waste. Recovered artifacts showed them to be highly skilled artisans; there were a huge number of beautiful Minoan pottery from 1400-1700 BC and I saw a 22” diameter decorated marble plate dating to 2200 BC.

But the most well-known works of art are the well-preserved frescoes, the originals of which are now in the Archeological Museum in Athens.

left:    Fresco of boxing youths from Akrotiri from about 1700 BC.

    From the museum we were driven to the old     harbor to board the “Galileo” a small wooden ship designed for the tourist trade, and sailed to the volcano in the middle of the caldera. It is a small island, some 3 miles in diameter, called Nea Kameni. In the blazing sun I walked to the top of this dormant volcano, which was still emitting sulfurous gases and/or hot steam through vents on the surface. The oldest rocks on this island are just 450 years old and the youngest only about 50 years. She was surely a very young baby volcano.

    Galileo then sailed to the other side of the island, close to another island named Palea Kameni, where there were hot springs in the water. But because of the shallow bottom, prospective swimmers had to negotiate some 40 meters of pretty cold water before getting to the springs. Norma jumped in the water and the first thing she chattered out to us was: “It’s cold”.

right: The small dormant volcano Nea Kameni in the middle of the caldera.

    Lunch was on the island of Thirassia, which is still a pretty big island about 2 miles wide and 4 miles long. In the dock area were a couple of restaurants and not too many wanted to brave the sun and trudge up the several hundred feet high cliffs to get to the town of Hora above. We had a fleeting urge to walk up to view the town, but decided very fast, that it was too much trouble.

    From there we sailed to Oia, a town on the northern part of the main island to watch the sun set, together with a couple of hundred of other tourists. But Oia is also on the lip of the caldera, high up above the waters. So to get to Oia we had to climb up many steps from the harbor to get to the town, some 200 meters above. The other choice would be on a donkey for €4 per person. I walked; Norma took a donkey.  It was quite a stiff climb, also for the donkeys, and you still had to climb the last steep 50’ or so section before you are able to set foot in Oia, one of the prettiest towns I have seen. White-washed block houses, colored in soft pastel tones, small churches with blue domes, cafes with inviting terraces with wonderful views, all on a steep hill with far below the dark-blue waters of the Aegean Sea. There are narrow cobblestone streets, flanked by chic boutiques, artist outlets, cafes, restaurants, vacation homes, and the usual surfeit of tourist shops.

  It reminded me of St Paul de Vence in France. And almost from everywhere you can see the sea below. The weather was balmy and the skies were clear.

There are cafes perched right on the side of a precipice, where they will charge you €5-10 for a simple drink to go with the view.

left: Christine on a path down in Oia.

    The main idea in Oia was to watch the sunset; Norma from the top of a rooftop restaurant (€6 for an Ouzo) and I for free from the ruins of an old castle on a promontory.

Her view was better although, as sunsets go, we have seen better.

right: More of Oia.

    We went back to Fira by bus over the rim road and even though it was dusk, we could still see the sea. In Fira we went to Restaurant Selene for dinner. The place was very highly recommended by Frommers and we were not disappointed. They served superb haute cuisine food at reasonably prices for the area. We shared two appetizers, one main dish and one dessert. With the wine, coffee, and tip our bill was €95. But the amazing thing was that when we entered the restaurant, there were the Ericksons again. We have been bumping into this very nice couple all the time we were in Greece, starting in Ancient Olympia. We must have been using the same tour books.

    The next day we were planning to rent a car and drive to ancient Thera, but we were told the archeological site, as most other archeological sites in Greece, was closed on Mondays. So we walked to Fira to take some more pictures. We took the teleferique down to the port and then up again, because there was almost nothing in the port area. In the harbor were three cruise ships at anchor, the Crystal Harmony, the Windstar, and an older cruise ship called the Golden Prince.  By noon we took the bus back to Carterados. Lunch was at Skaramagos again and we were joined by Ingrid who had walked back because she could not get a taxi. Pretty soon more people from our group came by and joined us for lunch. The proprietor remembered us and welcomed us heartily.

left:  Another view of Oia. 

      In the afternoon the proprietor of our hotel drove us to the old port, where we caught the super ferry to Crete. And as we drove by Skaramagos, the proprietor saw us and waved heartily goodbye to us.

    The catamaran flew over the waters and in 2 hours and 20 minutes we landed in Iraklio in Crete. The ferry was full; we had reserved seats on this ferry; but in Greece nobody bothered.