Santorini

We docked at Santorini Island about 8 a.m. Everyone seemed to be feeling either sick or sleepless from the night before, but rallied to go ashore. It was a beautiful, windless, clear, sunny day.

It's a steep trip up the cliff
(that little boat down there is our ship)!

There are two ways to get from the port to the city of Thera: ride a donkey or take the funicular. The donkeys were not yet awake, so the cable car got the nod. It’s several hundred feet to the top, and the cliffs are sheer.

Jet-setters at Santorini

Once topside we walked the narrow, winding streets, finding many shops either closed for Easter Monday or not yet open. As our little ship was the only one that could get into port today, we had the place to ourselves. The views are spectacular.

Archaeology Museum

Our walking tour went to the small archaeology museum, where we learned about the geologic history of the island. As the tip of an undersea volcanic caldera, Santorini in ancient times was a round island with a fairly large and prosperous population of merchant traders. It was an important commercial center, in regular contact with Egypt, the Etruscans, and the Minoan culture of pre-historic Greece. Many of the museum artifacts were amazingly high quality, both technically and artistically, for being nearly 4000 years old.

A volcanic eruption in about 1650 BCE sank two-thirds of the island and left the rest covered in ash. Only centuries later was the remaining crescent-shaped lip of the caldera resettled. This was the “Pompeii of the Aegean” and the likely source of the Atlantis legend.

Eia

We went by bus to the town of Eia on the north edge of the island. This is where the beautiful people come (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have purchased property and announced plans to build a villa here). The shops were high-end (as were prices), but the town is gorgeous, with its famous white-washed walls and sky-blue domes.

A restful afternoon

We returned to Thera and whiled away the remainder of our time sharing a beer in taverna with a great view overlooking the town and the sea. Then we rode the cable car back down to the boat for our afternoon departure. The sea was very calm and the passage was smooth.

6th century church on Paros

At dinner, the captain announced our surprise destination, which was to make up a bit for having had to miss Amorgos Island earlier. We docked at Paros, known as the “Marble Island” because some of the finest marble for Greek and Roman statuary was (and is) quarried here. Although it was after dark when we disembarked, the town was still alive with most businesses open.

Even the city walls are white marble,
much of it recycled from previous structures.

On a walking tour we saw the exterior of the church of St. Mary, built by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century, at the same time as Hagia Sophia and the Basilica of St. John we saw near Ephesus, except that this remains a working church. Everything, including the cloister walkway paving, was beautiful marble. We also saw a remnant of the old city wall, also all in white marble!