We have to get up really early tomorrow, so today we slept in to help balance it out. We woke up for a super late breakfast/early lunch, and they were making paella poolside again. It was not quite as delicious as the last one (it had an entirely different seasoning this time, which I think is probably good for the sake of variety, but I missed the other one).
We didn't arrive at this port until 12, and this was the view as Dane and I headed to the meeting place for our excursion.
So a little about Santorini. It is a small crescent-shaped island that is part of the boundary of the largest sea caldera in the world. Basically what this means is that 3000 years ago, it was actually a circular island until a volcano blew most of it into smaller pieces that sank into the ocean. The crater that was left is mostly underwater, but on some of the edges, it is high enough that it forms islands. It is called a caldera (or "cauldron") and when you are in the middle of it (as we were on our ship) you can see how the islands form a spotty ring.
The excursion we chose was a volcanic hike and then a visit to thermal hit springs for a swim. We were so excited, and even more so when we realized that to get there, we had to take a smaller boat straight to the volcano rather than tendering to shore and getting on a bus.
The views continued to be amazing.
There were other boats like our with other tours, but it really wasn't crowded. The volcanic island we hiked on is called something that is the Greek word for "new burn" because its last eruption was only 60 years ago (yikes!). Remember when we climbed that hill in Scotland? and how we posted a million pictures of our climb that all looked the same? We have a similar series from this climb. Again, I will comment when necessary.
See the white strip across the top of the cliff? Those are buildings. See the striation on the cliffs beneath at? They are layers of sediment from volcanic eruptions.
It's hard to see how steep this part is, but it's steep and relatively narrow, made of gravel, and drops into craters on either side. This is why I am in all the pictures. With my record, neither Dane nor I were overly comfortable with me carrying the iPad.
This is one of the inactive craters. I believe it was the site of the 1950-something eruption. It was a little strange to me that the active crater was not the most recently erupted one.
It didn't seem like a great idea to put your hand in something called a steam vent, but it wasn't too bad. Definitely hot, though. And kind of unsettling.
Here's the active one.
We never found out what these little stacks of rocks meant. But there were several of them.
Almost to the top!
And another view.
Behind Dane and to the left, do you see the little patch near the water on the island? It's just a few flecks of white. That's where we went next to swim in the hot springs.
And I think this completes our panoramic view from the top of the volcano.
This was our guide. She's been doing this for 17 years and was great.
Dane is learning so much about the history of Santorini.
Time to head back down. There was a nice breeze on the top, but it was still quite hot today. We were looking forward to the swim
When we first got started, there were people walking down in just their swimsuits, and I thought it was weird for hiking. By this time. I was starting to understand. Black rocks get really hot and then radiate the heat.
Back to the scary gravel ledge.
Here it is from further down.
Back on the boat we were trading out our hiking shoes for sandals.
Ahh, that's better!
We had to sit around and wait for the last guide to get back down the volcano, and she was late.
Still waiting.
And waiting.
And waiting.
At last she showed up and we found out she'd had to wait for an older couple who were having a hard time walking in the heat. Now, when you get the tickets for these excursions, it gives a warning of what you have to physically be able to do. They had no business being on this hike.
Finally, on our way to swim!
This is the water we get to swim in,
The hot springs are behind that white chapel. To get there. we had to jump off the boat and swim back there. Because of that, I have just these pictures of Dane from this part. I will say, this felt heavenly. The water was cold enough to be refreshing and warm enough to not take your breath away.
Dane stood up on the railing of the boat, and I said, "Wait! Look at me!" some could take a picture. Here's what I got.
Dane's smile was so big. This was the best moment of the cruise for him so far.
The swim was amazing. The water was soft and the perfect temperature. When we swam into the bay, there were weird warm currents (like you checked to see if someone could have peed next to you) but it was pretty clear that they were too hot and numerous for that. People were slathering mud from the bottom on their arms and faces. You could see sulfur in the water from the vents, and there were wild goats up on the cliffs above (one reason I was hesitant to smear the mud- I assume the goats have contributed). There's an old man who lives on the island (this was "old burn" and has been inactive for about 500 years) because there was a law in Greece that if you lived somewhere for 5 years and no other claim was made, the property became yours. It wasn't really designed for places that were not thought of as habitable, and that law no longer exists, but he has made an arrangement with the government of Santorini that he can stay until he dies, and then the island will go back to being the possession of the local government.
Goodbye, wonderful swimming spot!
Ok, this is where the bliss ended for an hour or so. I really wanted to go into the town at the top of the cliffs of Santorini. There are three ways to do this. One, there is a cable car that you ride up like a ski lift. We already had tickets for this, but the lines are long. There is also a footpath with 600 steps up to the top. We were told that you can walk this, or you can hire a donkey and ride it up.
Ok, I know it is hard to see, but click on this picture to make it bigger. There are two things I want you to see. In the middle of the picture, there is a boat with 2 masts. Behind the masts, there is a zigzag path cut into the side of the mountain. That is where people walk and ride donkeys. To the left a little, there is a steep sort of chute-looking thing: that is the cable car. I believe that the top is about 890 feet above the port.
We got in line for the cable car and quickly realized that it was going to take over an hour to get through the line and to the top. Dane wanted to just go back to the ship (because he thought we would miss dinner and he didn't want to wait in the sun) but I REALLY wanted to go to the town at the top. There was a tense moment between us, and I said that our alternative was to walk. Dane didn't love that, but he didn't want to wait in line and he didn't want me to go to the top by myself. So, we made the decision to walk. There were a couple of signs that we should have considered before making this decision. First of all, the police officer who gave us directions to the footpath looked at us like we were crazy and tried to dissuade us. The line for the cable car was longer than the line for the donkeys, but the donkey line was still long. We had no water with us but we did have a backpack with 2 towels and our hiking shoes (because we were still wearing sandals, which was also a poor choice). But, away we went anyway. When we got to the base of the path, it reeked of animal waste. We had to weave our way through dozens of animals (donkeys, horses, and mules) who had little regard for us (and their handlers had about the same concern as the animals for people walking instead of using their services). What followed was a torturous (i do not use this word lightly) climb up slippery cobbled "steps" (each one actually required a full pace or two) while trying not to breathe through the nose, trying not to be behind any animals, and learning that when the animals cross paths it becomes a chaotic stampede under which you can get crushed (actually, that happened any time animals were passing, one way or not). Multiple times Dane and I had to jump up onto the ledge of the path (sometimes on the 600 foot drop side). It was 95 degrees. The smell made me almost puke at least 3 times (dad and Megan: the pungent puddles were perfume compared to this). I was sure one or both of us was going to get kicked or run over, and Dane did not speak one word to me the whole way up. :). When we finally got to the top, we were drenched with sweat (I will show you a picture and I apologize for how gross it is) and in desperate need for water. We only had about 45 minutes to be in the town before we'd have to head back down, hopefully by cable car. Here are some of the pictures from the top that we got. Dane and I are divided about whether the trek was worth it, I think he'll come around eventually, but we might need to let some vacation amnesia sink in. At least we have a good story. However, we have no pictures of the actual climb because we could not bear to stop to take out the iPad. We had to keep moving or we were sure we would die.
Ok, my shirt was damp from my bathing suit before we started, but most of that is sweat. Blech. But the view was so gorgeous, and the way this town is nestled into the hillside is amazing.
This is what the streets looked like.
This was the very end of the uphill climb. The steps are numbered.
Yay for water! I think we pounded that thing in less than 5 minutes.
Can you see the pool? We were SO jealous.
This was a cafe that was just a balcony on the cliff. I don't know where the food or coffee comes from.
Back behind the main drag of shops you found roads to the rest of the island. Way in the distance you can see vineyards.
These veins of cobbled stones ran through many of the little streets. This one actually is one of the more boring patterns, but the street was less crowded.
Ach! This woman got in the way. I was trying to show you how the steps were labelled.
The wait for the cable car going down was about 35 mites, but it went by very quickly because we struck up a conversation with a family behind us. They were from Manchester, and the husband and wife commended us for our choice of vacationing instead of having kids. :) It was interesting how much their accent had traces of what sounded like Scottish influence (they were from Manchester, which I think is up in Northern England).
When we stepped into the cable car, Dane realized that his hatred and fear of ferris wheels was probably relevant here. The ride was very quick (no more than 4 minutes) and Dane only freaked out once. Here's a shot of the pathway we'd spent 30 minutes walking up earlier.
This was the view out the other side.
So, i had mentioned that Dane really, really wanted to make it back for our dinner seating. When we got in line for the cable car, we really only had a 30 minute window where we'd be likely to actually make it on time. Ny the time we made it down the slope, it was after 6. We got on the tender boat at 6:10. We finally made it back onto the boat and through security at 6:26. and we made it to dinner, having showered with soap and shampoo and everything, by 6:39. I was quite impressed with us.
Dinner was great- but now our table has moved past all the awkwardness that can go along with sitting with complete strangers, and we have a great time talking and laughing. After dinner, we needed a rest. We took a quick picture of the sunset (kind of)
saw this cute couple dancing in the main centrum
Soaked our feet in the pool (and Dane was excited to use his pumice stone from the volcanic island), and headed in for the night. And when we got hit with the late night snack itch, we ordered room service. This cheese plate is my favorite. It's delicious and light and I will miss it so much when we are no longer cruising.
And Dane got a turkey sandwich because he's been so poultry deprived.
He even started talking to me again. I think he's getting over the nightmare of the donkey hill.
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