Santorini
Trip Start
Jun 28, 2008
1
17
27
Trip End
Aug 29, 2008
Santorini,
Cyclades,
Greece
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Yet another ferry ride. This time it was a bit longer and on a regular ferry. The ride was about 3 hours and I really was not feeling well. Thank goodness for gravol! Santorini is by far the most beautiful island. It is all built on a volcano. The last eruption was in the 60's. All of the towns are built at the top of the cliffs and overlook the ocean. The drive up the side of the hill was a little scary; we were in a big bus and didn't really fit on the road most definitely not to pass anyone and the barrier over the cliff was about 1 foot high. We all chose not to look down, probably wise! The streets at the top were narrow and winding. Lots of hills and steps up and down to get to all of the shops. Our hostel was the nicest so far and the man who runs it is very proud to be a part of busabout and we even had a security guard. We walked into town and had some authentic greek food in a restaurant on the side of the rocks with a fantastic view of the volcano and other islands that resulted from the eruption. We watched yet another sunset but it was equally beautiful and I am most definitely coming back to Santorini.
August 1, 2008:
Today a few of us took a boat tour to the volcano. The water was still pretty rough but nothing like in Paros and we were still in the bay. We hiked up to the top of the volcano and saw amazing views of Santorini, almost looks like snow on top of mountains with all of the white houses lining the tops of the cliffs. The water is unbelievably blue. The hike up irritated my knee a bit which wasn't great considering the hike down and all of the hills in town to get anywhere. I survived though, thanks to Barb's stretches! After the volcano we went swimming in the sulfer "hot springs". They were maybe 20 degrees but the water was copper coloured and your could reach down and get the mud from the bottom and rub it on your arms... aparently good for your skin. The best part was that we couldn't get the boat close enough to the shore so we just dove off the edge and swam into the pools. Everyone's bathing suits were orange by the end of it. Can't believe how fast this is going...
