Santorini

We arrived by boat as all good Cretans should.  The massive ferry was much nicer than the ones I remember from island hopping 20+ years ago.   While only in second class, the extended Firepine family had scored front row seats in the boat to see our approach to the caldera of Santorini.

The houses of Santorini

In planning this trip, I had told the group - while I don't really care about re-visiting this island, we are somewhat required to go to Santorini if we are going to Greece.  Returning home without pictures of the blue and white cliffside houses would leave us feeling hollow and unworthy of social media. ;-)  It was also close to Crete and would provide a different flavor to the  trip.

It is a beautiful but incredibly touristy island.  The cruise ships and ferries are non-stop into the port and the sunset we witnessed from Oia was a site to bedhold both in terms of wondrous nature and the hordes of humanity clamoring on rocks for pink-tinted selfies.

THE CLASSIC Greek Picture

For me the highlight was probably the hike from Oia to Fira.  A 10k journey across the spine of the island full of sweeping vistas and rental properties of the rich and famous.  The ladies went shopping at the end.  Dan and Tyler rented an ATV to make their way home.  I managed to get the local bus to drop me at the beach in front of our remote house and went straight into the ocean before retiring to our patio for a well earned Mythos.

Tyler and Fiona with the ATV

I'm also happy the family made use of the few spare hours we had on our departure day to visit the ancient ruins of Akritori - the lost city of Atlantis.  It was the height of Minoan culture when the volcano at Thera blew in 1500 BC  - vaporizing many towns but burying Akritori to be discover 3.5 millenia later.

We then said our sad goodbyes. It was a great week traveling together.  The Firepines are off to visit family in England and we fly to Athens to continue our Greek Odyssey.