Santorini (Thíra), Greece – Friday, December 24

Gleaming villages perched on black rock make Santorini one of the most visually arresting islands in the Aegean. Its whitewashed capital of Thira perches on a cliff 1,300 feet above the sea; enjoy spectacular views of this magnificent city on a hill from our anchorage in turquoise waters. Dating to the early Bronze Age, Thira’s winding streets are a delight to explore and its charming cafes invite lingering respites in the Cyclades sun. Not to be upstaged, the island and its surrounding islets also offer opportunities to experience fully the natural volcanic splendor, from thermal spring soaks to caldera hikes. And despite the harsh volcanic soil, Santorini’s viticulture is rich and thriving and boasts a 5,000-year history.

When we awoke this morning the ship had already entered the caldera of Santorini, close to where she would drop anchor. Santorini dates to the Bronze Age. Around 1600 BC, the volcano at the center of the island violently erupted, leaving a volcanic ring of five named islands with water filling in the center.  We had a beautiful day with a near cloudless sky, making the sea a brilliant blue. The temperature when we left was around 47 degrees, climbing to around 55 degrees. The only available excursion was the included one, Summits and Countryside. Our tour left the Star theater to board the tender for shore about 9 am. On the caldera side, the islands rise almost vertically from the sea. Once on shore, we boarded a bus making our way to the top through a series of switchbacks. It was a harrowing experience for Joyce. The views were awesome, but Joyce decided to view them for Alan’s camera later. We drove to the highest point of the island, a little over 1300 feet above sea level,  near a monastery, currently housing 2 monks that have taken a vow of silence and isolation. We briefly stopped outside the monastery for pictures. There was a dramatic difference between the steep caldera side and the more slopping, terraced sea side of the island. From above we could see the airport and vineyards. As we made our way to Oia, pronounced “ee-uh”, we learned about the island. There is no source of fresh water. There is also little rain, so every house has a system to capture and store rainwater. Recently, a desalination plant was built to supply water needed for all uses other than drinking/cooking. The island’s economy relies on tourism and exporting wine. For the wine, the grape vines get most of their water needs from dew. The vines are wound into circular nests low to the ground to conserve water and after leaves grow, protect the grapes from the blazing summer sun. Little else is grown on the island, with the exception of a type of cherry tomato. Virtually everything needed is imported, mostly from Crete, the closest island, or Athens.

Oia is a picturesque town with narrow, streets meandering up and down via shallow steps. Most buildings are a white stucco with a bright blue dome. In the summer, it’s 20,000 permanent residents welcome several hundred thousand visitors weekly, mostly from cruise ships. Today ours was the only ship, so our 330 passengers were treated to great views, a few open shops, it is Christmas Eve!, and the luxury of not fighting crowds of people.

After Oia, our bus drove us to Thira, the capital city. Our guide gave us cable car tickets we would use to descend to the port to tender back to the ship and turned us loose to explore on our own. Very near was a Greek Orthodox church that was open and allowed visitors. Two priests were just leaving as we entered. From there we wandered in the general direction of the cable cars, stopping at several shops to browse. As we entered one shop, the proprietor stopped us, telling Alan that his wife would like jewelry for Christmas. We laughed, but at her encouragement, followed her into the jewelry shop. She showed us several rings and earrings with the meander, a classic Greek design. We learned her father was the goldsmith and had created the pieces. While Joyce really liked a couple of the rings, earrings seemed a more practical purchase. After a little bargaining, we left the store to discuss a possible purchase. We wondered across the street to a souvenir shop and began looking at Christmas ornaments. The proprietor followed us – she owned this shop as well! Alan saw an opportunity for more bargaining and we settled on a pair of earrings with white gold on one side and yellow gold on the other, with a Christmas ornament thrown in to sweeten the deal. 

After our purchase, we continued to make our way to the cable cars. The choices available for getting down the steep hill to the port was cable car or traversing the 588 steps down on foot or on the back of a donkey. We chose the cable car and were down in about 3 minutes.

We made it back to the ship in time for lunch. After lunch we napped and watched a couple episodes of the National Geographic series, Draining the Oceans, pertaining to the search for the ancient city of Atlantis. The ship left Santorini around 5 pm.

We had lunch with Doris, relaxed some, blogged and picture-processed, listened to some Christmas music in the Atrium, and had a lovely dinner in the Restaurant. We met a couple from Denver, and the husband knew a friend of ours from Purdue. We capped of the day with a show in the Star Theater that showcased music from the 60’s.