Santorini Greece

We were eager to leave Iraclion. We were in accomodations strangly remeniscent of Central America. The ferry was supposed to leave at about 430 am so we got up at 3. We the ferry left at about 6 am we were glad to be off but wishing we had gotten a little more sleep.

The ferry dropped us off on Thira in the volcanic island group of Santorini. The main attraction here is the gigantic valcanic caldera. It is submerged in the ocean and the ferry actualy sails through the middle of it to get to port. As it turns out the island is almost totally empty this time of year, which means we found a great room at a great price!

Octopus in the grocery store.

Fira is a very pretty white washed town perched on the edge of the caldera.

The ferry sailing into the Caldera to get to the port.

Our second day on Thira was very stormy. The ferries weren´t even running.

A big low pressure zone moved through so the ferries didn't run for two or three days. We got out a bit on the second day but mostly hid at an internet cafe. The third day was better and we climbed to the high point on the island in strong winds, blowing rain and fog.

We hiked to the pretty beach town of Perissa which happened to have a large number of bolted rock climbs next to it.

We found that there were a large number of well bolted routes on the far side of the island.

These burros, with the funky pack saddles, were hauling bags of concrete down steep narrow stairs to new hotel construction.

Our ferry was scheduled to leave a little after noon . . . we accepted the offer of a ride to the ferry a half hour before departure from our hosts, and spent the morning wandering around town admiring the views.

A last look at Sanatorini.