Santorini

We arrived at santorini at 8am and anchored in what was the caldera of an ancient Volcano. The ilsand was formed buy a volcanic eruption and is home to some 10000 residents. On average, 3 cruise ships visist the island EVERY DAY and as many as 12 at one time. Today we shared the local tenders iwth 4 other ships. We had a lazy morning with room service, and awoke to a drizzly rain and overcast cloudy day. Not what it showed in the brochure. In the afternoon, we took a tour to Santo winery and sawy the grape vineyards growing on hte ground, as the locals form the vines into 'baskets' at ground level to protect the crop from the winter storms. All of the towns ring the caldera some 600 meters above sea level. Our tour bus snaked up the cliffs, zig-zagging the road and on through Fira to Oia. OIa is a traditional 'postcard Greek town with whitewashed walls and Blue roofs on the several cathedrals. The cave homes, once inhabited by the poor now are home to luxury hotels and guest houses. THe island is quite arid and only averages 15 inches of rainfall annually so most drinkable water is imported in bottles and all homes have cisterns to collect rainwater, as well as solar collectors for heatinghte water.

From Oia, we drove to Fira to end the tour. We walked through the town's cobblestone walkway to queue up for 45minutes for teh tram to take us back down to sea level and the tenders back to the boat.

Teh cliffs of Santorini are streaked with layers of Pumice (which used to be mined), Copper, Iron and Basalt (which creates most of the black beaches onthe island).

Tomorrow, we are off to Pireaus for Athens, but a general strike will severely limit our touring....