May 26, 2012: At Sea
	May 24, 2012: Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus)
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From the Ship's Log:   Friday, May 25, 2012 Santorini, Greece 7:26am      Safely at Anchor 5:44pm      Vessel Underway

Today, we are back to Greece again- this time the charming group of islands known as Santorini. Actually, we will visit just one of the islands- Thira. We have booked a shore excursion today that will first involve a tender ride to a small ferry landing on the southwestern coast of the island of Thira. Then, the bus will climb a narrow, very steep road up the cliff face and take us to the mountaintop monastery at Profiti Ilia, the northern cliff-top coastal town of Oia and the main city of Thira (the name of the city and the island are interchangeable). The day will end with a spectacular cable car ride down the steep cliff at Thira to a different dock where the tender will pick us up.

Although we will begin our tour at one dock and return to the ship via another, the Noordam will, apparently, stay in the same place where we anchor in the morning.

Arriving at Santorini

We left Kusadasi about six in the evening heading for our next port of call- the island group of Santorini. As you can see from the map below, Santorini was only about 125 miles from Kusadasi; the ship's log showed 137 miles, but I assume that was the distance the ship traveled- and it didn't travel in a straight line. So I think that if Kusadasi was Dallas, then Santorini is about as far away as Waco.

We sailed through the night, of course, and by sunrise we were in the midst of the craggy islands of Santorini.

Santorini is essentially what remains after an enormous volcanic explosion that destroyed the earliest settlements on a formerly single island, and created the current geological caldera.

A giant central, rectangular lagoon, which measures about 8 by 4 miles, is surrounded on three sides by cliffs that are a thousand feet high. On the fourth side, the lagoon is separated from the sea by another much smaller island called Therasia; the lagoon is connected to the sea in two places, in the northwest and southwest. all but the largest ships can anchor anywhere in the protected bay.

There is a new marina for smaller ships and large boats in Vlychada on the southwestern coast. The Noordam, like most cruise ships, anchored in the caldera just below the main city of Thira.

The large map above shows our approximate route from Kusadasi, but if we look at a more detailed map of Santorini, we can describe the actual route that we took to get to our anchorage- coming in through the northwest passage.

We came in to the caldera from the northwest, passing just beneath the town of Oia, which is situated on the top of the cliffs at the northwestern end of the main island. Keep that picture open for a moment, and look carefully at it. You will see what appears to be a switchback roadway descending from the town down to a cluster of buildings at sea level. That is actually a long stairway/pathway combination that leads from the northern end of the town down to a marina and some restaurants and inns. A little later on today, towards the end of our walking tour through that town, I'll arrive at the top of that stairway, and walk down it to the sea.

Once we'd passed south of Oia and gotten some distance from the shore, Fred looked back and got a nice picture of the clifftop town of Oia. On the way to our anchorage, we passed below the main town of Thira; although we took some pictures this morning, the sun was behind the island and they didn't turn out well. So we'll wait until this afternoon, when we are on the tender returning to the ship, to get some good pictures of that town as seen from the lagoon below.

The Noordam anchored just southwest of Thira and Greg, Fred and I met our shore excursion group in the Vista Lounge at seven-thirty. Just before eight, our tour group was called and we went down to the gangway to board our tender. Our tender boarded right at eight, and we pulled away from the ship just a few minutes later. From the tender heading south we could look back to see the Noordam riding at anchor in the Santorini lagoon.

Below are clickable thumbnails for some additional pictures Fred and I took in the early morning light as we steamed slowly into the lagoon from the northwest:

This was one of our earliest shore excursion departures, and it was interesting to see the Noordam in shadow below the Santorini cliffs.

The inset map at left shows you our destination- Ormos Athinios. This small dock area is the terminus for a number of ferries and other scheduled boats that ply the Greek Isles. It lays at the foot of the cliffs near the town of Pyrgos Kallistis. Getting up the cliff face is itself an exciting proposition; the steep, narrow road has a number of switchbacks; interestingly, you can see that road in the picture I took from the tender here. Just before we reached the pier where our tour buses waited, we passed a beautiful little schooner coming in to the little port.

The Drive to Profiti Ilia

When we left the tender, we passed a little Santorini Welcome Center (although the spelling was a bit off, you have to give them credit for trying) and made a beeline for our bus. As soon as all our excursion comrades had gotten aboard, the bus headed off up the narrow road. Fred spent his time taking pictures of the lagoon as we rode higher and higher, while I concentrated on the roadway. Below are clickable thumbnails for the best of the pictures Fred took as the bus drove up the steep cliff road:

Once we arrived at the top of the cliffs, the bus headed off to Profiti Ilia.

The road from the port came out at the main north-south road along the west side of Santorini. We took it north just a short distance, and then turned east to go through the town of Pyrgos Kallistis and on to the monastery atop Profiti Ilia. The bus was moving quickly and it was hard to get good pictures, but below are thumbnails for some views of the town of Pyrgos Kallistis:

Leaving the town behind, the bus (actually, a caravan of them) headed east and up. There was some interesting scenery as we got higher and higher. Towards the end of the ride, the road narrowed and there were again a few switchback before we reached the end of the highway. It ends at the monastery, in a small parking area where we could get out and walk around. Below are clickable thumbnails for some of the best pictures Fred took as the bus traveled east of Pyrgos Kallistis:

At Profitis Ilia

A View from Profitis Ilia

Profitis Ilias is the name of the mountain which is the highest spot on Santorini; it is about 1700 feet above sea level. The name translates to "Prophet Elijah," and the monastery on the peak has the same name. From this vantage point, visitors can enjoy striking views of the entire island, from the patchwork agricultural plains to the hilltop village of Oia. Fred used his zoom to focus in on some of the island communities; you can see two different ones here and here.

Below are thumbnails for some additional views from the top of Profitis Ilia:

The monastery was built in 1712; its walls remind one of a fortress. It has figured prominently in the history of Santorini. Early on, the monastery owned its own ship; that vessel conducted private business for the benefit of the monastery. At the same time, the monastery was an active intellectual and patriotic influence. From 1806 to 1845 it ran a school where the Greek language and literature were taught. The monastery's decline began in 1860; its buildings suffered serious damage in the 1956 earthquakes. The monastery today has an important collection of icons and bibles, artifacts of the Greek Orthodox religion, ecclesiastical objects, books and ethnographic material. It has also become something of a cultural center, hosting displays on shoemaking, printing, candle making and wine making.

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There isn't much else I can say about this particular spot on our tour, so probably the best thing to do is simply let you look at some of the best of the views we got while we were here. Sadly, we were here so early that there were still a good many morning clouds around, and the views were not as spectacular as they usually are. You'll see what I mean if you use the player at right to watch the movie I made from the top of Profitis Ilia.

We did get some more good views through the intermittent clouds and you might want to use the clickable thumbnails below to have a look at some of them:

The Drive to Oia

We only stayed at Profitis Ilia for about twenty minutes, just enough time to walk around and get some pictures. I think we were supposed to stay there longer, but the weather wasn't cooperating and I think the tour people thought our time would be better spent in Oia and Thira. So we piled back into the buses and headed off to the northwest corner of the island.

Our route, shown on the map at left, took us through the Santorini countryside and also through the eastern part of Thira (where we would return later today). The first leg brought us back down the mountain to the west, and there are clickable thumbnails below for three good pictures that Fred took on the way:

This brought us into the town of Pyrgos Kallistis, and there are clickable thumbnails below for some pictures we got as we passed through:

After passing through that town, we turned north. There is only one north-south road at this point, and it is up on the cliffs above the lagoon to our left. To our right, east-west roads lead down to the agricultural area of the island and the airport. Coming north out of Pyrgos Kallistis, we got an excellent view north towards Thira. Heading north along this road, we passed an interesting, and somehow unexpected, restaurant- I thought I was back in Texas.

We continued north, passing some typical Santorini houses, and there was some neat scenery to our left looking down towards the lagoon (and at one point we passed above the Noordam anchored far below us).

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

There were lots of good pictures from the beginning of our trip, and also through the next section of the trip that took us north through the eastern part of Thira, along tree‑shaded streets and commercial boulevards. This part of Thira, away from the tourist area on the top of the cliffs along the lagoon, was interesting because it was typical of Santorini life. We couldn't always compose good pictures from the bus windows, but we did get some that are in one way or another, worth a look. I have put all these pictures into a slideshow.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

North of Thira (also spelled "Fira"), the road we followed continued on top of the high hills that form the west side of Santorini, so the views to our left were looking down towards the relatively flat land along the eastern side of the island.

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible) Driving North to Oia

As we were driving along, there was some good scenery to our left, and I made a movie as the bus traveled along the clifftop road. You can watch it with the player at right. During the movie, our tour guide was talking about the "colors" of Santorini, and she pointed them out to us. Two of them could be seen in the rocks along the cliffs- white and ochre. The other colors were green and, of course, is blue- which one sees all around in the sky and the lagoon and the cliff shadows. As you can already tell, the predominant color scheme on the island is blue and white- mostly white with blue used for domes, stairs and accents. You really have to look to see ochre and green.

Below are clickable thumbnails for some views of Santorini that I captured:

As our ride came to an end, we could see the town of Oia ahead of us. The bus came right up into the middle of town, and we were treated with a beautiful back towards the Noordam in the lagoon. Shortly, the bus came to a stop in a parking area just a block or so from the cliffs and, after giving us some information on when to be back at the bus, our tour guide put us on our own (since trying to herd a big group through the narrow streets would be nigh onto impossible).

Walking Through Oia

Oia is one of the most picturesque towns in the world, sitting 500 feet above the Santorini caldera lagoon. Its blue-domed white buildings are iconic, and the town has been used as a backdrop in a number of movies and television shows. It is considered the best example of a typical town in the Greek Isles. The village stretches east-west along the top of the Santorini cliffs at the northwest end of Santorini, and it has a small port, Ammoudiou, at the base of the cliffs at the western end of the town. There is also a small, old fortress on the promontory at that end of town.

Oia has a main pedestrian street that runs the length of the town across the top of the cliff; many small streets run north and south from it- much like a multitude of short ribs coming off a backbone. Most of these streets aren't really streets at all; they are little more than walkways between houses and buildings or stairways that lead to houses up or down the cliff face. It is quite a maze, but a very beautiful one.

Oia was devastated by the 1956 earthquake that also destroyed many towns throughout the neighboring islands; the town has only now been substantially rebuilt. Oia is often compared to the other major town on the island- Thira- but it is more dramatic and striking in its beauty than Thira, and much quieter than that tourist-oriented town. The narrow streets of Oil are filled with small, yet expensive shops- many are boutiques selling local jewelry. Oia is also famous for the beauty of its sunsets, which means that the narrow streets and passageways can get quite full in the evenings. The most popular spot to watch sunset is by the Kastro walls.

The central square, Nikolaou Nomikou, skirts the caldera. The town hosts a cultural centre and Greek art galleries as well as the usual handicrafts, souvenir and jewelry shops. As seen on a zillion postcards, the characteristic classic view of Oia is the bright white and blue of the church contrasting with the deep blue of the Aegean Sea in the background. Oia, is a beautiful, exquisite small town and an ideal place for those seeking peace and quiet. The houses and churches that cling to the cliffs, and the narrow pathways and stairways that connect them and the beautiful sunsets all combine to make Oia a place worth visiting, and one that is difficult to forget.

Needless to say, we took a great many pictures during our two hour walk through Oia. I think the best way to organize them is to break the walk down into a few segments. I have put together a large aerial view of Oia, and on it I have marked some of the major landmarks as well as the segments of our walk. You can click on the icon at left to open this aerial view in a new window, and use the scroll bars for that window to follow us on our walk- from the bus parking area in the upper right of the view to my descent down to the Oia harbor in the lower left. You can just minimize the window when you don't need it, and I'll remind you to close it when our tour of this picturesque town is finished.

Walk Segment 1: Bus Park to the Church of Panagia of Platsanio

Once the bus was parked in the lot and our guide had let us know when the bus would be departing (a couple of hours hence), we got off and milled about for a while to get our bearings, and then headed off south down the narrow street that led to Oia's main street. All along this first street that our group walked up, the shopowners were out and ready to call the tourists in to buy one souvenir or another, and right at the north end of this little street we passed the gaily-decorated Blue Sky Taverna- not yet open for the day. Some of the little knicknacks were colorful and interesting; the clickable thumbnails below will lead you to a few pictures of some of them:

We walked up this stepped street toward the top of the cliffs on which Oia is perched above the caldera lagoon, and came out into a square in front of the Church of Panagia of Platsani.

Religion on the island of Santorini is primarily Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic. Today, Oia, as an Orthodox village, has the picturesque blue-domed chapels, pristine white bell towers and volcanic stone trimmed church doorways dotted all along the caldera cliffs. Each chapel is of course named after the saint it honors and was built by a local family, many to pray for the safe return of the seafaring members of the family. These are usually closed to the public except on the Saint's Name Day when the owning family sponsors a small celebration complete with wine and local specialties. It's a fine reason for a social event attended by the locals and invited island visitors.

But there are also two main churches in Oia that have a priest conducting weekly services. The Church of Panagia of Platsani is the principal church and located at the center of the village. It was built in the 1800s and maintained in perfect condition. The local craftsmen have created a wonderful interior, including icon paintings and furnishings. The church also has one of the best views to the sea and caldera. The church has a little front courtyard and in the village square in front of that we found an interesting inlaid design that apparently had something to do with an event in 2007. This square is also the point of annual celebrations such as Easter and occasionally a wedding.

When we came by the church early in the morning, it was closed, but when we returned at the end of our Oia walk, it was possible to go inside, and so passed under the mosaic above the entrance and spent a few minutes inside. At right are clickable thumbnails for some pictures of this mosaic and the inside of the church.

Walk Segment 2: Walking West on Oia's Main Street

We are going to see as much as we can here in Oia, so we began a walk along the main street that led through this amazingly beautiful place.

But to say that we were walking along the main street of any town you've probably been to would be to overstate what actually happened. Oia really doesn't have many streets in the familiar sense. There is a highway coming into the north part of the village, and in that north part of the village there are some other streets- traditional ones that can accommodate cars. You can see them on the aerial view.

But along the cliff face where we were, there were no streets; the widest throughfare was maybe eight or ten feet wide, and was essentially a cobblestone walkway that wound between shops (like this art gallery), restaurants and houses on either side. On the caldera side, there were numerous little offshoots of the main pathway; these led to individual houses and restaurants that were sometimes fifty feet below us on the cliff face. These pathways were often no wider than a set of narrow stairs. Some of them almost looked as if they had been "poured" down the hillside between the structures.

Individual homes might have little arched gates that opened onto these narrow pathways. Many of these houses and little inns had terraces overlooking the caldera lagoon, and must have been great places to live or stay. The whole area was a rabbit warren, albeit not a very large one. Tourists generally stick to the main pathway, unless they are going down to a shop or a little inn or perhaps a cliffside restaurant; this made the main pathway generally crowded, particularly on a day like today when there were a number of tourist buses in town.

For this second part of our walk, we'll go from the square in front of the Church of Panagia of Platsani west through the clifftop village, ending just above the Kasteli (Castle) of Agios Nikolaos- which is on a point of land at the western end of the village. Along the way, we'll pass numerous little shops, lots of cafes and small restaurants and many, many interesting buildings. All along the way, we'll be passing one traditional white, blue-domed chapel after another.

One of the most beautiful of all the views of Oia that we got today was a view that Fred took from a ledge down below the square where we began. It looks west towards the Kasteli:

Every so often along the pathway we followed, we'd come out at a spot where we could look east or west along the cliffs and get more wonderful views of the houses, shops and churches spilling down the hillside towards the caldera. These views were uniformly beautiful, and it was hard to weed any of them out. Below are clickable thumbnails for the best of these spectacular views. (When the lagoon is at the right, you are looking east towards Thira; when at the left, you are looking west towards the Kasteli.)

We passed two more churches on our walk. One was quite near our starting point; we could see it by looking down the main street by the square. And, as we walked west, we passed beneath its blue dome.

Anastasis Church

The Anastasis Church was the largest of the churches we passed, and it was actually a little ways down the hillside; to get really good pictures of it, like the one at left, we had to follow one of the narrow pathways down. I took the previous photo as I started down those stairs; I had to turn right and walk a ways to get far enough away to take the inset picture at left.

The views of the church and from the church were pretty amazing; in some of them, you can clearly see the ancient volcano cone out in the middle of the caldera lagoon. Below are clickable thumbnails for some of the pictures that Fred took around the Anastasis Church, and I think you'll agree with us about the views:

There were just all kinds of interesting and quirky things to look at as we walked along towards the Kasteli; many of these pictures defy explanation. For example, here in the U.S. we have all heard of "fast food," but in Oia we were introduced to a different concept. Take another example: we've all seen signs telling us to "Enter Here" or "Order Here;" but, once again, it seems that in Oia they do things a bit differently. How about one more? Here in the U.S., the pay phone and phone booth seem to have gone the way of the Dodo bird, what with the proliferation of cell phones. We saw cell towers on Santorini as well, but down one side street I happened to see a couple of litte wall phone booths. That wasn't surprising in and of itself, but see if you can figure out why I thought the pair of them were worth this photo. (Hint: Which one would you use?)

Since the cliffside was so built up, there was little green space until you got up on top of the cliffs. So residents and shopowners took every opportunity to spread potted plants around. The predominant color for flowers was red; it went well as an accent to the whitewashed stucco and blue domes. You can see some examples of this use of color if you use the clickable thumbnails at right to have a look at some of the photos that Fred took along our walk.

Shortly after we left the main square, we dropped down to a lower ledge where I could get a picture of Fred and Greg overlooking the first of the two other churches we passed. I noticed in that picture that there was a small, craggy island just out into the lagoon way down below us, and that there seemed to be a house or two on it. So I came down to where Fred and Greg had been standing and used my zoom to get a closer view of what seemed to be a house on that very private island. You can have a look at it here.

All along our walk, it was Fred who had the real eye for detail, and he took a number of very nice pictures of buildings, decoration, flowers and the like (including his first "doorknob" picture in quite a while).

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

Fred took lots of interesting pictures, and I have put some of them into a slideshow.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

As we walked along, I liked to follow some of the little pathways that led up and down the cliff face; most of them led to houses that had gates opening out onto those pathways.

From one of those short jaunts up the hillside, I could look back down on the main street we'd been following; you can see that view at right.

I didn't take as many pictures as Fred, but I did get some interesting shots as we walked along. You can use the clickable thumbnails below to have a look at some of these:

After an hour or so, we came to the western end of this main pathway.

Walk Segment 3: The Western End of Oia's Main Street

After about an hour, we came to the end of the main pathway we had been following.

At its western end, the main street opened out onto an area near the tip of the island. From here, we could get great views back along the way we'd come- with all of Oia spread out down the cliffs. We could also look northwest from this vantage point, where we found that there were hotels and resorts again spreading down the cliffs toward Oia's little harbor. We could see the harbor, too, of course, way down at the shore, and we could see a long stone stairway and path leading down to it. And we could also see the Kasteli just ahead of us at the very tip of the island of Santorini.

Let's use this segment of our walk to take in the vistas from here, and save the Kasteli and the harbor itself for a little while.

One of the first things I noticed as I came down the stairs at the end of the street were the dog and cat on the building at the end of the street. The dog was intently focused on the seemingly unaware cat sitting below. I thought this might be a good close-up or movie, so I tried to get closer to them. No sooner had I got my camera set to take a movie, though, than the cat leaped forward off the low wall heading downhill with the dog in hot pursuit. I'm sorry I missed it!

We spent a bit of time walking around this area before heading out to the Kasteli.

Spilling down the northwest tip of the island were what appeared to be hotels and resorts; the buildings where much larger than those we'd been seeing along our walk, and there were swimming pools and deck chairs as you would expect to see at a resort. Stairways connected the many levels of these buildings; there was no place flat enough to put more than just a few rooms or casitas, it seemed. I guess you really might need a bellman to find your room.

Way down at the base of those cliffs where the resorts were, we could see the small harbor of Oia- the Ormos Ammoudiou. A bit later, I learned that the place is usually called "Sunset Harbor," even by locals. From the end of the street, I could see the beginning of the stairs and pathway leading down to Sunset Harbor. (There is also a road that goes down there, but you have to go down to the north side of the island from the bus parking area to get to it.) I hoped I would have time to get down there. A bit later, while I was actually going down to the harbor, Fred had moved around towards the windmill beyond the resort area, and from there, the stairs and path down were easily seen. I also found a spot right nearby where I could look down the path to the harbor.

But first, we are going to head out to the Kasteli and wander around there.

Walk Segment 4: The Castle of Agios Nikolaos (The Kasteli)

In the Middle Ages, Oia itself was one of the "Kastelia" on the island of Santorini. A "Kasteli" was a fortified settlement; the settlement of Oia was the "Kasteli of Agois Nikolaos." From the area at the end of Oia's main street, we could see the Kasteli ahead of us, so before we headed down into it, I snapped a picture of Fred at the Kasteli.

The castle's existence was documented as early as 1480, but the area suffered harshly in the earthquake of 1956, and much of the traditional settlement tumbled into the sea below the caldera. The original resplendent sanctuaries of Agios Georgios and the Panagia of Platsanis were completely destroyed. The churches we see today were built as part of the restoration of Oia.

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As we walked down onto the Kasteli, I made a movie of it, and you can watch it with the player at right.

Once in the Kasteli, we walked around the old fortification, looking at it and the views from it. Below are clickable thumbnails for some of the pictures we took here in the Kasteli:

Today, the settlement of Oia extends far beyond the original fortified settlement, which now occupies just this point of land at the extreme western end of the town. Nowadays, the site of the Kasteli provides a great place from which to view the settlement of Oia, stretching away to the east along the cliffs. The castle is also a favorite spot for watching the beautiful sunsets.

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I noticed that there was more land beyond the western wall of the fortification, and so I continued out to the furthest point that I could reach safely. Once there, I turned to look back toward the fortification and the town of Oia, and I made another movie- a panoramic look all around me at Oia, the caldera and the islands. You can watch this movie with the player at left.

Both I from my vantage point out beyond the fortification, and Fred from his own perch on the Kasteli itself, took some interesting photos looking back at Oia, the resorts to our left, and the island of Santorini extending away to the east. Below are clickable thumbnails for some of these pictures:

From my position out here at the end of the island, I could also see the caldera lagoon on both sides. On my right (south) I could down into the caldera and get another view of that private island we saw earlier. On my left (north), I could get a good view of Sunset Harbor, which I hope to visit shortly. Also, while I was out here as far as I could get, I took a series of pictures of the scene in front of me- from the Aegean Sea on the left to the caldera lagoon on the right. I later stitched these pictures together into the panoramic view that you can see below:

Walk Segment 5: My Walk Down to Sunset Harbor

If you've been following along on the aerial view of our route through Oia, take a look at my route down to Sunset Harbor. I'll be beginning back at the western end of Oia town, and following the stairs and pathway down past the resort area all the way to the Harbor. I began my descent by following the route the cat had taken a while earlier, down past a hotel patio, where the stairs turned to where I could see them stretching ahead of me down the hill.

Beginning of the Stairs Down to Sunset Harbor

I stopped at the bottom of the first set of stairs to have a look back up, and you can see that view at left. On the way down that first flight, I passed the entry to a small hotel (you can read the sign at the entry here). On the way I passed some other house entries, and got a good view of the resorts nearby; use the clickable thumbnails below to have a look:

The descent was easy, of course, and I always had good views of Sunset Harbor ahead of me. And I could see, some distance from the stairs and pathway, what appeared to be an abandoned chapel; I thought about trying to get over to it, but couldn't see an easy way to do that.

The stairs just continued downward, with the occasional switchback, until I reached the last flight of stairs that brought me to the shore.

At Sunset Harbor

That last flight of stairs brought me to Sunset Harbor, one view of which is seen at right. The stairs you see in that view are not actually the ones I descended; they go up to the roof of the building in the picture. The stairs I actually came down were behind me; I had to dodge the two boats that someone was storing on the stairs. I made a movie when I got to the harbor, and you can watch it with the player below:

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I took a couple of other pictures of the harbor area, and you can have a look at them here and here. I also got a good picture looking up at the top of the cliffs to my northeast. I also took a series of five photos, beginning with the base of the cliffs below the fortress and panning around across the island of Therasia on the other side of the caldera lagoon, the outlet to the Aegean Sea and the tip of Santorini to the north. These were stitched together to form the panorama below:

A Panoramic View Looking West from Sunset Harbor

After spending a few minutes down here at the harbor, I reluctantly turned to head back up the stairs. It was a daunting hike, as you can see in this view looking up at the fortress from Sunset Harbor.

I started back up the pathway, and of course it was slower going than coming down. Along the way, I took some pictures of the path ahead of me, and you can use the clickable thumbnails at left to look at some of these views. Partway up, I passed a ruined stone building. I wasn't sure what it had been, but I left the pathway to go inside it and take a picture or two. You can see some of the interior rooms here. The stairs continued to rise until I was once again passing the hillside resorts.

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Eventually (after twenty minutes or so) I got to the top of the stairs, and it was then that I noticed that, at least near the top, the steps were numbered. I guess the locals know by now how many steps there are, so I am not sure why someone thought to number them.

Anyway, when I got back to the top, I made a movie to record the fact that I'd gone down to the harbor and climbed back up, and you can watch that short movie with the player at right.

Walk Segment 6: Fred Walks Around Western Oia

While I was making my trek down to the harbor and back up, Fred spent his time wandering around through some of the narrow alleyways north of the fortress at the top of the cliffs.

Fred began his own little tour right at the area between Oia and the fortress, where he could see a long ways east along the lagoon shore of Santorini. Then he wandered a bit north and west through the area of houses, hotels and shops perched on the cliffs above Sunset Harbor. In fact, a number of the pictures he took were of the stairs and path that I had taken down to the harbor (though I can't find myself in any of them). You can see the old ruins that I stopped at on my way up.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

Fred has a good eye for detail in his pictures, so you should have a look at them using the slideshow that I created for them.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

Walk Segment 7: Walking Back to the Bus Park

When I arrived back up at the top of the stairs, Fred and Greg were nowhere to be found, but that wasn't a problem since we all knew when we had to be back at the bus. So I just headed off back along that "Main Street" towards the square where we'd begun the walk.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

Later, I found that Greg and Fred had stopped at a little restaurant for a snack; Fred had taken pictures of both the restaurant and the snack. As for my own walk back, I also took a few more pictures- mostly of the incredibly beautiful coastline. I did discover when I got back to the bus that "donkey rides" are a big deal here on Santorini (what with the cliffs, I guess). We'd see more of them in Thira a little later on today. Anyway, I've put the best of Fred's pictures and mine into a slideshow.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

The Drive to Thira

Once back on the bus, our group headed off to our last stop- the cliffside town of Thira- just above the Noordam riding at anchor in the lagoon.

The mountains on Santorini run along the west side of the island, and we drove through them passing through Thira on our way to Oia. For the return trip to Oia, the bus took the coast road on the east side of the island, where the land is relatively flat and all the agriculture of Santorini is located. Most of our trip was right along the northeastern shore of the island- a rural area with scattered houses and small farms.

All of the pictures Fred snapped from his side of the bus turned out blurry, but many of the ones I took from my side, looking out to the Aegean Sea, turned out well. There are clickable thumbnails for some of them below:

At the end of our thirty-minute ride, we climbed back up to the top of the hills to park for the last time in a parking area just a few blocks from the cliffs in the town of Thira- largest on the island.

Our Walk Through Thira

After the bus parked, our tour guide led us through some narrow streets to come out at a wide pedestrian street that ran north from the Atlantis Hotel. From there, we began our walking tour of the town. As I did for Oia, I will break down the long walk we took through Thira into manageable (but somewhat arbitrary) sections.

As I did with Oia and other cities we've been to, I've cobbled together an aerial view of the part of Thira that we covered on our walk. On that aerial view, I have shown the approximate route we followed (the streets were so narrow and so similar that tracing the exact route after the fact was well-nigh impossible), as well as some of the major landmarks we passed or visited. You click on the activation button at left to open this aerial view in a new window, and you can leave it open as you follow along with us on our walking tour of the town. (We'll end at the cable car station for our trip down to the harbor.)

You can bring up the window any time you want to locate us, and you can close it at the end of this section (I'll remind you). To start, when you open the window, scroll to the lower right-hand corner, where you will see the route our bus took to the drop-off area, and the beginning of the first segment of our walk through Thira.

From the Bus Drop-Off to Cliffside

From the bus park, we just crossed the street and then went up some broad stairs to what appeared to be a large church. We went north around the back of it, and then went west again up a narrow passageway to come out on a broad street that ran along the top of the cliffs. As soon as we came out into the sunlight, the caldera lagoon was spread out before us, and we could see the Noordam riding at anchor. This was the first time we'd seen the ship since we left it early this morning. I got Fred and Greg to pose near the retaining wall on the cliff side of the street, and I took their picture looking north along the Santorini cliffs. You can see the town of Oia in the distance on top of the cliffs.

I Wander Down the Cliffs Above the Noordam

Having already walked through Oia, I'd become very interested in wandering through the small stair/passageways that led through the whitewashed buildings, and from our position just north of the Atlantis Hotel I could see that there was a way down among the houses and inns that extended down the cliff face below us. Fred and Greg were happy to wait around here for a few minutes while I went off exploring. Promising that I'd be back in 15 minutes or less, I walked toward the Atlantis Hotel to find a walkway that led down into the area in front of us.

Looking Northwest Across Thira

I hadn't got very far down the hillside when I began to get wonderful views of the town of Thira. The view at left looks NNW. As it turned out, we walked all the way along the clifftop, past the top of the stairway that ascends from the harbor, past the cable car and actually around past the reddish-orange buildings you can see on the highest point in the picture. We would continue north for a ways further, then turn and wander through town to end up at the Church of St. John's, whose dome and steeple you can see in center-right in the picture.

The area I was walking through seemed to consist of a mixture of small houses, little hotels and a cafe or two. The hillside was so steep, that on the sea-side of my walk, places like the Keti Hotel ahead of me were entered through doorways or arches that immediately became stairs down to the actual building. I walked forward in that last shot towards the domed hotel, and took another photo of the Keti Hotel Entrance.

Throughout our walk today, we found this to be quite common. Whenever we were walking along, building on our lagoon side were usually a ways down the hill- reached by stairs through arched entrances. Sometimes, these stairs just led down to another pathway that paralleled the one we might be on, and the process repeated. In the aerial view, you can see some of these terraces.

I might point out that the aerial view is a bit misleading, for anything west of our route was built down the cliffside below us. It is hard to detect changes in altitude on aerial views, unless you have something like the harbor below or the stairs zigzagging up and down as reference points.

All the while as I was wandering through the multi-leveled narrow alleyways, I was treated to beautiful views along the coastline north and south.

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Towards the furthest point that I reached on my little solitary walk, I stopped to make a movie of the area around me, panning back up the hill, north, and down to the lagoon below me. This movie may duplicate some of what my pictures show, but it may give you a better idea of what Thira looked like from this vantage point. You can watch the movie with the player at right.

I took my alotted fifteen minutes to wander around down here before heading back up to rejoin Fred and Greg, and I snapped quite a few pictures. I've selected a few of them to be representative of what this part of Thira was like and to show you the views from here. You can use the clickable thumbnails below to have a look at the pictures I selected:

I rejoined Fred and Greg just about fifteen minutes after I'd left them.

Fred's Pictures Near the Atlantis Hotel

While I was on my little jaunt, Fred and Greg were hanging out near the Atlantis Hotel, in front of the church we'd come by on our way from the bus. Fred got an artistic view of the lagoon through one of the arched doorways that lead down to inns and restaurants, and one of the bell tower of the church. There are clickable thumbnails for these views at left.

He also took four other very interesting pictures, and there are clickable thumbnails for them at right.

Walking Through Thira to the Top of the Donkey Path

Leaving the area at the Atlantis Hotel, we headed north through Thira, staying as close as we could to the cliffside (which wasn't too difficult). Remember that on the aerial view (if you are following along) the buildings to the left (west) of our path were actually below our path; this accounts for the many lagoon views we had along the way.

One of the more frequent views we got as we walked along the cliff top was that of the various restaurants and cafes below us that had seating areas with spectacular views. I can't recall any similar situations in any of the trips Fred and I have taken, save for the occasional restaurant that might have a balcony overlooking a river or valley just fifty or a hundred feet below. These were just incredible, and if we'd had time, it might have been nice to grab one of the empty tables and sit with a drink for a while. You'll see some of these pictures in the slideshow below.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

Of course, as we were walking along to the north, we were never very far from great views of the caldera, the lagoon, the Noordam, and the coastline both north and south. There will be many of these pictures in the slideshow, too. Ubiquitous as well were scenese of the narrow streets and pathways were replete with little shops and boutiques- some of them with their own, amazing, clifftop views. All of these and other pictures are in the slideshow.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

I think you will agree that these views are simply amazing- and about as close to unique in the world as you can get. But even more spectacular were the continual views out across the caldera lagoon and the Noordam at anchor.

The Caldera and Lagoon

Although it isn't particularly revealing, I thought I would go ahead and include the one movie I made as we were walking through the streets of Thira; it does give you a good feeling for what they were like. You can use the player below to watch it.

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The end of this segment of our walk through Thira brought us out to an area from which there were great views. The overlook was just a few hundred feet north of the top of the pedestrian stairs/donkey path that comes up from the harbor, and also just south of the cable car station. (Fred got a good closeup of some of the donkeys at the top of the stairs. I never did find out what the charge was to ride one of the animals up the long, winding staircase.) We also got our first views of the cable cars in transit.

At the observation deck, we did, of course, take pictures of each other with the beautiful town of Thira perched above the lagoon as a backdrop. You can have a look at Fred's picture of me or my picture of Fred or my picture of Fred and Greg.

From the Cable Car Station to the Second Viewpoint

We began the next segment of our walk at the cable car station and continued north on the clifftop to another viewing area a quarter mile away. We left Greg at this point; he wanted to do a little shopping and then head back to the Noordam.

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From the observation area where we were, just south of the cable car station, we had some good views of the rocky cliffs where we would be heading next. We were also at at excellent spot from which we could watch the cable car in operation. I began by making a movie as one set of cars left the top station to head down. You can watch that movie with the player at right.

A short while after I ended that movie, the other set of cars coming up from the harbor passed the set heading down, and I got a pretty good picture of them that you can see here.

To continue north from here, there is a little passageway that goes through the cable car station (and with leads to another kind of balcony where you can look out. While I was doing my movie stuff, Fred and Greg headed up that way. As Fred passed across that balcony, he stopped to get a good picture looking down at the cable cars leaving the station. This was the same set of cars that I was filming at the same time.

Just north of the cable car station, there was another viewpoint and by the time I got to the one right over the cable cars to meet up with Greg, Fred had moved to that higher viewpoint. There, he waited until Greg and I were on the lower viewing balcony at which point he took an excellent picture of us, the town of Fira and the lagoon stretching away to the south. That is the picture at left.

When Greg and I were done, we went to join Fred, where I got another good picture of the lower observation deck and the Santorini coast, along with another view of the multi‑level cable car station. Greg was about ready to head off to do his shopping, but I got one more picture of Greg and Fred with the Church of St. John in the background. (We'll be visiting that church before we leave Thira.)

We turned to head north after Greg left us, and Fred got a good picture of our route and the next observation area we'd be stopping at. You can see that picture here. Then we headed off.

This part of the walk was much like our trip to the cable car station, except for the fact that we were climbing now, to reach the tallest spot in the town of Thira.

A Small Chapel in Thira

We passed a small chapel to our left, but all we could see was the dome; the gate to get in was locked. I was able to hold my camera through the gaps in the gate and turn it so as to get a picture of the chapel itself, though. That picture is at right. We took a number of good pictures along the way- grand vistas and small details. I have put the best of these pictures in the slideshow below.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

When we got to the next overlook, at pretty much the highest point in Thira (or on the western side of the island, for that matter), the views were really tremendous. We could see all the way across the island. Fred got a really excellent view looking past Thira and across the island to the southeast- all the way to Profiti Ilia on the mountaintop we'd visited early this morning. The early morning fog is gone, of course, and the view was really, really good. I hope you will look at Fred's picture here.

For my part, I like my picture of Fred and the northwest Santorini coastline, as well as the nice view I got from here of the Noordam at anchor. I also took the time to take a series of pictures that I could stitch together into a widescreen panoramic view from this point. The five pictures I took have been merged into the panorama below:

Clifftop Walk in Northwest Thira

We'd now walked all the way along the top of the cliffs around the arc of Thira's harbor and had come to the crest of the point of that arc. So we thought we'd simply head inland through town and circle back to St. John's Church and the cable car station. As it turned out, though, there was no street or through passageway to take until we had gotten another few hundred feet north. No matter at all; we never tired of the incredible views. To begin with, you can see clearly in Fred's panorama below that we are now starting into another arc-shaped inlet as we head north:

This part of the walk was extremely pleasant. Apparently, not too many tourists walk this far north, for we saw only a few other people as we walked along- and many of them appeared to be residents of the area.

The View Northwest

It was really neat to be in yet another area like this where the car is not the main form of local transportation. Distances are short, the weather is usually excellent and the scenery is spectacular- so it seems that most residents walk. We did discover a bit later that while there are cars here, people seem to park them in small lots that are well away from their residences and businesses and then walk most of the time.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

We took a lot of really neat pictures along this part of our walk through Thira, and in one of them Fred has caught me making a new friend. I want you to be able to look at these pictures easily, so I've put them into a slideshow so you can do just that.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at right and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

We found an access inland to the street that led back into the center of town right beside yet another picturesque chapel, and so there we doubled back- wanting not to simply retrace our steps- aiming for St. John's Church and the cable car station.

Our Walk to and Tour of the Church of St. John

From the northernmost point of our cliffside walk back to St. John's Church was not the direct route we thought it might be- even though we could often see the dome and steeple of the church. It turned out that away from the touristy portions of Thira, the little walkways, alleyways, streets and passageways are a bit of a rabbit warren, with a few dead-ends where we least expected them. It's impossible to remember the exact route we took- but it was certainly not direct.

We couldn't really get lost- just confused. We could often see across the island to the east, or perhaps the ships in the harbor to the west. So we just kept heading generally for the steeple. At left are clickable thumbnails for a few of the pictures we took as we were making our way to the Church of St. John. We actually came at the church from the wrong side, and had to go all the way around it to find the long stairs leading to the entrance. Below are clickable thumbnails for some pictures we took on the way around the church:

The Catholic Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist is in great contrast to many of its Byzantine neighbors. Its peach-colored exterior, as well as its size, makes it stand out in the skyline of Thira. There is an ornate clock tower that also contains the church bells. The dome of the church is blue and peach on the outside; the interior is lilac blue and other parts are colored orange and cream. The cathedral is not that old; it was restored and opened in 1975 after suffering significant damage during the earthquake of 1956.

Inside St. John Cathedral in Thira

The inside of the church was quite beautiful, although the church itself was rather small. The altar was in an alcove at one end of the church; off to the side, there was a shrine to the Virgin Mary. Four sets of pillars supported the domed roof; these formed four arches within the church. In each of the corners between the crown of an arch and the dome, religious figures were painted; there are clickable thumbnails below for each of these figures:

We spent a few minutes wandering around the hushed chapel, admiring the artwork and enjoying the quiet.

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I made a movie inside the chapel, adding a bit of hushed narration to it; you can watch it with the player at right.

I also took some pictures inside the chapel, and you can use the clickable thumbnails below to have a look at them:

The chapel of St. John was the last stop on our walking tour of Thira. It has been a very, very nice experience- similar to Oia but different in other ways. Now all that remained was to take the cable car down to the harbor and then catch a tender back to the Noordam.

So when we were done in the church, we went back outside and down the long stairs that would take us to the entrance to the cable car station to the right.

Riding the Cable Car Down to the Harbor

We debated just a short while whether we wanted to take the cable car down to the harbor or walk down the stairs. What made the decision was that our shore excursion included one-way tickets on the cable car, and we didn't see the need to waste 4 euros.

View from the Upper Cable Car Station

We turned in our tickets and walked down to the waiting area for the cable car. It was a standard set-up, with two, side-by-side stair-stepped platforms- one for each cable car. As I wanted to be in the front car, we went ahead and descended to the lowest step on our side; that's where I got the picture at left. Just before we descended the steps, I made a movie of the upper mechanism in operation, and you can watch that movie with the player below:

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We didn't have long to wait before the cable car showed up.

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When I saw the cable cars coming up to the station, I thought I would make a movie of their arrival. I know still pictures are fine, but for things in motion, I think movies are better. You can watch the movie with the player at left.

While we were waiting and I was making my movie, Fred was also busy taking some still shots of the cable car arriving; he also took a picture once we were inside the car awaiting its departure. There are clickable thumbnails below for these pictures:

There weren't a lot of people going down at this time of day, so only two or three of the set of cars on our side were occupied. As I wanted, we were in the front car, ready for an unobstructed view ahead.

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We were only seated for a couple of minutes before our trip began.

I knew we would be taking a number of pictures on the way down, but since still pictures taken while you are moving can be easily spoiled, I thought I would just film the entire trip down. I'd already timed the trip approximately by watching the previous two sets of cars, so I knew that filming for a couple of minutes wouldn't present a problem.

So if you would like to take the trip with us, from the Thira cable car station down to the station at the harbor, fasten your seatbelts and use the movie player at right.

As expected, the trip took a little over two minutes, and I hope you enjoyed riding down with us.

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When we got to the bottom and left the cable car, the route to the exit took us in front of the lower mechanism. Again, it was a huge cogged wheel that pulled the cable, but this time the wheel was mounted on the floor of the building, rather than on the ceiling, as it was above. I made a movie of this different arrangment, since it was easier to see. You can watch that movie with the player at left.

You can also see a still picture of the mechanism here.

We left the building and walked out onto the quay of the harbor. It was really an interesting place. One of the first things I did was to make a movie of the harbor area and of Thira and the cliffs above. You can watch that movie with the player below, left. A bit later on, I also made a movie of some of the boat activity- ending with our arrival at the Noordam tender. You can watch that one with the player below, right.

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible) The Harbor of Thira

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible) Boat Activity at the Harbor

The harbor was really neat, and there was a lot going on, so we walked around for quite a good while before heading over to catch a tender to the Noordam.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

We took quite a few pictures down here at the harbor (including one of another new friend of mine), and I have put the best of these into a slideshow.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

This brought our visit to the island of Santorini to a close, and it was time to head back to the Noordam.

Riding on the Noordam Tender

We boarded the tender back to the Noordam just about 2:45 in the afternoon. We had plenty of time, since the Noordam wasn't scheduled to leave until almost six.

When the tender pulled up, I could see that it was not one of the Noordam lifeboat/tenders. Apparently, local boats are hired here so that the ship doesn't have to go to the trouble of lowering its own boats. Or maybe it is some local ordinance. Anyway, when I saw that there was outside seating up on top of the boat, that's where I wanted to be, even though the mate was directing everyone inside. Fred thought he should follow instructions, but I detoured up to the top. No one said anything, but I made sure anyway that it was OK. As it turned out, there was another couple that came up just before we left for the Noordam. So when we pulled away from the dock, I was all ready to take some pictures and movies.

I made two movies- one when we left the Thira harbor and another when we approached the Noordam. There was a fair amount of wind noise in the second one, but you can watch both of them using the players below:

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible) Leaving Thira Harbor

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible) Docking with the Noordam

As we motored out to the Noordam, I was snapping away at the island of Santorini. Not all the pictures turned out real well, but some did, and you will see them in a slideshow shortly. We docked with the Noordam and were back in our room by 3 p.m. We each stopped to get a nice picture of Santorini from our balcony before we went off to get a late lunch.

After we'd had a bite to eat, we stood on the deck for a while, admiring Santorini, and Fred took some good pictures with his zoom. He took two pictures of the pedestrian path up from the harbor to Thira because he couldn't zoom and get it all in at once. While those pictures were good, I have stitched them together into one zoomed image of that pathway. It is at left, although you'll have to scroll to see it all.

He took some other good pictures, at one point fiddling with his settings to take a sepia-toned picture of Thira (which made me think that this is what the town looked like before color was invented). I took some of my own pictures on deck. To our north, I saw an Ibero Cruise Lines ship that looked identical to one we'd see when we were docked in Athens. I also got a nice picture of Fred and Santorini. But it was when I saw the tender heading for the ship that I had the idea that since he missed out on sitting on the top of the boat earlier, he might enjoy simply riding the tender in to the harbor and back out again. It was a beautiful day, and we hadn't anything pressing to do for a while, so we went quickly down to the gangway to make sure that it was OK for us just ride the tender back and forth. It was, and after the tender unloaded, we hopped on and took seats on the top for the ride in and back. Here is Fred seated atop the tender.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

Fred made up for lost time and took a great many pictures as we rode the tender in and out. For example, he was able to see clearly what looked like mining operations at the base of the cliffs at the south end of Thira. He took lots of other good pictures as well, but I have winnowed them down to those that are particularly interesting; these, along with the aforementioned pictures that we took on the way out to the Noordam the first time, as well as the ones we took of the harbor from the deck of the Noordam, are in the slideshow here.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at right and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

It was a pleasant way to spend 45 minutes, and I got a nice picture of Fred at Thira harbor. I took my last picture of the day as we came alongside the Noordam.

When we returned to the ship, our visit to Santorini was officially over. We had a normal evening- with the gym and dinner in the dining room, and Fred and I went to see pianist Stephen Kane in the Vista Lounge. (Tonight was the night for the Filipino Crew Show, but we'd seen one of those before, so we skipped it and went back to the cabin to prepare for our last port tomorrow.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	May 26, 2012: At Sea
	May 24, 2012: Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus)
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