Santorini

Ah Santorini. Everyone we spoke to said "you HAVE to go to Santorini". So here we are. The ferry ride from Naxos takes about two hours. It arrives at the port in Fira, the capital city. The first think you notice is that you are at the sea level and the town is barely visible at least 1,000 feet straight up a rock cliff. The ride up to the town is dizzying with hairpin curves and busses and vans cutting off the road from opposing traffic when they make their turn around the hairpins. Once on top the view is phenomenal. The town sits on the edge of the cliff, like they say "between the sea and the sky".

We had to laugh today at the above photo. The tour bus was turning left onto this road, but couldn't make the turn because this car was parked there. He was honking and honking and no one came. He tied up traffic in both directions on the main road while he waited for the driver of the auto to return and move the car. About 10 minutes later a girl in an orange dress came running, hopped in her car and drove away, allowing the bus room to turn. I'm sure glad I wasn't that girl in the orange dress!

This is the view fromthe city to the old port. You can see the stairs winding their way up to the city. One can walk, take a donkey up, or take a cable car from the bottom.

Today there were eight - count them - EIGHT - cruise ships in. Oh my, the number of tourist was unbelievable in town. This town IS very touristy - shop after shop after shop after shop after shop ... the prices in the restaurants are high, accommodation is very expensive and I think the majority of shop sellers and waiters are getting a bit tired of serving all of us. You can probably tell that despite the beautiful view, we are not impressed and wouldn't advise people to come here. Look in a book, see the beautiful views and save your money. Now, having said that, tomorrow we are taking the local bus to Oia (pronounced Ee-a), a village on the north west coast. Perhaps our view will change after that trip.