Saturday, May 13th, Santorini, Greece

Greetings!

Santorini's caldera coast has some of the most beautiful views in the world.  The 3-kilometer walk between Imerovigli and Fira looks down on the western side of the island, and out across the vast caldera created by the eruption of Thera in 1627BC.  An arc of houses, shops, restaurants, and tourists gather from April to October, arriving by fast and slow ferries and planes.  We took a fast ferry, which turned out to have engine trouble and became a slow ferry.

From a distance, the clifftop development looks like snow.  With windows reflecting the Adriatic blue sea, the white structures layer the top edge of much of the caldera.  The walk near the top provides access to the front top doors of lower levels, and bottom front doors of upper levels. Everyone gets an almost unobstructed 180 degree view from the cruise ships to the sky.  At many points, turning around allows a view of the beaches on the other side of the island.

In a few days, this Greek tour will end.  It's being made a bit more difficult by a reported ferry and public service strike on May 16th, so Serra is scrambling to make sure we all can make it to our flight and ferry connections to either home or our next tours.

We are going to miss our new friends, and will try to stay in touch.  It's been great to be with ten other Americans who care about traveling and learning.  Those are values we hope we don't lose in the coming years.

To see all the photos taken today, click on Saturday, May 13th, Santorini, Greece.