borders and byways: October 18, Santorini

October 18, 2017 Day 6 of the cruise, day 17 of the trip – Santorini

After our longest sea trip of the cruise we arrived off Santorini island about 11:30. This leg of the trip was about 14 hours across the Aegean Sea and we had been advised to expect strong waves throughout the night. There was a bit of rocking and rolling when we went to sleep, but it was not too bad and after I fell asleep I did not notice it.

Santorini is one of the jewels and most visited of the Greek islands. Even by the time we arrived there were three large cruise ships anchored in the harbor as well as many sea ferries arriving from the mainland and other islands. Cruise boats, even ones as small as ours, cannot dock at the small harbor, Athinios, because it lies on a small shelf of land which lies at the base of tall and steep cliffs. So, there are lots of small boats ferrying cruise ship passengers back and forth.

Santorini’s recorded history goes back a long way. Around 2000 BC the Minoans came over from Crete and their settlement at Akrotiri dates from the peak years of their civilization. Santorini was a round island then. However around 1613 BC there was a huge volcanic eruption that caused the center of the island to sink into the sea (this was the same phenomena that created Crater Lake in Oregon.) breaking the island into 4 islands and leaving a water filled caldera in the middle surrounded by towering cliffs along the east side, which is now Thira. It is these towering, multicolored (to me it looked like a layer cake) cliffs that are topped by white houses which in some areas spill down the cliffs that are the most striking feature of the island. From a distance they looked like icey cornices plunging down a ski mountain.

No one knows what happened to the Minoans after the eruption. Speculation is that they fled, possibly to Crete, following the earthquake or some other signs that preceded the volcanic eruption, or that the entire population was wiped out. In any event, there have been no human remains found from this civilization. The island was repopulated by the 3rd century BC and was conquered at various times by the Venetians, the Dorians and the Turks, but it did not become a tourist hotspot, along with Mykonos until the 1970s.

The scene in the harbor of the main island, Thira, is a bit chaotic. When we got off our ferry there were lots of buses, taxis and cars jostling for position and lots of people disembarking for the ferries and on to land transportation. There are three ways up the cliffs, donkey ride, cable car or vehicles, which must negotiate the cliffs through a series of switchbacks. (I imagine one could walk up to the top, but no one suggested that and there did not seem to be a trail.) Our guide informed us that they would be offering a “complimentary “bus trip up the cliffs rather than requiring us to take and pay for the donkey or cable car, and a trip to the ancient Akrotiri archelogy site, for which we had to pay the entrance fee.

Akrotiri was unearthed in 1967 and excavations are ongoing. This Minoan city was buried beneath the volcanic ash in 1613 BC. The site is housed within a large protective structure and is cris crossed by wooden walkways that allowed us to view homes, commercial buildings, streets, drainage systems and water works, but no human remains. We spent about 2 hours there.

Next, we were bused to the town of Oia, on the northern tip of the island. This town was rebuilt after the 1956 earthquake and it is very pretty. It flows down the cliff with lots of white houses, many with blue domes on top. The narrow streets were very crowded at spots both with people and shops and we found a restaurant, Kyprida, a Cypriot eatery, a bit off the beaten path for a rushed lunch. Good fish and our friends had a multi course meal of lots of traditional foods. We departed about 3:30.

Finally, late in the afternoon we were bused to Fira, the island’s main town. The roads on the island are very narrow and in some places adjacent to the cliffs. Our bus driver did a great job navigating the trip. Fira has some terrific views and ultimately the great sunset, but what I saw was a real tourist, albeit high end, town. The edge of the town lies on the caldera and it has layers of expensive hotels, cave apartments, restaurants, and infinity pools. The narrow streets behind that are filled with bars and more shops. We walked through the town to the edge where the Catholic Cathedral was located and walked through its interior. Beyond that the tourist part ended and we were in a working class residential neighborhood. There was a long line at the cable car station even though the cars moved n a pack of 6. Not much to do if you weren’t shopping or eating. We saw a few of our boat mates nursing drinks in bars waiting for the sunset. Looming below were the three large cruise ships. We watched the sunset for about 30 minutes shivering a bit and then met the bus for the drive back to the harbor for the ferry ride back to the boat. We got on the boat about 7:30 and had dinner on the boat.

There was an overnight cruise to Mykonos.