SANTORINI, GREECE
The eruption of Santorini in Greece in 1,650 B.C.E. was one of the largest volcanic eruptions in the last 10,000 years. Such a large volume of magma was thrown out that it caused the volcano to collapse, producing a caldera. Ash fell over a large area in the eastern Mediterranean and Turkey. The eruption probably caused the end of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete. In the photograph below, our ship, the Celebrity "Millennium," is anchored in the caldera. Looking up to the white-washed villages from the ship, you feel as if you're looking at snow-capped mountains. From the villages, the ship looks like a toy in a giant tub.

Tenders from the ship dropped us off at the port of Athinaos at the bottom of a steep mountain. The road from Athinaos zig-zags up the side of the mountain in a long series of switch-backs to a hilly area of the strangest vineyards I've ever seen. Each vineyard is a collection of vines in the shape of baskets rather than in the usual fence-like rows. We discovered that the dry white wines are just about the driest you're ever likely to taste, and the sweet ones, made from grapes that have been allowed to become raisins, are just about the sweetest, almost like syrup. We took a bus past the largest village, Thira, on to the village of Oia. If it weren't for the Orthodox priests making their way to the little blue-domed churches and the garbage man wending his way through the narrow streets with his donkey, and people coming and going about their business of living, Oia would seem more confection than real village. The photographs say it all.






The point of land beyond Oia is actually another island in the ring around the caldera. The sunsets from the village where I took this photograph are said to be the most wonderful in the world. Maybe...






























Back in the village of Thira, we had to make a decision. Should we ride donkeys down the twisting trail to the docks, walk down, or go down the easy way on a gondola? We opted for the gondola because somebody told us that you smell like a donkey for three days after you ride one of them down to the dock