Santorini

So, I admit it..Istanbul was really the only place I read about before coming on this trip. Besides watching Anthony Bourdaines No Reservations Greece episode which was terrible, I basically had only seen a few pictures.
Well Santorini is more than just blue roofed churches and pretty sunsets.
A huge volcano errupted and turned one big settlement into several smaller ones around a giant crater called a Caldera.

The main island is a very steep mountain, many types of stone. There's a gorgeous red beach-pictured below, black beaches, a white beach, and countless cliffs to climb.

The first day was great. Rented a car, drove around to multiple beaches, hiked by the lighthouse, watched the sunset by the iconic view in Oia.

Santorini is made up of multiple towns. We stayed in Thira.

So we were all the way at the top of the mountain and the second day, we wanted to walk down a curvy path to get to the sea.

Well we noticed a bad smell from the start. This path was lined with donkey droppings from the top to the bottom.. maybe a mile downhill, slippery cobble stone path. We thought it would clear up..got worse

So we slipped a few times coming down the hill but made it and decided to ride a donkey up. No reigns, can't really control which way they go, the path is still slippery, and lots of people are still walking down.

Whew, we made it.

So our time was up in Santorini and a megajet ferry would get us to Herakleon, Crete. The ship was very fast, waves were very high, babies were crying, cafe dishes flew out of place. About 8 attendents struggled to pass out & collect paper bags fast enough. Applause upon arrival.

Whew, we made it.