May 20, 2009

Day 9 – Santorini, Greece

What’s up, peeps?  Well, after a rough day at sea we arrived in Santorini, Greece today.  We didn’t really have anything planned for the day, and after getting there I could see why.  Like my trip to Pisa a few days ago, a visit to Santorini can be wrapped up in a half hour.  Go up the hill to the city, take a picture of the view, and leave.

But that’s not to take anything away from Santorini…  Santorini is an island in the shape of a crescent made up of several cities, and in the middle of the crescent is the volcano that created them all (which our boat was anchored right next to, which seemed not to make sense).  The towns of Santorini are built on the top of large cliffs, which are scalable by using a winding road or, in my case, by taking a cable car up to the top.  And, from the top the view is absolutely spectacular.  When I have a chance to post the pics, these are going to be a highlight.  The water was so clear that even from the top of the cliffs you could see the rocks below the water’s surface.

But, other than taking pictures, the rest of the city is just a tourist trap.  I totally get why they do it, but coming from Orlando it seems like each port of call leaves us in the middle of that town’s version of Orlando’s International Drive.  Just gross, cheap tourist stores (one of which sold huge wooden dildos, apparently a symbol of good luck in Greek culture).  So, after about an hour of wandering the side streets of Santorini, we were done and headed back to the boat to spend the rest of the day.

We’ll see what happens tomorrow when we arrive in Athens!  On the agenda is a bus tour of the city which culminates in climbing the Acropolis to visit the Parthenon.  As a huge fan of Greek mythology growing up I’m very excited.  ‘Til then!

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