Santorini, Greece

There aren't enough descriptive adjectives for Santorini. We've always been told it's a pretty special place, but we were totally stunned today with its beauty and majesty. Also known as Thira, this island owes its dramatic landscape to one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history. In approximately 1600 B.C., the volcano that made up this island erupted in a catastrophic explosion known as the Minoan eruption. What was once then the island of Thira sank to the bottom of the caldera and the sea rushed into the abyss to create the great bay. The bay, once the high center of the island, is 1300 feet deep in some places - so deep, that ships don't drop anchor. Along the caldera are sharp cliffs rising 1100 feet, with the white clusters of the towns of Fira and Oia perched along the top.

We were off the ship by 8:30 and boarded a local tender (contracted by Holland America) for the trip ashore. From there, we took a minivan to the city of Oia and started exploring. There are few traditional streets. Rather, the majority of shops can only be accessed on foot via narrow, winding walkways, not much wider than a traditional sidewalk. And there were thousands upon thousands of tourists today...all trying to navigate these walkways! The congestion was due largely to the fact that there were FOUR cruise ships visiting simultaneously. While it was absolute chaos, we enjoyed every minute of it as something of beauty was always around each corner. We stopped around 11:30 for some local beer & wine at a quaint, open-air cafe overlooking the nearby castle and the bay several hundred feet below us. The view was breathtaking. It was still overcast with a threat of rain, which helped hold temps down to a cool 72. The sun emerged just as we were leaving the city at 12:30. We took a bus to Thira where we caught a cable car back to the boardwalk, then on to the tender back to the ship. We would've done more exploring today, but we'll be back here on October 7th and plan to explore the rest of the island then.

 Definitely a bucket list destination for everyone. Not only are the views spectacular, the cities are clean & the folks are very friendly, at least those we confronted with either questions, help with directions, ordering drinks, arranging transportation. What a wonderful day in every respect!