Santorini, Greece

As we approached the Greek isle of Santorini, it looked like there was snow high up on the mountainous top of the island. Upon closer inspection, these were white houses perched on top of this gorgeous island! We were tendered from the ship to Athinos pier. From there we took a winding bus ride up to the top of the highest peak on the island, called the Mountain of Prophet Elias. From this vantage point the views were spectacular. Then on to Oia, pronounced eea, for a visit to this lovely and quaint village. All the homes were white with blue trim. It was fun to explore the shops and galleries high up on the island, each view better than the next. We found a coffee shop and sat on a tiny balcony perched over the edge of the mountain and had coffee and bakalava. That experience will stay with me forever! Next we went to Fira, the largest city on the island. It was also filled with white buildings and narrow cobblestone alleys and walkways. I did a little exploring (shopping) and Jim found a great coffee shop with an internet café. When it was time to go back to the ship we had 3 options for getting down the mountain. One was a cable car, there was a long winding stairway of irregular cobblestone steps that you could walk on foot or you could ride a donkey down the steps!! I rode the donkey and Jim took the cable car. The donkeys know how to make their way carefully down the steps and it was a fun way to see the beauty of the island as we slowly made our way down. In contrast, Jim said the cable car took less than a couple minutes. Santorini ranks as one of our most favorite ports on this magnificent voyage and I hope we can come back someday!!