4/6-4/7/2025
When people think of Greece, they visualize iconic images of
Santorini with its multicolored cliffs, whitewashed houses, and blue-domed
buildings surrounded by a deep blue sea.
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| Our Tender to Santorini |
Our morning arrival to this island did
not disappoint this image. Sitting in the active South Aegean Volcanic Arc,
Santorini and smaller surrounding islands were formed over 3000 years ago by
one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history, leaving a large
water-filled caldera surrounded by deep volcanic ash deposits.
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| Our Ship in the Caldera |
With a land area
of approximately 35 mi.², the island is home to 15,480 residents (2021 census).
We disembark our ship via a tender and board a bus for a
driving tour around the crescent-shaped island. Our first stop is at the
prehistoric city of Akrotiri, a Cycladic Bronze Age settlement dating back to
the fifth millennium BC. The settlement was destroyed in a volcanic eruption
sometime around the 16th century BC. The site was buried in volcanic ash, which
preserved the remains of fine frescoes and many objects and artworks. Akrotiri
has been excavated since 1967 and is often called “the Pompeii of the Aegean.”
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| A View of Fira |
We view the ruins and continue our bus tour of the island.
Our tour ends in the capital city of Fira. Sitting over 1300
feet above the caldera on the western edge of Santorini, Fira is a city of
whitewashed houses built on the edge of a caldera cliff.
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| Fira's Blue Domes |
We have an afternoon
of free time to spend exploring the city and begin by having lunch in a Greek
restaurant with David and Linda. The food and view of the Aegean Sea could not
be more delightful. After lunch we find the “Santorini Steps to Fira,” a set of
588 steps carved into the side of the caldera cliff and transcending 1.2 miles
down to the water’s edge.
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| "Santorini Steps to Fira" |
After assessing our joints and muscles, we all decide
that we are not up to the challenge! We peruse the ubiquitous gift shops and
make a few small purchases before heading back to the city’s main square
adjacent to the beautiful St. Gerasimos Church. Unfortunately, we are unable to
go inside the church as services are being conducted.
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| St. Gerasimo Church |
We wait for the rest of
our group, then take a bus ride and tender back to our ship. We enjoy
cocktails, dinner, and sleep through an overnight sailing that takes us out of
Greece and into Turkey.
We awaken to find our ship docked in the Aegean port town of
Bodrum, Turkey. Formerly a community of fishermen and sponge divers until the
early 20th century, Bodrum today, with a population of nearly 200,000, derives
most of its income from tourism. With beautiful beaches and a pleasant climate,
Bodrum and its surrounding coast have been called the “Turkish Riviera.”
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| Our Gullet Schooner |
Historically the town was founded by Dorian Greeks and passed through eras of
Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman rule.
We disembark our ship only to embark on a beautifully
maintained, wooden, gullet-type schooner that is common to the Bodrum Peninsula
and motor sail to the Castle of St. Peter. Built by the Knights Hospitaller
starting in 1402, construction and reconstruction occurred over several decades
and is an excellent example of medieval Crusader architecture.
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| View from Bodrum Castle |
In 1962 the
Turkish government decided to turn the castle into a museum for underwater
discoveries of ancient shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea, and the Bodrum Museum of
Underwater Archaeology was born. The museum houses collections of amphoras,
ancient glass, bronze, clay, and iron items and is the largest museum devoted
to underwater archaeology.
We explore the castle grounds with its various rooms,
wings, and towers, and view the museum’s collections. We are given a choice
of taking a bus back to the ship or walking along the water’s edge to where the
ship is docked.
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| A Walk Past a Marina |
Since the walk is only around “1 mile,” we choose to walk so
that we can do a little more sightseeing in this resort town. All types of
vendors are crowded near the beach, but after about 45 minutes of walking, it
becomes painfully obvious that the Turks don’t really know what a 1-mile
distance is! We should know to always get distances in metric measures and do the math conversion ourselves. Finally, back on board, we enjoy our lunch. Afterwards, we
embarked on another gulet schooner for another cruise of the local waters.
Conditions were right for the captain to stop the boat and invite us to take a
plunge into the Aegean waters, and several members of our group did just that.
We returned to our ship and got ready for dinner, after which we sailed for our
next stop—Kusadasi, Turkey.
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| Santorini Explorers |
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