Day One Hundred Four - April 19

Another cloudy day was in store for us today and a strong possibility of rain showers as the ship arrived in Santorini. The island is about 200 kilometers from the Greek mainland.

The two main towns of Fira and Oia tower some 300 meters or 980 feet above the Aegean Sea. Various colours can be found in the rock formations but the towns really stand out with the bright blue domes, otherwise all the buildings are bright white. It is a good contrast when the sun is shining.

The cloudy day however was great for photography.

The island has its own tender service to transport passengers to the island. Once on the island you take a cable car up to the town of Fira. You also have the choice to walk up, which takes about 45 minutes.

There was another P&O ship in the harbour that seemed to be at full capacity as many passengers descended to the island.

The entire island has a population around 11,500 people however estimates suggest 500,000 tourists visit the island annually. This makes for very crowded situations as the streets in Fira and Oia are quite narrow.

People come to the island to stay in the hotels overlooking the Aegean Sea and the dominant volcano. This is a return visit spot if there ever was one but I think early April and May are good as the number of tourists should be less.

Again it was off with Keith and Ilona to walk between Fira and Oia approximately seven miles. The trail is marked quite well when you leave Fira however we must have missed a turn off because later we found our selves on the road in steady rain. It got so bad that Janice waved down a bus to take us the remainder of the way. Miraculously it stopped and allowed us on.

The P&O ship tours seemed to all be in Oia when we arrived and the rain was persisting. Some of you may have seen the picture of Oia which its wind mill and blue towers (see above) but the clouds do not do it justice.

A bus return to Fira gave us some time to shop before using the path to walk down to the tender port.

The next day is a sea day with our next port of call is Dubrovnik, Crotia, 604 natical miles away. This will bbe the last sea day on this segment.

We are a little sad to leave Greece as we really enjoyed our ports of call, the locals and especially the food. Janice even enjoyed the Greek wine.