Our day at sea was peaceful. Janet and I spent a lot of time sitting by the pool in the solarium taking in the Mediterranean sun. The sunsets are gorgeous and the sunrises spectacular. I woke up around 4:00 AM to see the moon shining brightly over a clear and starry sky. We were coming into Santorini so I took pictures of it and the sunrise.

As the ship glides into the crater of the extinct volcano, you get the sense that this is a place from another world. The whitewashed houses, churches and stores perched precariously on the top and sides of the rim make you wonder what people were thinking. There was only one other smaller ship in the caldera with us so we knew we’d have the island to ourselves. We opted not to take the donkeys to the top but chose the tram which whisked us up the crags in no time. We ventured out into the cramped streets filled with shoppers sampling the boutique shops. There were two large churches on either side of the town of Fira. The first was Roman Catholic, and the other Eastern Orthodox. Having visited so many throughout the trip, it seemed almost obligatory to see these. I was very impressed with the Orthodox church and the striking differences from what we’d seen in all the Catholic structures.

I’d booked a lunch reservation a few weeks prior to the cruise at one of the restaurants that overlook the caldera. It wasn’t needed, but it did give us some kind of anchor to our morning. We ate traditional greek dishes like Moussaka and Fava bean dip as well as our new favorite drink, aperol spritz! While hot, there was a nice breeze that made eating outdoors very pleasant.

After lunch we headed over to the public bus station. I’d done quite a bit of research on how to get around the island and this was the best way for us to get to Kamari beach on the other side of the island. Kamari is a typical beach town by anyone’s definition. Sometimes when people mention beaches in the Greek Islands they think of party beaches. This one was more a family beach. While populated, it wasn’t overcrowded or rowdy. The lounge chairs come attached to restaurants and are free with the purchase of $35 euros of food or beverage per person. Since we knew our Aperol spritz were on the menu, it wasn’t hard to fork over the money. The beach was rocky so it was a good thing we brought our water shoes with us. The water was refreshing and I could have stayed there all day.

Too soon, it was time to go catch the bus back to Fira. We stopped at one of the local stores and picked up a couple of souvenirs that we thought embodied the beauty of the island. It’s easy to see why this place is so popular.

I could probably come and just spend a few days here enjoying the sun and the beauty! Unfortunately we weren’t able to stay for the sunset, however we did get to witness it from the ship. The day began and ended with the beauty of the sun.