Santorini, Greece

The next stop on our Mediterranean cruise was 

Santorini.

This was definitely one of our favorite stops,

though it took awhile to find the beauty.

We didnt do our research like we should have for this one,

and just assumed that as soon as we stepped off the boat, 

beauty would surround us.

It did, sort-of.

We had to take a tender boat to the shore from the cruise ship.

The area where we docked was breathtakingly beautiful.

But it's at the bottom of the cliff and the city is at the top.

There are only three ways to get to the top:

Walk the 600+ stairs, 

ride a temperamental donkey, 

or

a 1.5 minute cable car ride.

Santorini sits on top of the cliffs. See the windy trail that leads to the top?

Can you guess which one we chose? 

The cable cars of course! 

It was the quickest option and we had a 

limited amount of time in port.

I'm terrified of heights and small, enclosed spaces, 

but it was actually kind of nice. 

Our mistake was taking a left off the cable cars instead of a right.

To the left was the center of the capital city, Fira. 

To the right was a trail that lead to the bluffs overlooking the ocean

and all the beauty.

We of course chose wrong and went left first.

We wondered around for a bit in the city until an older

Greek gentleman stopped us and asked us if we needed any help.

We told him that we were looking for the turquoise blue

topped buildings, the ones you see on all of the postcards.

He told us to wait one minute and went into his shop.

When he came back out he gave us a map of the island

and on the cover was THE turquoise topped building, the scene 

from all of the postcards and paintings. 

He told us to go up the hill and take a left

and just keep walking, we would 

eventually find it. 

So off we went up the hill, around to the left, 

up another hill and 1000 or so stairs (if felt like that many at least!)

until we reached the edge of the bluffs.

It was BEAUTIFUL! 

The pictures simply can't do it justice. 

Santorini is a gorgeous island with 

gorgeous views. 

We walked along the bluffs for awhile, 

searching for the building on the cover of the map.

And then we found it. 

It was more gorgeous than what Id though it would be.

We stayed up there and took tons of photos 

and just enjoyed the view. 

J holding the map. He was standing in
the same spot at the picture on the cover!

That is our cruise ship in the background!

The island on the left is volcanic!

Afterwards we went shopping along the bluffs, 

stopped for drinks at one restaurant, 

and lunch at another,

before we had to head back to the ship. 

REAL Greek Hummus! It was delicious!

 Our next stop was Mykonos, Greece. We stopped there at night so we didnt really get any good pictures. It was a cute port town and we'd like to go back again in the daytime.

The next port of call was Rhodes, Greece. It was a wonderful historic city where one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World supposedly was located! More on that next time!