Santorini – Σαντορίνη

Santorini is basically what remains of an enormous volcanic explosion. The explosion destroyed the earliest settlements on what was formerly a single island. It lead to the creation of the current geological caldera.

Our tour guide told us that we had two options for the tours: * Tour the city and shop. *Do the volcano hike and see a little of the city.

As a group we figured we needed a little more excitement, and so we all decided to do the second option. While we prepared for our tour, we were told to wear bathing suits because we would have the opportunity to swim in the hot springs. We all looked hilarious with our distinct fashion trends: sneakers and bathing suits. 

When we were on the line getting ready to disembark, we realized we were being disembarked in the middle of the Aegean sea into a smaller boat, because our cruise ship was too big to go near the volcano area. This was exciting and freaky! We all got into the smaller boat and sailed to the edge, where another boat was waiting to take us to the volcano.

The color of the water changed drastically as we approached the volcano. This was due to the sulfur in the water. The hike wasn’t intense at all! I hiked a volcano in Guatemala once before, therefore I was expecting this one to be a bit challenging, but I was way off! It was fairly easy to climb; the only problem was that is was extremely sandy, so we had to be very cautious with our steps. To my disappointment, this is not an active volcano. By the time we got to the top there was not much to do or see. However, we got to smell a little fume that still emanates from years ago, through a hole in one of the remaining peaks.

As we made our return from the other side of the volcano, the boat took us to the hot springs. I was not able to swim in them, but from what I saw and heard, people had mixed feelings about them. The boat had to stay about twenty-five feet from the hot springs, so people had to swim from the boat to the hot springs. The water from the boat to the hot springs was really cold; this I assume was the part that most people did not like.

After this, we sailed to the edge of the island and got on a bus that drove us up a very scary hill, till we got to the town of Santorini. We had very little time to explore, since most of our day had been spent hiking and enjoying the volcano. In order to get back on the cruise ship, we had to descend from the other side of the town. The way they do it is CRAZY! But AWESOME! We all got to sit in cable cars and ride down to the cruise.