Living on the Edge

Wednesday 15 May (Day 22)

Having spent yesterday getting our bearings in the rain we were very pleased to awake to a beautiful sunny morning and planned a day of further exploration around the island and a chance to take many more photographs of this amazing place.

After a delicious breakfast we set off to walk along the caldera wall (rim of the volcano!) into the main town of Fira.  Once in Fira we headed straight to the bus station and caught a bus to Akrotiri which was the ancient capital city of Santorini.  It was built in 4500 BC and completely destroyed in the volcanic eruption in 1640 BC.  It has now been partly excavated and parts of the ruined city are now visible and housed in a fantastic exhibition space.  There is some mystery surrounding the ruins as unlike Pompeii no human remains have ever been found.  There has also never been any gold found on the site although it is believed that the ancient inhabitants were extremely rich.  We even saw a pre-historic toilet!

We then caught the bus back to Fira and another bus out again in the opposite direction to go back to Oia for a wander through the picturesque village again clinging to the rim of the volcano, a coffee stop with a magnificent view and of course, to watch the sunset before heading back to our village for a pizza and a well-earned rest.  It would also appear that Santorini is the perfect place to takes photographs of brides for promotion purposes.

We are leaving Santorini tomorrow to head to our next island destination of Naxos where we have 9 days in the same place so hopefully there will be an opportunity to do some much needed clothes washing.

Santorini has been everything we thought it would be and more.  It is an amazing place with the most magnificent views and a very special atmosphere.  We have wanted to come here for so long and now we can finally say we have done it!

 Akrotiri ruins

You wait ages for a bride and two turn up at once! 

 Table for Two?

 Everyone loves a sunset

 and finally... the sunset photos