Santorini, Greece

.... .....I never understood the unique topographical situation of Fira (the major town) and Santorini until I arrived ther. Those giant walls you see have a white strip on the top which is Fira - the town. The 700' wall below it, and behind the red high speed ferry is the interior all of a giant collapsed volcano. If you loo behind the parked cruise ship, you will see the dome of the imploded giant - which is still steaming from a vent. You can stand in Fira and look out at the ocean and see the ring of small islands that formed the cone and became islands after the implosions and when the edges of the ring broke in places.

There is an interesting problem in this harbour. A ferry capable of carrying 1,500 passengers and many cars and trucks, sank in the harbour several years ago. All of the passengers and crew were safe. But the insurance co., the operator, the harbour authority and the government have all refused to salvage the wreck and prevent further environmental damage. At some points that harbour is more than 1,000 ft. deep, but the ferry is said to be at 750 ft.

You can immediately see that upon arrival, the passengers from the many ships docking here must somehow ascend the great hill. If you look closely behind the red jet boat, you may be able to see a series of long z z z's. That is the massive climb and decline for the big busses that takes people up from the new port. The turns are so sharp that two vehicles cannot meet successfully on a turn. But there is also a funicular, the cars of which carry six passengers each up or down for a stiff fee. But at the old port, you could walk up some nearly eternal steps, or just hire one of the mules to take you up - for about $7.00. The mules are big as horses and in remarkably good shape, although as miserable as mules love to be. When the mules come to work in the a.m. and go home at night, they have to cut through the main part of Fira where the greatest foot traffic is and all the open restaurants are (of course, abundantly dropping manure all the way). At the point where they have to start their descent, the muleteers have to re-rope them in single file and the mules wait crowded together, intemperately and looking sour & threatening and somehow they do remind us of the candidates for Mayor in Toronto at the present time. Do they ever! But they are a good show and I loved to see them coming each day.. I will post a photo of them standing in line down at the load/unload point as well.

Fira is initially frustrating because there really is one street for traffic which is jammed all the time, and many streets for pedestrians only which are also jammed because they are intended for "shopping." There are sometimes 11 cruise ships with an avg of 2,000 at least dropping off tourists for the day. The congestion is massive. Worse, there have always been renters of motorbikes, but now they are joined by fleets of 4 wheeled ATVs driven by young people who just want to be on anything that has a motor and is noisy. It is quite tiresome. But it is also so beautiful that you cannot run away and miss it.