The Sunset Cruise

Liz and Ron walked with us down the long and winding cobble-stone donkey track to the old port from where our cruise left. They have done this cruise before as had Gert and Steve. Dave and Marie had been exploring Santorini all morning and decided not to go on the cruise. So it was just us for this adventure. The new port is not too far away but is accessed via a bus by a different route. The old port is used for the touristy type cruises. The new port is for the larger inter island hydrofoils.

Obviously where there are donkeys, and lots of them, there is donkey doo and pools of donkey piddle (liquid finds its way to the lowest point in each step).There were not as many flies as you would expect with all that dung. We felt sorry for the donkeys - their handlers kept whipping the donkeys rumps which gave the donkeys a real hurry up. People taking the ride up on the donkeys were hanging on tightly. There are about a thousand steps and some of the cobbles are very smooth from all the wear making the path very slippery in places. Needless to say you need to watch where you walk! When a group of donkeys comes past, you need to move right to the outside to avoid being too up close and personal with the donkeys who have a mission and are intent on doing just that. It took us about 45 minutes to walk down, which gave us 15 minutes to have a look around before the cruise started.

Once on board our cruise boat, the Thalassa, we had our tour explained to us. First stop was the volcano island. As we pulled into the small pier, the ruggedness of the island was apparent. The winding path (path is maybe too generous a word) was quite treacherous, consisting of loose gravel interspersed with larger rocks and the occasional boulder. Luckily, our group doing the climb had a range of ages and the tour guide allowed us several rest stops along the 1 kilometre climb to the summit. The volcano is dormant, but its last eruption occurred in 1950 so, it is not totally inactive.

Towards the summit, there are the twin vents of the last eruption still emitting steam, and layers of sulphur can be seen at several points around the twin vents. At one point, our guide showed us a hole in the path itself and invited us to place our hands inside - the temperature difference is quite dramatic even only a few cm inside.

By the time we reached the summit, a strong wind was blowing and it became difficult to maintain a steady balance. The wind was so strong it blew the ticket for the cruise out of John’s pocket and he had to scramble off the path and down the mountain side for several metres to retrieve it. We soldiered on to the very top where we proudly stood for our Kodak moment. After 10 minutes of free time our guide blew the whistle and we began our way back down. The downward journey was not as hard on the lungs as the upward one, but the loose gravel meant that every step had to be carefully chosen to avoid disaster.

We finally reached the pier and boarded the boat for the next stop - a swim in the waters of the warm springs on the next island.

To enter the water some of the brave and adventurous younger folk dived or jumped in from a considerable height at the front of the boat. John and I chose the more sedate entry down the ladder. On first contact the water felt cold - not as cold as the Adriatic though! Our bodies quickly accepted the temperature. As you swam closer to the inlet the water became warmer and browner. Small bubbles were rising to the surface from deep down underneath. I found it refreshing to swim back out to the clear and cool water near the boat.

This was another first for both of us. Back on board we headed to the middle of the caldera where we anchored and enjoyed a delicious feast of traditional Greek food on board. The meat balls and tatsiki were fantastic as were the savoury pastries. We were also served local Greek white wine.

It was then time to head out to where we again anchored - this time to watch the sunset! A sax player serenaded us all. It was a perfect sunset with a perfect location to experience it! Another WOW moment!

After the sunset, we joined in dancing Zorba the Greek and then headed back to the old port and disembarked. It was very pretty coming into the port seeing all the twinkling lights of Santorini. We had 3 options for getting back up to Fira. Walk, donkey or cable car. Walking was quickly deleted from our minds as we would have been walking on the donkey “parcels and puddles” in waning light. We opted for the easy option of the cable car. (The cable car was 4 euro and the donkey ride was 5.)

Once on the top we meandered around the narrow streets window shopping. We were still looking for a ring for John but found a gold and diamond bracelet for me. It is quite understated - just like me! I was hesitant about making the quite expensive purchase but after doing my decision making decided to go ahead. John made the comment that I will just need to work for a bit longer! (That’s OK as that will enable us to return to Santorini too!) Of course John enjoyed an ice-cream before we headed back to our villa - this time cherry yoghurt. John on proof reading this, has insisted I add that I too had an ice-cream. John was asleep as soon as his head met the pillow - it had been a very full and energetic day!