A mule ride on the beautiful Greek isle of Santorini.

Lying 126 nautical miles south and east of Athens, Santorini is a rare place where legend is matched  by reality  Being one of the most spectacular islands in the world, Santorini’s cliff faced crescent isle graces tourist brochures and posters all over the world.  The real wonder is tat the place meets and exceeds all picture postcard expectations. Sheltered in an  ancient volcano’s caldera, its two principal towns, Fira and Oia, are perched atop the summit of the caldera where their whitewashed houses resemble a dusting of new snow of the mountain top.  (Courtesy of HAL)

It was the summer of 1967 when Barbara and I first visited this enchanting island, as we anchored in the caldera onboard a Greek Cruise ship.  The Special Services department at our Naval Communication Station in Nea Makri, had chartered the ship for a multi-day weekend cruise, for only $50 per person. That was our first magical adventure in cruising.  The ship was bare-bones as far as frills were concerned.  Our stateroom accommodations consisted of four bunk type beds stacked two high, possible a sink and a porthole.  We shared our stateroom with our teenaged house guest from Great Britain; Yvonne Rundle, the sister of Art Rundle with whom I had wintered-over at Palmer Station Antarctica, the previous year.

This time the weather was not the type one associates with the Greek isles in all the travel brochures and pictures, as it was overcast and on shore it was bit windy.  First to disembark the ship were the tour groups as busses were waiting for them at a pier that could accommodate vehicles. Where we disembark there were no vehicles, unless you classify a mule and a cable car as vehicles… humm, I guess you could.

As the attached pictures will attest, Santorini is charmingly beautiful in any weather and I am sure one can find tons of beautiful sundrenched photos of sunsets and such on the internet, but when you only have one short day, you take what you can get and make the most of it.

Be sure to read the captions and comments on each picture.

Ya Ssou, Jack and Barbara

Next: Argostoli, Greece, a Wonderful Surprise

		4-13-2012 Santorini, Greece VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL