Santorini and the caldera

The day started bright and early by getting on the local tender and being taken to the new port of Athinios in Santorini, at the very bottom of the caldera and its 1300 feet high cliffs. The caldera (Italian for cauldron) is essentially the area of the crater of this active volcanic island, just filled with seawater! The landscape was majestic, a peaceful calm sea with no megaships there. We landed and got on to our two buses and drove up a narrow windy road to the top of the steep cliffs enjoying the spectacular views of several islands in the immediate area. Thirasia is across the caldera and the second largest, another remnant of the ‘rim’ of the crater/cauldron; Asrponissi (white island), tiny and uninhabited with the same typical white ‘icing’ at its top, a thick layer of pumice stone; and last, the two pitch black islands in the centre of the caldera, Palea Kameni and Nea Kameni, or the Old Burnt and the New Burnt Islands which are nothing else but the result of the continuous emission of magma from the guts of earth that are building up and forming new landmasses.

After a thirty minute scenic drive close to the edge of the caldera, we reached our first destination, the candid, beautiful, breath-taking traditional town of Oia at the northernmost part of the island. Once upon a time the capital of Santorini, nowadays it is one of the most wanted and expensive real estate properties in Greece, with its old houses, its man-made cave houses (hyposcafa) dug out of the pumice stone in the ground, the countless steps and front yards, and its numerous blue-domed churches. It’s the iconic Cycladic town and took our group’s breath away! We enjoyed our free time laboring in the local cafes and shops, before getting back to our buses and driving to lunch.

Our drive through the vineyards, pistachio trees, fava bean and tomato fields took us this time to the southernmost part of the island, and to Mrs. Litsa’s restaurant Aeolos (the god of the winds, who was kind enough to be on our side in this trip!). We enjoyed another, great Greek lunch and an amazing caldera view, before driving to the capital of Fira. There, we made our cultural pilgrimage for the day to the Nomikos Foundation, a beautiful mansion of a very important family of ship owners from the island, which nowadays operates as a conference centre and a museum with life size reproductions of the famous frescoes of Akrotiri. This was a prehistoric city that was buried under a massive volcanic eruption 3.600 years ago - a ‘prehistoric Pompeii’ as it is called - and preserved therefore many of the frescoes that decorated the houses of its sophisticated wealthy sea merchants. The Spring fresco and the elegant Saffron Gatherers stood out. At the end of the brief visit we stepped outside to the caldera side of the mansion and it literally felt, as someone in the group exclaimed, that we were at the top of the world!

Later in the day, we had free time in Fira and an important choice to make: to go down to the old port of Fira by taking the cable car, or the donkeys!! There were at least three fearless members of our group who rode the donkeys – mules in reality - another two who walked the steep, fragrant donkey path down, while the rest of us watched full of admiration and took the cable car! The day culminated to a wonderful swim from the stern of the Panorama in the 1200 feet deep waters between the two Kameni Islands in the caldera! And so this day went down in history as not only the day we saw one of the most dramatic landscapes on earth and walked on the edge of the crater of one of the most violent volcanoes on the globe, but also as the day we happily swam in its crater!!

The day concluded happily with drinks in the Lounge, more spectacular views - of what else but the caldera! - as the sun was setting, and a wonderful presentation by our ethno-botanist Sharon. Her close-up amazing photos of the wild flora we encountered on our trip and an aromatic tasting of various Greek herbs and spices.