Zoe On Tour 2013: Santorini in a child's eye

This blog will be a bit different from all the others because I'm just telling you what I did and what it's like here, not in order.

Firstly, this is what happens to dads who shout at their lovely daughters about Maths homework

Itinerary

I've done so far:

Rode on a Cable car down a steep and rocky mountain
Taken a donkey ride up the above mentioned steep and rocky mountain
Taken a volcano tour on a rickety old boat
Went to Oia at e far north of the island which the Greeks say as Eeya
Witnessed two sunset weddings
Explored the acient Venetian capital
Took a ferry to Naxos

Firstly - this did not happen when we went on the cable car

Here's a picture from our cable car:

Isn't that incline beautiful

Santorini is in a Caldera, which is the roof of a volcano. Hundreds of years ago the volcano exploded and the island of Santorini was split up by the lava and molten rock. The once flat terrain of Santorini became mountainous and hilly but the real damage was what the ocean claimed.

The volcano erupting caused the demolition of the land around, leaving the city walls open rock hundreds of metres high. You can see all layers of rock, each showing a stage in time.

The legend of the lost city of Atlantis?

At the time of the great eruption, the land around the volcano sunk. The sea came flooding in to where the sinking land had blocked it from entering. The sea took its chance, and darting in, all this land was overtaken by the great blue. The city and dwellings of the region were destroyed. Lost into the treacherous, boiling ocean. Some say that this is where the legend of the lost undersea city of Atlantis was born!

I feel so dramatic!

This is also why the incline is so steep and it is hard for humans to walk up. To make it easier the path curves back and forth on itself so the angle is not so acute.

But it isn't so hard to trot up, so, Traditionally the folk of Santorini (and now tourists for 5 euros a ride) can take a donkey to the top. Or does the donkey take a human?

Drew really bonded with his ride!

Donkeys are thoroughly misunderstood creatures and are not stubborn at all, I love their eyes the most.

Here are some facts about donkeys:

Santorini is extremely beauteous and holds many surprises and pockets of happiness as my brother found out on the trip to the volcano on this traditional wooden and slightly smelly (fishy) boat.

The volcano view was so amazing to little Drew boo and i think to all of us as well although its hard to know because he is talking all the time.

Notice the more recent black stone at the back from 60 years ago and the older volcanic rock near the front of the picture.

Pumice stone is abundent here as well as a red iron ore ish stone and a mysterios porous black stone as seen in this picture. Pumice is light as a feather and chalky in consistency. You can pick up as much as you want from the floor around you or pay 1.50Euros for a small piece in the tourist shops.

There is one more active bit of the volcano. You can smell the sulfur but its not like you imagine. There isn't any large cone with lava at the bottom, all the activity is underground. There are lots of very steep rocky hills (pushed up by the volcano below). Drew almost slipped down a number of times. Do not want that to happen, right, right?

Skaros

Another amazing thing we did in Santorini was a self guided tour of king rock, the old Venetian capital of Santorini and that was beautiful! King rock or scaros