GREECE PHOTO DIARY: SANTORINI DAY 1

Before I travel to a new destination I make sure to do my homework online and ask friends for advice. When visiting Sanorini a few weeks ago I made sure two activities at the top of our agenda…  taking a lunch cruise around the island and riding a donkey down to the port.

            On the first morning we were picked up from our little bed & breakfast and taken down to the water by Blue Lagoon Cruises. It was off peak timing, so it ended up being just the two of us and a recently-wed gay couple on their honeymoon sharing the boat.

The waters were particularly choppy that day causing a bit of excitement for everyone on board. Once the waves smoothed out, the water became a magnificent shade of sparkling blue. At certain times we could see just under the surf where schools of colorful fish languidly swam by. As the day drew happily into evening we were treated to a view I will not soon forget: the legendary sun setting over the volcano.

            As for the donkeys… they were a little less accommodating. Santorini itself is a very tall island and the majority of the town is located on the upper portion. This positioning lends itself beautifully to pictures, but slightly less so to actually getting down to the water.

 I have a freak fear of cable cars (something to do with a trip to Randall’s Island as a child), so my options were either walking a full mile up/down the steep stairs or hopping on the back of a donkey and giddying up. I chose to save my legs.Apart from a brief blip when my guy nearly ran over a group of hikers (they’ve got much more stamina than I do!), it ended up being one of the highlights of my trip!