Countdown: Top 5 Places & Why
#3: Greek Islands – Santorini
“There is nothing like being on the island of Santorini; it is breathtaking, beautiful, and beyond the breath of human words.” – Author’s quote
With a break from our land tour, I got to go to 6 Greek Islands over a 4 day sea excursion. It was my first time on a cruise ship (these things are massive and have almost-anything-containing awesome one could think of.) We started in Athens and went to these following islands: Mykonos; Kusadesi,Turkey; Patmos; Rhodes; Crete & Santorini. Of these, Santorini was my most favorite Greek Island. Mykonos was a close second, as it was very similar to Santorini in its blue and white colors. Overall, I loved the experience of island hopping!
Santorini hillside
Santorini Highlights:
- Coming into the island of Santorini from the Aegean Sea is magnificent. I got to watch the grand entrance from the top deck of our cruise ship, pressed against the center of the front railing. It was a very clear, blue-skied day and in the distance a top the mountain all I could see was the color white before my eyes. I thought it was snow and my first thought was, “I should’ve brought my skis to go skiing, how cool would that be?” Oblivious to the summer temperatures, it then dawned on me that this white stuff wasn’t snow; it was the signature white-washed buildings Santorini is famous for
- Our cruise boat docked in the middle of the ocean & we took a small ferry to land. From there, we got on a Greyhound bus which took us up the mountain on switchbacks roads. Once at the top, we made our way to Oia and passed through the capital, Fina
- I got to walk along the cliff walls in Oia (pronounced: “ee-uh”) with the piercing blue Aegean sea as our backdrop. The sights and views were like nothing I’ve ever seen
- We were very fortunate to have seen this island on a perfect day and to see amazing, clear views for miles into the open water’s and beyond
- The experience was everything how the island is portrayed: Blue and white domed buildings built into the side of a cliff, and of course, an endless view of blue, uninhabited ocean waters set before our eyes
- Our time ended heading back to the cruise ship during sunset with the beautiful, dawning colors lighting up the red rocks of the mountain. I remember seriously contemplating jumping off the ferry boat into the water and swimming back to land, as this island had so gripped my heart that I did not want to leave
Entrance into Santorini from the Aegean Sea
Sunset on Santorini
Boarding cruise ship at sunset
Greece Quotes:
“Experience, travel – these are as education in themselves.” – Euripides
“Happy is the man, I thought, who, before dying, has the good fortune to sail the Aegean sea.” – Nikos Kazantzakis
“I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.” – Socrates
“I have never come across someone who could inspire more respect than the Greek philosophers.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“If in the library of your house you do not have the works of the ancient Greek writers, then you live in a house with no light.” – George Bernard Shaw
“Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks.” – Sir Winston Churchill
“How can any educated person stay away from the Greeks? I have always been far more interested in them than in science.” – Albert Einstein
“Of all peoples the Greeks have dreamt the dream of life best.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Greece is the mother of science and the source of knowledge.” – Moses of Chorene
“I would prefer to be a Greek, rather than a heir apparent of a throne.” – Ludwig I, King of Bavaria
“The ancient Oracle said that I was the wisest of all the Greeks. It is because I alone, of all the Greeks, know that I know nothing.” – Socrates
“In every island of the Aegean Sea are found abundant traces of a vast prehistoric empire.” – James Theodore Bent
Dwight Van Middlesworth 