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After seeing those other, more picturesque islands and all those photos of Santorini, I was pretty surprised when we finally docked. The land, while dramatically beautiful, was far more stark and desolate than I had expected. The water was still a brilliant blue, though, so all I could think of was finally getting to the beach.

The owner of our hotel, Georgios, picked us up at the dock and took us on a hair-raising journey up the narrow and winding road. I think my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he passed the first enormous truck, but that seemed to be standard procedure. I sorely missed our standard issue American seatbelts.

We arrived safely though, and Georgios informed us that he had given us a free upgrade to an apartment. It's beautiful and enormous, with a large, marble patio and three spacious rooms. I snagged the bed by the window and did some unpacking. I felt impatient, but everyone wanted to wait for the reception desk to open before doing anything. I finally convinced them to just give it a try.

So we walked to the bus station, but we missed the bus to Kamari beach. To eat up the time, we walked around Fira a bit. The town is lovely, with narrow, cobbled walkways between hole-in-the-wall shops. We stopped at a store for some groceries, then headed home and then to the station again.

I was bitterly disappointed. Instead of golden sand, the "beach" was made of round black pebbles, with a foot drop to the water. Clouds had come in and, together with the wind, I was frozen. I poked at the pebbles, which were actually of a wide variety of different colors, while the others waded.

Things perked up when I went to climb on the large rocks that extended out into the cove. I got up the nerve to go waist deep, and then I was nibbled by dozens of little fishes. This became the new favorite past time, as Margaret joined me in dangling legs in to be nibbled. Soon we grew tired of this, though, so we got out to catch the bus back home.

When we arrived, we changed for dinner. We wandered about Fira looking for something cheap but promising, and settled on a place with a view over the water. We were puzzled because we'd chosen it by it's bustling appearance from a distance, but when we got close it was empty.

I ordered a Greek lamb dish and was a bit surprised when "potatoes" turned ouot to be french fries. As we finished up a guy who'd been eyeing us the whole mean came up to the table. It turned out he was Australian, and very nice.

By the time we got home, I was exhausted, and it was a welcome relief to shower and fall into bed. We had squabbled about today's plans, and I was anxious about the rest of the trip.

This morning Katy let us sleep in, turning off the alarms. I'm so glad that she did.

I breakfasted on bread, milk, and a hard-boiled egg, made from yesterday's groceries. Our apartment even has a stove and kitchenware, so I'd cooked the egg myself. You'd be proud: I gulped down 1.5% fat.

We finally agreed to spend the morning walking around Fira, though we got a late start. As we walked, my heart grew lighter and lighter, though we often paused to wait for Becky. This was fine as both the architecture and view were stunning. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Amazingly, we ran into the Australian again, and he told us how to find the quintessential picture of Greece. Sure enough, we did.

We wandered and wandered and eventually came to a path down the cliffs away from the city. There we found remnants of old dwellings, carved into the side of the cliffs and made of mortered stone. Margaret and I climbed around delightedly. We made it all the way to the end as far as we could see, where the path led down to a huge rock formation via zillions of wide steps.

Katy, Margaret, and I went for it. Katy went ahead while Margaret and I explored some houses still under construction. Then we saw her heading back. Margaret and I decided to see for ourselves. The path got narrow in one place, but we persevered around the back of a rock formation, where it all but disappeared in the crag.

I had seen what looked like a path at the very top, so we looked around and found what seemed to be an old trail. We scrabbled up the rocks and, at the end, climbed a tall mortared wall, using the stones for hand- and foot-holds.

We were so proud to reach the top. There were even signs of old dwellings.

At last we climbed back down, and took a different path down the back of the peak. We had seen the dome and steeple of a little church, and hoped to see it.

It was certainly our lucky day because find it we did. The peace of the place was astounding. There were no other people, and all we could hear was the wind. We both whispered.

Finally we had our fill and turned back. Katy and Becky were waiting at the top of the hill. I was so satisfied that I stayed back to walk slowly with Becky. I was so grateful that she was willing to tag along with us. And she made excellent conversation all the way home.

We just finished off with a gyro lunch. Everyone else is napping, and I think I'll go join them.

We napped for a long time yesterday afternoon, but I for one felt that I really needed it. I felt so much better when I woke up.

As it was evening by then, we changed for dinner and went out to do some shopping. I didn't buy anything, but instead tried to get a feel for what was available. For my Dad I'd like to get an oil painting of the area. I saw honey with nuts that would be perfect for Mom. She might also like the Ouzo which comes in a pretty Santorini bottle. Personally, I'm interested in the little stuffed donkey, the silver icons, and the winged phallus replica. I probably should also get some postcards.

We stopped for a late dinner, as usual. I had a nice Greek salad, and tried some fried cheese and eggplant salad. It was all fine. It's interesting: here they have a cover charge for dinner, but they always give you a bread basket. However, we have to buy all our water; even in Europe we're not supposed to drink it from the tap, for reasons I don't exactly understand.

This morning we actually got up on time, in spite of the late night. After a home-made breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, brown bread, and an apple, we caught the bus to Akrotiri.

There we went to see the excavations of some ancient ruins, which were well-preserved by a huge eruption that actually created Santorini out of hte original volcanic island of Thira. It was all indoors, and there were wood planks and metal tubing everywhere.

The archeaologists had poured cement into the crevasses where the ash had seared away the wood. This gave some idea of the shapes of the doors and windows; the rest of the buildings were stone.

Although there were a few items, pots and even a toilet of stone, most of the finest work, the frescoes, ha been removed to the local museum.

Overall I think we were all a disappointed. While the site was enormous, the steup made it hard to see much. I was also unable to match up the floor plans presented with what we were looking at. Tomorrow we're going to visit the museum. Hopefully that wll be more impressive.

We then hiked the four miles from Akrotiri to Perissa.

We stopped once for lunch at a small creperie. I had a traditional, which had feta, onions, green peppers, olives, and tomatoes. I thought a bit too heavy on the first two, and it was huge. Becky ordered a chocolate one, and I had a bite of that, too. It was excellent.

Perissa was nearly as disappointing a beach as Kamari. It was stony, and the part under the waterline was poured concrete! Katy and I went off to look for better, and found a sandy cove. The only problem was the immense quantity of seaweed.

We spread out our towels to sunbathe anyway, and along came a vendor from an adjacent cafe. We decided to buy water (at 0.50 euro each) and when he returned he pulled up the wonderful striped chairs owned by the cafe. We felt like queens. Nonetheless, it was tough not to see the irony in this beachside "paradise".

Later we braced ourselves for a swim. The water was pretty darn cold, and we eased our way in. It was also filled with seaweed. There was less in the water as we went out, but we could still feel it between our toes. At least the bottom was sand, though. We had to keep moving to stay warm, and when some other people ventured deeper, I followed. I brought my goggles, and through them I could see a forest of seaweed below arm's reach, as well as some small silver fish. These scared the heck out of Katy, who turned back, and I eventually grew anxious enough to follow. When we got out, we were both ready to soak up the sun.

All right. We just got back and showered, and now we're off to dinner.

I promised I'd write every day, but it's been a long day and it'll be an early morning, so this might not be so complete.

Last night's dinner was probably the best bargain yet. I shared an appetizer of cheese balls with Becky, and had for myself stuffed pepper and tomato. Afterward we did more shopping, and I did buy the Ouzo, honey, and painting.

Margaret and Becky rose early to attend Saturday service. Katy and I slept through it, but then got up while they were gone. They came back quickly; they'd got the time wrong. Almost immediately, they fell back asleep while "waiting" for Katy to shower. Once Katy came out, we decided to let them sleep.

I started "In Conquest Born" while waiting. Catherine hadn't recommended it, but I've enjoyed it so far.

By eleven they had woken of their own accord, and we set off for The Museum of Ancient Thira. It holds artifacts from the site we visited yesterday. Unlike the excavations, the museum impressed me. It was laid out well, and all of the pieces had excellent labels and explanations. Mostly the museum featured pottery, but it also had several amazing frescoes. THe neatest part of these was that the colors were still vividly preserved. That's one advantage to volcanoes!

OK, I gotta go, but I'll finish up on the ferry tomorrow.

It's early morning and we're going on the ferry once again, waiting to leave Santorini for good.

Where did I leave off? Oh, yes, at the museum. Margaret and Katy are on a tight budget, so they wanted to go grocery shopping and eat at home. Becky wanted something more substantial than salad. I agreed to keep her company, so the two of us got gyros at a local take-away.

We all waited at the apartment for the bus to Oia. We allocated far too much time to it. We sat around quite a bit, and took as much time as we could stand window-shopping.

From the lookout we saw a chain of mules on a trail to the old, small port down below. Of course Margaret and Katy wanted to follow, so I joined them.

The stairs were steep and had worn so that even the steps were almost diagonal. The slope was actually fairly short, and the girls flew down, so we gained our goal quickly. The water was clear and blue, and there was another Santorini "beach" of red and black rock. The red rock was light, almost like pumice. I took a small one for Dad. I was also finally grateful for my Tevas, which let me wade on yet another patch of underwater concrete.

Before long we decided to get going so as to meet Becky on time. The walk up required some exertion, but was rather pleasant nevertheless. I realized how little exercise we've really gotten here. But at least I've been doing a good job on my diet (in the sense of nutrition, but I'm proud to say that while I've had bites of others', I haven't bought my own dessert since the trip began.)

After joining Becky we wandered around the shops some more, and saw a large church for the area. We all stopped at a bakery and I finally got to try spinach pie. Becky couldn't finish her Baklava, so I got to try a bit of that, too. Both were delicious. I also broke down and bought one of the little donkeys made of the softest (real?) fur. I'll mail it to Sage if I can get her address.

Becky joined us in sauntering over to a lookout based on some ruined building. It made an especially stark contrast: the new and colorful, active shops and apartments, versus several of the same kinds of buildings, now abandoned and already crumbling. Many had "For Sale" spray-painted on the roof or porch.

From that vantage point, we spotted a dirt trail to an abandoned church. Katy, Margaret, and I wanted to walk down to it, especially since we had so much time until the sunset we had planned to wait for. Becky decided to wait.

The walk itself was quite adventurous: built into one of the unused homes was some sort of bizarre exhibit, either of modern art or witchcraft, I'm not sure which. It was eerie, but I'm glad I got to see it. The church itself was unexciting, so we followed the trail around it.

The path led to a promontory featuring more decaying buildings that looked like they'd been left mid-construction. Trash was strewn about. Overall, it was a sad picture. We rushed back to Oia, but were way early for our meeting with Becky.

Katy and Margaret decided to eat take away at a gyrocery. When we got back to Becky, they suggested she and I get something quick so we could make it back for the sunset. Becky preferred a deferred sit-down dinner. So we sat in two groups, Becky alone, standing, the three of un on a little wall. Eventually Margaret joined Becky.

The irony of it all was that it took probably an hour and fifteen minutes for the sun to finally sink below high clouds. The wind picked up and we shivered the whole time; eventually resorting to huddling together to conserve body heat. The sunset itself was bland and washed-out.

Becky wanted dinner indoors. I couldn't really disagree, tough I'd rather have gone straight home and skipped it all. The first place we came across turned out expensive. We finished quickly, only to end up waiting at the bus stop for another half an hour. THe only saving grace was that it was sheltered.

The arrival of the bus heralded another Alanis moment, when to Becky's dismay the crowd surged ahead of us and we stood through the winding curves all the way home. Margaret and Katy went for ice cream. Becky came with me as the girls walked away.

When we got back to the apartment, I showered and packed.