Dubai (U.A.E.) to Santorini (Greece)
Two days at
sea brought us to Dubai. Since we have been there already we
decided to go to Sharjah, which is another one of the 7 emirates. It’s 25 minutes from Dubai, but there’s no
separation between the two cities – under an overpass of a highway and you’re
there. So it was more a continuation of
skyscrapers, just not as tall. Most of
the people who do all the work in Dubai live in Sharjah, so the population is
Indian, Pakistani, and Filipino. Very expensive
for them to live here; most share rented space.
Everyone has contracts for employment and when those expire they have 29
days to find another job or they have to leave the Emirates. They pay for everything out of their
salaries: health & car insurance,
utilities, etc., whereas the ‘locals’ (anyone born in the Emirates) gets
everything free – health coverage, a free house, all utilities, even money for
a wedding and gold wedding jewelry. There isn’t much to see other than
skyscrapers, but we saw what remains of the old town and fort (mostly
reconstructed), a really beautiful museum, and went to a market. For some reason, mostly just gold stores were
open that day, filled with elaborate pieces:
vests, tiaras, intricate tiered necklaces, hundreds of bangles. The gold
fills storefront windows making it difficult sometimes to even see inside
the shop. Supposedly, the Emirates are a
great place to buy jewelry as the markup is around 3-5% over the market price
per gram if you make a good bargain. We
didn’t try. But it’s pretty remarkable
to see, and this wasn’t even a big market like in Dubai.
We enjoyed
passing by the superb skyline of Dubai,
so dense with fabulous sleek skyscrapers of every imaginable shape and
style, especially the Burj Calipha, tallest in the world. It’s a slim needle of steel stabbing the sky above
all others. They’ve come a long way in
40 years when Dubai consisted of 7 small buildings.
That night
we had a World Cruise event at a ‘Bedouin Camp’ in the desert, which really
looked like an 'old' fort, but we ate on a flagstone courtyard on cushioned seats
around low tables, under torch light and stars above. We were entertained by belly dancers, a fire
dancer, a whirling dervish, even hair dancers, and ‘oud’ music (not 'loud' music!). Nice evening
- even rode a camel again, though I had sworn not to, mostly because there was no line.
Speaking of
camels, you probably know that camel-racing is huge here. A decent racing camel starts at $50,000 and
the sky’s the limit (think thoroughbreds) – hundreds of thousands. But no worries about jockey fees, they use
robo-jockeys!
Abu Dhabi is gorgeous! Since oil will run out here by about 2050,
they are setting themselves up to be a tourist destination. You can just smell the money all over! One entire man-made island
will only have museums. They have
licensed the name ‘Louvre’ and named the art museum the Louvre of the
South. Ferrari World is the world’s
largest indoor amusement park, with a sleek futuristic design and painted shiny Ferrari red and black – it’s just huge.
There’s an island in the middle of the Formula 1 Race Track with an enormous
hotel and yacht marina. The 3rd
largest mosque in the world, built as a tourist
attraction, cost $1.5 billion, and they’re not saying how much more the Visitor
Center (under construction) is going to cost.
The city center has a lot of skyscrapers, not so densely packed as Dubai,
but fabulous looking. A group of 3 sleek
glass towers was used in filming the last Fast and Furious movie in which Vin
Diesel crashes a Ferrari out of one and bursts across space into another one,
way high up. They’re all fixed up again
though (haha). The various ministers of
government departments all have their own palaces; the Presidential Palace is
immense (the president of Abu Dhabi is always the President of the
Emirates). We had high tea at the
Emirates Palace Hotel – don’t even know how to describe it, but this hotel is
so far above every other hotel they don’t even give it stars. It is absolutely, absolutely, fabulously
elegant. Gold everywhere, vast public
spaces, beautiful shops, and oh yeah, tea was scrumptious ($150 per). Abu Dhabi has lovely white sand beaches, even
a ‘women only’. They used to use
Salukis (dogs) and falcons for hunting.
Now they use the dogs for racing, and hunting with falcons is prohibited.
But falcons and their owners can fly on Air Emirates to go hunting somewhere else (Afghanistan, i.e.), and the falcons have their own seat, right next to their
owners. They even have their own
passports! I am not making this up - you
can see the picture of the falcons on the plane if you Google it. Don’t think they’re offering ‘Falcons and
Family’ fares, either. They have a
veterinary hospital exclusively for falcons - no messing around with a general ‘small
animal’ vet for these guys. You can get a good hunting falcon for $20,000, in case you’re interested.
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| Grand Mosque |
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| Emirates Palace Hotel |
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| High Tea |
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| Public Area of Emirates Palace |
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| Staircase in Emirates Palace |
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| Fabulous Architecture |
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| Part of the Skyline |
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| Presidential Palace |
Early the
next morning after leaving Abu Dhabi, the ship slowed in the water for our
security team for the Gulf of Aden to board.
Guns are not allowed in the U.A.E., so they couldn’t board there. Four guys, lots of tattoos, big guns and many
boxes of ‘supplies’. We had a Piracy
Drill the next day in which the crew cleared everyone out of their
rooms, then closed the drapes all over the ship. In a real emergency we would all lay down on
the ground in case the captain made evasive zigs and zags, but we weren’t
required to do that for the drill. Dummies attired in stuffed crew jumpsuits were lashed at intervals along
the outer railings of Deck 6, with water hoses secured next to them. At sundown for 4 nights they closed all drapes
around the ship, blacked out all exterior lights, and blocked access to all outer decks
We were 2
days at sea sailing to Salalah,
Oman. Not much here, and really really hot, but we drove out to a long narrow
white sand beach ending in rugged and jagged coastline - very beautiful
contrast to the turquoise water and blue
skies. From there we drove up a mountain
to Job’s Tomb. In general, the terrain
was rugged gray limestone rock with very interesting white strata layered in,
and everything was dry, dry, dry with very thin topsoil. Our guide said monsoons come in June through
August and these hills turn completely green.
Ok, we’ll have to take his word for it, because it’s really hard to
imagine that happening based on what we observed. We
saw frankincense trees growing everywhere.
They have grown here for centuries, so Salalah became the world’s main
supplier; caravans regularly left here for trading purposes. All along the way, random herds of
camels wandered around the roadside or on the road itself, creating a couple
of camel jams. All camels are owned by
somebody, none are wild, although the owner is not always with his herd. But somehow they get together again at the
end of the day. Every now and then we’d
see a straggler loping along to catch up with his buds, so guess they like to
hang together. This is about all I know about camels, and more than you
probably wanted to know, but I wanted to share.
Job’s Tomb
is at the top of a mountain in a small domed concrete building, rich green
silks covering a rectangular space on the ground, which they think is his grave,
but Syria and Jordan both claim they’ve got him, so nobody knows for sure. He roamed a lot with his animals so he could
be anywhere. Back in town, we went to a
miserable outdoor market where you could get all the frankincense you desired.
Only good thing about stopping at the market is that it’s across the street
from a gorgeous wide white pristine beach – inviting in the heat, but nobody was
there. Not one person on either of the
beaches we saw. Everybody comes in June
when it’s raining and cooler here than in the rest of the Middle East. On our way back to the ship we passed the
Sultan’s Palace, but not his main one (which is in Muscat), dozens of large
villas for legations to stay in when calling on the Sultan, and some large
government offices. Not a single
skyscraper in Salalah. The few hotels
are the tallest buildings.
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| Coastline and Beach |
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| Coastline |
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| Coastline Rock Formations |
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| Wandering Camels |
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| Camels and Frankincense Trees |
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| Job's Tomb |
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| Sultans's Palace |
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| Frankincense at the Market |
On the 3rd
day after leaving Salalah, the security team disembarked while we were steaming
along at sea. So, after one more night
of blackout and closed outer decks, we had cleared the pirate threat without
incident.
We spent the
day in Jordan going to Petra and Wadi Rum. At the port of Aqaba we could see Elat, Israel
just on the opposite side of the bay. It
takes a while to get to Petra, but the scenery is magnificent. Broad arid mountains and canyons are a little
like a combination of Canyonlands and Bryce National Parks with a softer
rounded look. Bedouins dressed in dark
raggedy garments and typical dishtowel-like headcloths wandered with camels,
sheep, and goats throughout the vast emptiness.
We took off
down the siq (canyon) leading to Petra, taking care to get out of the way of
the careening pony carriages, and immediately started to see Nabbatean tombs
and markers carved into the colorful, striated sandstone – fantastic ornate
facades revealing pinks, peaches, oranges, and reds swirling in the rock. The high canyon walls towering overhead
become narrower and deeper along the way.
As we got closer to the skinny fabulous opening, The Treasury finally
becomes partially visible at the end, a la Indiana Jones. Pretty incredible moment! Everyone clogs up here to gape – people, donkeys,
camels – in front of this gorgeous ruin.
The canyon widens and turns and we walked further and further than we
had before: we saw the Street of
Facades, the fantastic Royal Tombs, the Colonnaded Street, the Temple, and the
Amphitheatre. It is all so unusual and
beautiful – fantastic! There’s nothing inside the tombs, just a shallow
room. The carved exteriors are
fabulously enhanced by the streaks of color in the rock itself. The ruins of Petra are the most unique we
have ever seen anywhere. You’ve got to go! But hurry, because the 4
mile roundtrip trek down and back won’t get any easier, and believe me, the
pony carts are not a good option!
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| Walking the Siq |
Wadi Rum is the desert where ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘The Martian’ were filmed. We explored it aboard open-backed 4 wheel drive vehicles, driving across the desert floor which is constantly interrupted by massive and spectacular rock formations. Talk about feeling small! Seems like they march on forever! At one point we saw ancient markers carved into the rock, kind of like an early road map for travelers, indicating where the nearest oasis or something would be. Seemed so random – you’d only see them in that vast place by pure chance. Around dusk we stopped at a camp for a Bedouin dinner which included a whole goat roasted in an underground fire pit – truly delicious and tender. Everything was done by men here – including a formal welcome with crossed sabers, cooking, serving, and dancing – no women in sight….just an observation is all.
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| Wadi Rum |
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| Wadi Rum |
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| Our Transportation in Wadi Rum |
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| Other Transportation in Wadi Rum |
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| Bedouin Camp Dinner |
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| Sabre Dancers |
Safaga, Egypt was our port for visiting Luxor and
Valley of the Kings, one of the
highlights of the entire cruise. The 3
hour drive from the coast is mostly uninteresting - barren, low mountains for
awhile, then a flat empty desert until reaching the Nile Valley. Once there, it seems abruptly green and
suddenly populated. Our guide said Egypt
is the gift of the Nile because without the river, the country would be nothing
but a vast desert. The Aswan Dam
controls flooding but has prevented the natural, rich silting that fertilized
the land. Nowadays, farmers irrigate by
opening and closing small canals branching off The Nile. Don’t think the land gets as much of the
silt, but there are many crops grown, especially sugar cane.
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| Security on the road to Luxor |
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| The Nile Valley |
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| The Nile River |
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| Moses in the Bullrushes? |
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| Irrigation channel off of The Nile |
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| Small Community along The Nile |
Nobody is
messing with the antiquities though, and they are grand and glorious. The Temple of Karnak is immense. Towering thick walls are covered in
hieroglyphs. Three great pylon entryways
lead to courtyards that gradually decrease in size, the smallest being where
Aten was actually worshiped, priests only.
The 3rd courtyard contains 134 gigantic hypostyle columns
with hieroglyphs on every square inch. The original paint is still visible at
their tops and the undersides of the supports of the ceiling. It would have been magnificent at the height
of its life as an active temple. It’s
magnificent without color now, considering how old it is (started in 2050 BCE) and
that it was almost covered with sand for centuries.
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| Avenue of Sphinxes leading to First Pylon of Karnak |
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| First Pylon - it's pretty big! |
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| First of many statues |
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| First courtyard |
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| Hypostyle Columns - 134 of 'em! |
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| And there was a roof over the whole temple - above these columns! |
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| Obelisks made out of one piece of granite - years to carve |
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| Purification Pool - it was probably cleaner 5000 years ago, right? |
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| Wall of Hieroglyphs |
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| Still detailed after 5000 years |
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| Colors still visible |
The Temple
of Luxor is slightly smaller but still impressive, not dedicated to any specific god,
rather a grand celebration of the pharaonic glory, built by 3 different rulers
over time. A double line of human-headed
sphinxes once flanked a 1.7 mile long avenue between Karnak and Luxor; dozens are still in place as you approach the first pylon. Several massive statues of Ramses II flank
either side of it, enabling a visitor to picture what it might have been with
dozens more of the same statue in and around the temple. The walls and many pillars of first courtyard
remain, but sand filled it centuries.
Not knowing it was there, Christians built a church on top of what they
thought were some old low walls, then Muslims built a mosque right on top of
the church. All are still there, piled
on top of each other. Pretty crazy!
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| First Pylon of Luxor Temple |
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| Mosque on top of Church on top of walls of Luxor Temple |
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| Continuation of Avenue of Sphinxes from Karnak to Luxor |
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| First courtyard |
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| Shorter Hypostyle columns but still large enough to park a car on top |
Next morning
we went across the Nile to the Valley of the Kings. The tombs of 64 pharaohs
have been found so far, dug into the limestone walls of this valley marked by
a high pyramidal-shaped mountain. There
are many not yet explored or open to the public. A really excellent cutaway diorama in the
Visitors Center shows the web of tunnels and rooms criss-crossing above and below each other within the rocky terrain.
We entered 3 of the tombs and could walk deep into the mountain in each,
walls and ceilings covered with hieroglyphs in full vivid color, telling the
story of the pharaohs’ lives and history of their conquests. We viewed Queen
Hatshepsut’s funerary temple, totally different in design from all known others
(she was the only female pharaoh). We
entered Habu Funerary Temple, awed again by the quantity and depth of the
hieroglyphs covering pylons, pillars and interior walls. Ramses III did not want anyone to forget his wonderfulness! Even better colors survive here than at
Karnak. These 2 days were
unforgettable for us, so very worth the long drive from Safaga.
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| Pyramidal Mountain marking the Valley of the Kings |
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| Terrain of the Valley of the Kings |
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| Queen Hatshepsut's Funerary Temple |
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| Entry to Habu Temple |
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| Entry |
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| Height of First Pylon |
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| Colors in the Hieroglyphs |
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| Colors |
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| Passage into outer courtyard |
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| Colors |
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| Colossi of Memnon |
We transited
the Suez Canal for a full day after
waiting overnight in a staging position at the Red Sea entrance. Nothing to see but flat desert on either side,
and occasionally small communities off in the distance. We saw a few ferry crossings and here and
there some large blocks that can be strung together to form a floating
bridge. For a short while we saw ships
in a parallel canal going the other direction.
An optical illusion makes them look like they are gliding on the
desert. Just beyond the junction of the
2 channels, the ship sailed under the Friendship Bridge and entered the
Mediterranean Sea.
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| Halfway through - in case you weren't sure where you were! |
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| This is what it looks like all the way |
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| Ship on the desert (in the parallel canal going the other way) |
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| Monument to the workers who built the canal |
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| The only bridge across the Canal until the entry to the Med |
Happy Easter
from the Holy Land! We docked early in Haifa, Israel. All tours
into Jerusalem were canceled because of Easter Sunday crowds and closings, so
we set out for Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee.
We drove through Cana to get there, but there are no remains of the early
village, just a modern city, so no stop here. They sell Cana Wedding Wine everywhere though! Nazareth is another modern city, but we
visited the Church of the Annunciation built over a small grotto where it is
believed Gabriel appeared to Mary. It’s
below the main church level, but from there you can turn and look up through a
large opening in the first floor all the way to the dome. The church is large, not fancy, but art from
around the world adorns the walls. Next
door is Joseph’s Church, built over a site which might have been a house/carpentry
shop in Jesus’ time, thus the name. Between
the churches are some excavations of early Nazareth.
The Church
of Multiplication is at Tabgha, site of the multiplication of the loaves and
fishes near the area of the Sermon on the Mount. Under the altar is a small
mound of rock where the miracle might have been performed. The Mount area was
closed for Easter Sunday, so we were disappointed to miss that – not sure how
they can close part of a mountain, but they did.
Capernaum is
on the Sea of Galilee at an intersection of trade routes through the area, so
probably an important city in Jesus’ time.
We spent a long time at the ruins of the synagogue at which 12 year old Jesus
remained behind to teach and speak to the elders there. This site is one of the few places in the
Holy Land they can directly connect to Jesus. Also, there are ruins of a house
they believe was St. Peter’s, so it’s possible that Peter hosted
Jesus here during his 3 years of public life.
After lunch
we visited the church of Pete’s Primacy where Jesus made Peter head of the
Church. It’s built on a rock outcropping
at the edge of the Sea of Galilee – again, possible real site.
After lunch we went to the Universal Site of Baptisms on the Jordan River. Since no
one knows the actual place in the river where Jesus was baptized, a council
of faiths has designated this as the place for people to come and be baptized. We saw many people doing
this. They wear white robes and line up
to go into the river and be ceremoniously dipped in the water.
All of the
Holy Land sites were designated by Helen, wife of King Constantine, in about
400 AD. She was a devout Catholic and
wanted to find out where the events of Jesus’ life occurred. She spent a lot of time talking to local
people to get consensus, so oral tradition has determined these locations and
been accepted. The important thing is to
know that Jesus spent his life in the general area, whether or not these are
the precise sites.
We were
amazed at how little traffic there was everywhere, considering it was Easter
Sunday. We didn’t even run into Masses
in any of the places we visited. We did
hear that Jerusalem was packed all during Holy Week, naturally. We had been bracing ourselves for crowds
which didn’t materialize.
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| Church of The Annunciation |
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| Grotto of the Annunciation |
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| Grotto |
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| Main Altar of Church of The Annunciation |
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| Joseph's Church |
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| Interior of Joseph's Church |
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| Site of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes |
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| The Sea of Galilee |
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| Synagogue at Capernaum |
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Menorah - Dated proof in the ruins that it was the Synagogue
where Jesus taught |
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| St. Peter's Church |
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| Interior of Peter's Church |
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| Baptisms in the Jordan River |
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| Headquarters of the B'hai Religion - Haifa |
Tours to
Jerusalem resumed on Monday, so we made the 2 hour trip from Haifa easily – no
traffic at all because it was the last day of Passover for the Jewish people, a
holiday for them. We made a rest stop
at a bizarre diner of all-things-Elvis on the way, but were soon in the
mountains of Jerusalem.
We went
first for a view of the Old City from a lookout on the Mount of Olives. All Jerusalem, old and new, is constructed of
white limestone (‘Jerusalem stone’) quarried nearby. It’s a really really beautiful place.
We entered
the walled city and walked first to the Western Wall, the only remnant from
Herod the Great’s renovation of the Second Temple that still exists. The Second Temple was built 500 years earlier
when the Jews returned from Babylonia; the Romans destroyed Herod’s Temple to
put down a Jewish rebellion in A.D70. This
is the only holy site in Jerusalem that belongs to the Jews. It was crowded with Jewish people praying in
its shadow, up against the wall itself, tucking bits of paper with prayers into
cracks in the rocks. We then walked into the Christian quarter to follow parts of the Via Dolorosa leading to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on Golgatha. The path of the Via Dolorosa is debated except for the area of Golgatha, which they know was outside the walls where criminals were hung. The church is extremely beautiful. On the second level, the mound of Golgotha is exposed. Everyone files past it and goes down stairs again, past the marble slab where it is thought Jesus was anointed before being entombed. A rock tomb is also within the church, surrounded by a small structure. It’s near the site of the Crucifixion, so it could be the actual tomb where Jesus was laid, or one very like it. Many faithful were lined up to enter it, but our time constraints didn’t allow for such a long wait. Many Christian sects have a piece of this church and have to agree on issues that come up. In fact, because of all the feuding, since about A.D.1187, Muslims have held the key to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - a Muslim man actually unlocks the Church door every morning.
It’s an emotional place since it is generally accepted that Jesus in fact died and rose in this small area.
Later we walked through the Jewish Quarter (very quiet because of the holiday) to the Dormition Abbey where tradition says ‘Mary fell asleep’; King David’s tomb is near there, as well as an upper room, similar to one where the Last Supper was held.
Muslims seem to have the most real estate in the Old City. The Dome of the Rock mosque rose over Jerusalem in A.D 691, built over the spot where Abraham almost sacrificed his son (Christians claim it was Isaac, Muslims claim it was Ishmael), the same place from which Mohammed ascended to heaven. We didn't enter the Muslim Quarter, only viewed it from the Mount of Olives earlier.
We saw the Garden of Gethsemane, drove through the Kidron Valley and on through the modern city past buildings of the Knesset, the Israel Museum, and Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea scrolls.
Two days in the Holy Land is definitely not enough to see and absorb everything, but enough to understand why this small place matters so much to so many. We had excellent guides both days and made the very most of our time.
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| View of the Old City |
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| Jewish Graves |
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| Western Wall |
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| 7th Station of the Cross on Via Dolorosa |
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| Church of the Holy Sepulchre |
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| Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre |
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| Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre |
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| Dome of the Holy Sepulchre above the Tomb |
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| Dormition Abbey |
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| Image of Mary inside Dormition Abbey |
We then
walked into the Christian quarter to follow parts of the Via Dolorosa leading
to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on Golgatha. The path of the Via Dolorosa is debated except
for the area of Golgatha, which they know was outside the walls where criminals
were hung. The church is extremely beautiful. On the second level, the mound of Golgotha is
exposed. Everyone files past it and goes
down stairs again, past the marble slab where it is thought Jesus was anointed
before being entombed. A rock tomb is
also within the church, surrounded by a small structure. It’s near the site of the Crucifixion, so it
could be the actual tomb where Jesus was laid, or one very like it. Many faithful were lined up to enter it, but
our time constraints didn’t allow for such a long wait. Many Christian sects have a piece of this
church and have to agree on issues that come up. In fact, because of all the feuding, since
about A.D.1187, Muslims have held the key to the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre - a Muslim man
actually unlocks the Church door every morning.
It’s an emotional place
since it is generally accepted that Jesus in fact died and rose in this small
area.
Later we
walked through the Jewish Quarter (very quiet because of the holiday) to the
Domition Abbey where tradition says ‘Mary fell asleep’; King David’s tomb is
near there, as well as an upper room, similar to one where the Last Supper was
held.
Muslims seem to have
the most real estate in the Old City.
The Dome of the Rock mosque rose over Jerusalem in A.D 691, built over
the spot where Abraham almost sacrificed his son (Christians claim it was Isaac, Muslims claim it was Ishmael), the same place from which Mohammed ascended to heaven. We didn't enter the Muslim Quarter, only viewed it
from the Mount of Olives earlier.
We saw the
Garden of Gethsemane, drove through the Kidron Valley and on through the modern
city past buildings of the Knesset, the Israel Museum, and Shrine of the Book,
which houses the Dead Sea scrolls.
Two days in
the Holy Land is definitely not enough to see and absorb everything, but enough
to understand why this small place matters so much to so many. We had excellent guides both days and made
the very most of our time.
We had a
nice day in Pafos, Cypress. Aphrodite
was worshipped here, in fact was thought to have emerged from the sea just off
the coast. The main sights involve an
underground necropolis called the Tombs of the Kings, actually sort of honeycombed all through the
area. They’re multi-room, family
complexes, complete with Doric columns and frescoed walls. There are also 3rd century Roman ruins, including a complex of villas whose
beautiful floor mosaics are preserved.
They are probably the best and most extensive ones we’ve seen. After that we spent time in the little town
nearby, set in a curving harbor, guarded by a small castle. The whole town, Tombs, and mosaics are all
UNESCO sites.
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| Aphrodite's Rock |
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| Royal Tombs Neccropolis |
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| Underground Tomb |
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| Underground Tomb |
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| Floor Mosaics |
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| Mosaics |
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| Pafos Castle |
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| It was spring everywhere! |
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| Spring flowers in the ruins |
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| Watchtowers outside the city |
Santorini! Is a long crescent shaped island with 2 or 3 islands within
the caldera at its center. Villages
perched high up on the rocky island look like white frosting along the
top. Stunning! We wasted a couple of hours looking at the
pre-historic remains of the settlement of Akrotiri. ‘Pre-historic’ in the description should have
been a clue! Our guide was valiant and
made an incredible attempt to make it all interesting, but mostly it looked
like a pile of rocks - a really extensive pile of rocks! But we had most of
the day left to walk all over the quaint villages of Fira and Thira. We were just ahead of the summer season, so
it wasn’t too crowded. Not all the
hotels and restaurants were open but they were busy everywhere, painting and cleaning
to get everything ready. We had lunch overlooking the gorgeous water, then
enjoyed the belvedere walk along the edge of the mountain, peering into tiny
courtyards and looking down and up the cliff side at whitewashed buildings,
blue tile roofs, and little sparkling pools.
It felt like being in a postcard!
We loved it. We rode the cable
car (not the donkeys!) down the mountain to the harbor for the tender back to
the ship. Also anchored there now was
the Crystal Esprit, the ship on which we cruised through Croatia last year.
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| View of the caldera of Santorini |
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| View of coastline all the way to Oia |
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| Hotels along the Belvedere |
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| Icing on the top |
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| Hotels |
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| More icing |
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| Sheer coastline |
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| Akrotiri! |
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| Akrotiri |
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View down the crescent of Santorini to Akrotiri and the caldera
Navigator and Crystal Esprit anchored |
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| Church overlooking the caldera |
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