Santorini

One of the port calls on my recent cruise was Santorini. We had a guide to take us around the main island, so we hopped on the very first tender and went ashore. At the dock, it was a short walk to the cable car station. At the top station, we had a few minutes to wait before our guide arrived, so I took the opportunity to shoot our ship. Here it has a small armada of tenders and the morning sunlight reflects off the balcony glass to create hot spots on the water surface.

Crown Princess

 Here's a view of town from the cable car station. It was early and it was very quiet.

Santorini

The famous parts of town are on the crater rim. There's a lot of land outside the rim, but it's not as photogenic.

Santorini

Santorini

We drove all over the island, stopping at a lot of places. The sunlight quickly became very unflattering. By the time we got to the spot for the obligatory shot of the blue domes, it was blazing hot and bright.

Santorini

 The cliffs are pretty dramatic.

Santorini

On this beach, there's almost no beach; it's cliff right down to the water, with a very thin strip of walkable sand.

Santorini

 As we sailed away, I was fascinated by the colors of the lava dome in the middle of the caldera, the blue water, and the layers of deposits from the various eruptions.

Santorini

It's an interesting place with unique scenery. I think I'd have liked it more if we'd had more than a few hours. A more leisurely exploration would have been fun. And it was definitely uncomfortably hot. Best to visit in shoulder season.