we woke up for our delicious room service breakfast (i told you this was a fancy place) and then headed down to fira to catch the bus for akrotiri. unfortunately we arrived just after it had left, and got to wait for forty minutes for another to come. eventually we made it and saw the ruins. they were under a large erosion control cover and it was quite difficult to make out what the site must have looked like in antiquity, though we did our best. perhaps in ten years’ time the site will be a little more developed.

we then hiked our way down to red beach and swam in the mediterranean. salty! there were quite a few folks out, topless sunbathers included. europe? regardless we got a bit of swimming in before we realized that we’d have to catch the next bus back if we hoped to see the museum. meanwhile i was swimming my way back in and gave my toe a serious stubbing, ow.

the prehistoric museum of ancient thira was quite good and well-laid out, though a great many of the original artifacts and best finds are in the national museum in athens. the reconstructions of the frescoes at akrotiri are worth it though.

later i wandered around and collected food to prepare dinner, a simple dish of spaghetti with sundried tomatoes in olive oil and feta cheese. it was quite tasty despite not entirely being what i had intended. i was also corkscrew impaired, so it took us a good while to get into the bottle of vinsanto i purchased. eventually that and some desserts katharine purchased capped off our meal and we took advantage of some well-earned downtime.

we wandered a few kilometers down into fira for a delicious late lunch at a taverna. the owner was a polyglot of sorts, greeting in english, french, german, italian, or greek as best he could guess appropriate. i asked him a bit about his story and he apparently lives in new york in the off-season, returning to the island in mid-april to repair any winter damage and ready for the tourist season. come mid-october he packs everything away and returns home. our lunch was delicious: greek salad, feta in olive oil, tzatziki, saginaki (fried cheese), and for dessert yoghurt with fruit and honey. we paid our tab and then wandered back through the shops filled with cruise ship passengers buying postcards and gifts, and naturally we followed suit. we followed that harrowing adventure up by returning to our patio to lounge for the rest of the afternoon and enjoy a leisurely dinner in the evening. ah, vacation!

it turns out the mirabello hotel doesn’t take american express. in fact, they don’t take credit cards at all. fortunately we had enough to pay and get a simple bakery breakfast before catching the catamaran to santorini. two relatively smooth hours later we sailed into the caldera of santorini – i wish we’d been on a slower ferry so i could have witnessed this from the deck. santorini is simply stunningly beautiful, a sharp rock cliff jutting out of the blue mediterranean with a sprinkling of white houses along the ridgeline.

after some debate and a consideration of our heavy bags we gave €15 to a taxi driver to deftly zip us up the windy road to firostefani, a good price considering the distance from the bus stop to our lodgings.

as to our accomodations … amazing. traditional stylings on the caldera side with a pool, kitchenette, separate room (convenient for katharine to escape our snoring) and a view that simply can’t be beat – west across the caldera, thirasia, and to the setting sun. if not for the prohibitive cost (€180/night) i would have voted we stay several more days.