Wednesday, May 18, 2011.

We dropped anchor in the Thira Bay off of Santorini, Greece and took liberty boats into the island. Before civilized towns there was a group of Minoans on Crete with a highly developed culture that traded all over the Mediterranean and made bronze tools and knives. They built huge palaces with indoor plumbing and colorful walls. Their designs which were free and flowing were adopted by the Trojans and Greeks. Centuries ago this bay was called Thera and shaped like a round cone. Before 1600BC the volcano erupted with the center of the island exploding out. The resulting tidal wave washed over the Minoan culture on northern Crete. They never recovered. The caldera that is left makes a natural harbor. This is where our ship is anchored. On the other side of the island they are close to trade with Africa, Egypt, Algeria, France and Italy. This aided in their survival for many centuries. The cliffs rise quickly from the water to great heights. The highest point is where they built ST. Elias Monastery. I believe every house has a view that is incredible.
In 1967 excavations revealed a large settlement of 30,000 inhabitants at Akritiri very similar to the Minoans but no preserved bodies were found. They had toilets and hot and cold running water. They have also found evidence of the ice age here. The layers of rock show colored layers of lava, slag, ash and pumice stone. From the largest eruption they uncovered charcoal of an olive tree from before the eruption. Between the 2 volcanoes there is a hot sulphur springs. It appears there may have been a large land mass between Thera and Crete; maybe the lost continent of Atlantis from Greek literature. The island was repopulated quickly. Egyptians used it for their ships. There are remnants of Roman buildings and Christian churches. In 1204 during the 4th Crusades Italian knights came to name the church Saint Ireni. In 1209 Venetian nobles came. In 1579 the Ottoman Empire took over. The last volcanic eruption was in 1929. In 1950 smoke came out, but not any lava. In 1956 an earthquake destroyed 80% of the homes and those people left. The houses up on the cliffs that are carved into the pumice stone are the only houses that are earthquake proof. That stone bends with the earth.
Santorini is having an unusually cold spell. By this time of the year their flowers are usually dried up. But now their flowers are in full bloom and they also had an unusually long and cold winter. The mountain on which these flowers are blooming is made of pumice stone from the volcano and it was used to built the Suez Canal. Now vineyards grow all over it's slopes because the soil is acidic. They keep the vineyards low because the winds from the July and August storms will blow the grapes away. The only precipitation they receive in the spring is in the morning from the fog. In the summer they only need 3 rain storms to fill up the cisterns under their houses. They use this water to irrigate their crops. In the winter most of the vineyards are in the clouds for weeks. In the 1980s they went for 7 years without any rain.
Santorini has a 12,000 year old vineyard variety from 1626 years before Christ. Between 1840 and 1845 Europe lost all of their vineyards, but Santorini didn't. In fact, Santorini was the first to start producing organic wines. In 1885, 80% of their wine was exported to Russia after the Ottomans opened the Bosporus. They are known for their wines. Their ascetico wine is like a dry Riesling and it is exported. They leave the white grapes in the sun for 14 days to dry to make the wine. They do not use mechanical presses. This becomes their sweet dessert wine. In the summer they drink a light red wine. The dry red wine is a mablodragono.
The farmers use the rain water collected in the 2 cisterns under the houses to irrigate their crops. They grow grapes, olives, zucchini, cherry tomatoes and garlic. A lot of the time their rain is mixed with sand from the Sahara Desert and is rose tinted. Therefore, they only drink imported bottled water. Every farmer has two to three donkeys because they can handle the narrow steep paths to the fields on the terraced mountain sides. One donkey only makes 3 or 4 trips, then they switch to another donkey. After 2 months of working, the donkeys are given 30 days of field rest. Some of the farmers would enjoy being a donkey in their next life!!! Also these donkeys do not have to wear any iron shoes.
During the summer is their high tourist season. Because of their heat many tourists turn up the air conditioners and the electric for the island cannot keep up. They usually have black outs throughout the summers. From early November to March most of the tourists are usually Asian. The island is not crowded this time of year. The beaches are all black sand and gravel from the volcanoes. I cannot imagine laying on a beach towel by the water! The water off the coast is basically fished out. The seafood is very slowly coming back.
Easter is the Greek Orthodox New Year. They traditionally eat a soup made from the veggies of the land and BBQ lamb. The houses have replicas of the Saint Ireni Chapel. This island has 45 churches and on Good Friday every one of them are illuminated.