Day 6- Santorini

We woke this morning just in time for sunrise and a great view of the moon setting and Venus and Jupiter rising.  

As we approached the island of Santorini, we wee able to see the town of Oia with its classic blue –domed church on the hillside of terraced whitewashed houses.

We were also able to appreciate from this vantage, the geologic history of the island.  We were sailing into the caldera of an extinct volcano. 

The volcano had been split apart by a large earthquake that sent the portion that would have blocked our entrance into the harbor, into the sea.  This is thought to be the lost city of Atlantis.   The walls of the caldera were frighteningly steep rising some 1000 feet in less than 1/2 mile. 

Fortunately, our bikes were getting a ride to the top in a truck which saved most of us (a few young and strong-mostly single bikes rode up) that climb. 

There was still plenty of elevation gain ahead for the rest of the day.

We were dropped off at the Santos Winery and from here descended to see level to visit the –the prehistoric city of Akrotiri.

The city was first settled in 5^th millennium B.C.E. and developed into an important harbor for trade by the 3^rd millennium B.C.E. The city was severely damaged by earthquakes 3 time over the 2^nd  and was rebuilt each time.  During the rebuilding after the last quake, though, the island’s volcano erupted and destroyed everything, nnd blanketed the area in ash and  Due to financial difficulties in Greece, continued archeological excavation of the site has been stopped since 2002.  It reminded me of “Bedrock”, home of Fred and Wilma (Flinstone). 

We then began the climbing starting with a 1000 foot climb to the town of Pyrgos.  There were great whitewashed houses and shops surrounding blue domed churches with beautiful views of the sea and the salt.

We dawdled quite a bit in Pyrgos, and then headed for the next stop (with lunch) in Fira..  We found a small bakery by the roadside on one of our (very)few descents an bought a small pizza which we promptly wolfed down.  We then hit the town of Fira along with several thousand passengers from a few cruise ships anchored out in the harbor.  The passengers needed transportation (obviously not bikes) which was provided by huge busses on tiny roads.  Many of the roads in Fira also were cobblestoned, and I know the Tour de France winds through towns over cobblestones, we’re not getting paid to break our necks. The cycling was terrifying. 

We made it to within a few miles from Oia when Cary and Sarah, with whom we were riding, had more technical problems, and the sag car came by to helpn them and to tell us we might miss the boat if we continued to Oia.  So we turned around and headed back to the boat.

The last mile was down the set of switchbacks that we bussed up in the morning.  The road was packed with busses and cars and had several gravelly areas. 

The grade was a steady 10-15%  and the descent was a bit hair raising.  But we made it with plenty of time to spare, time enough for a cold beer and a beautiful sunset.