Santorini - volcano and sunset cruise

Our last day in Santorini we hiked up the still active Volcano (and found that amazing boulder which cracked from the heat, amazing the power of it!).  You could see the steam coming out of the volcano vents! We then swam in the Mediterranean, in a hot springs warmed by the volcano, and finished with a sunset cruise near Oia (another of the main cities on Santorini). Amazing trip!

Santorini - Akrotiri

Akrotiri is the greek pompei; Santorini was formed by a massive volcanic eruption (4 times larger than pompei). At the time a minoan bronze age settlement was on the island, and the inhabitants had warning so they left before the explosion. By the city was perfectly preserved. It was amazing to see how advanced they were; they had three story buildings, and beautiful frescos like the one above.

Santorini

After Athens, our first island stop was Santorini. We stayed in Fira, one of the main towns on the island which is situated at the top of a cliff. You can see the steep path in the photos; it is quite a climb up! Some people ride donkeys up the steps, but Marc and I felt bad for the donkeys and took a cable car instead. The views from the top of the cliff are unbelievable, so gorgeous!

Athens - Acropolis

Our second day in Athens we spent exploring the Acropolis, acropolis museum, and ancient agora.  We went to the acropolis first thing to avoid crowds, and were surprised to find that a group of feral dogs live there; as we walked up, we had a doggy guide travelling up with us. When we left, we saw someone come in to feed the group. The acropolis itself is amazing; such great views of the city from up there! And we were able to explore a series of temples, some completely demolished, others in various states of repair. The largest and most impressive is the parthenon, which was undergoing active repairs while we were there.  The temple of Athena is also very impressive, although the original tree was lost, they have planted an olive tree at the spot where Athena was said to have brought forth the first tree to win patronage of the city. The theatre of Dionysis was also really cool; you can see the seats saved for the VIP's in the photo. We went to see the statues which had been removed from the site at the acropolis museum, which is super cool as some of the floors were replaced with glass, and you can see the archeological dig site underneath the museum. Ancient agora was beautiful, with the temple to Hephaestus being the best preserved ancient temple in existence. Such a cool day exploring ancient Athens!

National Archaeological Museum of Athens

Our first day in Athens we spent wandering around the city and the archaeological museum. They are taking extensive efforts to preserve the historical art, so very few statues can be seen at the existing temples as most has been taken into museums. The archaeological museum had an amazing collection, the best in the world for greek artifacts. Some of the highlights included the antikythera mechanism, which is the oldest known 'computer' in the world (shown in the photo with lots of peices). It dates back to 100 BC, and is an analog computer which computes astrological positions and eclipses. I also found the statue of Aphrodite, Pan and Eros very entertaining; Pan is making advances on Aphrodite, and she is resisting, threatening to smack him with her sandel.  Really interesting, definitely worth a visit!

Greece!

Marc and I just returned from an amazing vacation to Greece. We took a proper break, exploring Athens and five of the islands. It was such a great way to celebrate our both being finished - Marc with vet school, me with my PhD.

This was the view from our room in Athens, we had a great view of the Acropolis and the Parthenon was lit up at night. Beautiful!

Many posts to come, with lots of pictures!

View from the aquarium

Not a bad view to be working from!