Bobbe's trip to Santorini

Bobbe tells us about her second Greek island adventure:

The second Greek island that I visited was Santorini (also known as Thira). Santorini is particularly famous because it is built on the remnants of a volcano. After a volcano erupts, it sometimes leaves a big valley where it has collapsed after the eruption. This kind of valley is called a "caldera." The houses on Santorini were built up and down the sides of the caldera, which are very steep.

Most of the houses on Santorini are whitewashed and topped with a blue roof. This white-and-blue color scheme makes Santorini particularly picturesque. As you might know, the Greek flag is made of white and blue stripes with a white cross. Back in the early 19th century, when Greece was under the control of the Ottoman Empire, the Greek people of Santorini were forbidden to fly the Greek flag. In order to get around this law, they simply painted their houses to match the flag.

(Note: Benny first told you about the Ottoman Empire when he went to Lebanon in August.)

What happens when you put whitewashed houses with blue roofs all up and down the side of a steep caldera overlooking the beautiful Aegean Sea? The answer is that it looks stunningly beautiful.

Because Santorini is a small island with such steep sides, my ship couldn't dock there. That was okay, though, because I got to "tender" onto the island in a smaller boat.

I ride on the tender boat to get to Santorini.

Once I got on shore, I had to get up the hill to the top of the island. What better way to get up the hill than to ride on a donkey? This donkey was pleased to have me riding him because most tourists weigh a lot more.

I get settled on my donkey before my ride up the caldera.

Once I got to the top of the caldera, my view was amazing. In this pictures, you can see the sides of the caldera with the water down below:

I pose on a wall overlooking the caldera.

In this photo, you can see the whitewashed houses of Santorini lining the side of the caldera:

I pose on another wall overlooking Santorini.

Here are two pictures I took of the beautiful houses with their blue roofs built right into the side of the caldera:

A whitewashed Santorini house with a blue roof.

A view out over the roofs of a Santorini residential area.

One of the things that I enjoyed seeing in Santorini was a traditional Greek church. Most of the people in Greece are Orthodox Christians. The Orthodox are a major branch of the Christian religion. Orthodox Christians also form the majority of the population in countries such as Russia, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria. This particular church, like most of the buildings on Santorini, was whitewashed and had a blue roof. Can you see me? I'm sitting next to the gate.

I sit near the gate of an Orthodox church on Santorini.

Exploring Santorini made me very hungry to sample the local Greek cuisine. The first thing I tried was called dolmathes. They were leaves from grape vines that have been rolled around a filling of rice and then cooked. Here you can see that my dolmathes were served with a side of yogurt.

I enjoy grape leaves on Santorini.

Next, I enjoyed some bread with a purée of fava beans. I enjoyed dipping the bread in the fava beans. It was the perfect snack after a fun day of exploring.

I enjoy fava beans on Santorini.

After my meal, I headed back to my ship. Next stop: Turkey!

--Bobbe