We were able to have a bit slower start this morning as our tour was not scheduled to pick us up until 10:10. As there are no cars in this part of Oia we walked a short way to meet the van. He drove us to Fira where we transferred to a large bus and had others join us. An interesting mix from around the world – a Greek driver, a German guide and fellow passengers from France, Canada, India, England and Myanmar.

The first stop was atop the highest point on the island which houses a small monastery. A beautiful 360 degree view of the island and surrounding waters, including the four other islands that are considered part of Santorini. Before the last huge volcanic eruption (long, long ago!) they were actually connected to the main island.

We drove through many small towns, walking through others until finally reaching Akrotiri Archaeological Museum. We had a marvelous guide describing how this 4,000 year old city was discovered and all the work done to examine it. It was a substantial site but they expect that they’ve only uncovered about 3%! Many people believe the tale of this city and its demise due to a huge volcanic eruption, is the basis for the tale of lost Atlantis. No bodies have ever been discovered such as with Pompei several thousand years later.

After the fascinating history we drove to the Red Beach, which we saw from the water yesterday. We walked along a rocky path but were rewarded with a beautiful view.

The last stop was at Black beach where we stopped for a very late lunch. We opted for wine and a platter of 5 different grilled fish. Yum! Josie was pleased to finish with Greek frozen yogurt topped with all kinds of goodies.

The tour took much longer than we expected and returned us worn out. We opted to stay in, drink delicious Greek wine and have munchies. Oh, I need to relate that we were finally clued in to why all the grape vines appear so peculiar here in their growth. They are all low to the ground and trained to have their vines made into a small circle. Apparently the grapes then end up in the center. All the tending is done manually. It makes for a delicious white wine!