Lee's Myth: Day 13: What They Talk About in Thira When They Talk About Thermal Springs

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Day 13: What They Talk About in Thira When They Talk About Thermal Springs

Black Sea Navigation: BULGARIA: [Nesebar] [Varna] ROMANIA: [Constanţa]
TURKEY: [Sinop] [Bodrum] [Istanbul: Basilica Cistern] [Istanbul: Topkapi] [Istanbul: Haigha Sophia]
GREECE: [Limnos] [Meteora] [Thira] [Athens: Acropolis and Plaka] [Acropolis Museum Highlights]

At Santorini (aka Thira), we tried our second excursion - which we thought of as a volcano hike and a swim in some hot springs. But of course, the excursion didn't use those terms. It referred to a "caldera" and certain "thermal springs." With good reason, as it turns out!

City on a Hill ... or a Caldera

Off for hiking and swimming!!

The landscape on the caldera we visited reminded me of Arrakis:

Luckily we did not encounter any sandworms!

I was imagining some bubbling mud (like Sulfatara), but it was completely dry. The only activity we saw was a few faint wisps of smoke. There was a very mild sulfur smell. Oh well! Still, it was a lovely view, and very interesting to see from this central point that all the islands (including Thira / Santorini) are just bits of the caldera ring.

Panorama of the caldera

Measure your garbage carefully. These are liter bins.

Goat!

More goats!

The boat then took us to a little bay where we could dive or jump off and swim over to the thermal springs. They were not hot springs, by any stretch of the imagination, but barely warm pockets. (Then again, it was reassuring, I suppose, to know the origin of the warmth!) The water was quite salty, so we all floated really easily. It was fun splashing around.

Santorini

My parents and I went to the Thessaloniki Archaeological Site. I wish a tour guide had been available; there weren't a lot of signs to explain what we were looking at. My cousin and aunt went first thing in the morning with a guided tour, and raved about the experience.

These would seem to be walls

Clay pots!!

We took public transportation to and from the site, and got some great views. I really liked their half-built houses:

"This light-filled house is well-aired, with great views
from every room..."

The bus was standing room only (we got seats on the outbound trip, and stood in the aisle for the return), and the sole ticket collector was a young man who made his way up the crowded aisle as best he could, calling out the names of the stops. It was a bit chaotic, but I think he managed to collect fares from the vast majority of passengers.

Back in Santorini proper, we looked around for a while for a cafe to enjoy a light, late lunch. We ruled out a heavily-advertised rooftop tourist trap with mediocre menu and no views, as well as a rooftop cafe where the waitstaff were too busy making out to pay any attention to us.