Oct. 20 Santorini tour Akrotiri volcano ruins

 We toured an ancient volcano ruin site, Akrotiri. The large volcano that occured 1620BC, buried a city that had been in existence since 3000BC, with up to 90 feet of ash. The ruins are being excavated much the same as the Terracotta Warriors in China.

The site was discovered in 1967 and has been worked on since the 70's and has been enclosed  and roofed over with a large structure with pillars that go down 90 ft. to bedrock. Some of the excavations for the pillars had to be abandoned and moved because they ran into significant historic ruins that could not be disturbed.

There were no human remains found, because it was figured out that the inhabitants had enough warning that they moved away from the city before the main eruption, which may have continued for weeks. The magnitude of ash and lava rocks that fell made it impossible to rebuild the city.

Most actifacts and personal belongings of the citizens has been moved away and not much remains except for the buildings made of stone even wooden beams were consumed by the heat of the eruption.

Here are some pictures from my cell phone, I have better ones on my camera that I will transfer at a later date.

The structure covering the excavation was funded by European Union and Greece. It is massive and must have cost millions.

Oct. 10 the city of Olympia

 Pictures taken on a walking tour of the ancient site of Olympia ruins.

First we went inside the museum and got a history lesson 

Outside we saw the original stadium where event were held every four years. There were other events held at e other cities annually. At these events there was only one winner, no 2nd or 3rd as there are now. The winner was crowned with an Olive or Laurel wreath .

Many of the columns and walls were toppled over from earthquakes and a large tsunami, then buried under several metres of dirt.

I will add some additional pictures of Olympia later, when I am able to download them from my camera to my phone.

Our first day on Mykonos island

 After getting up at 3 am to get our bus from Tolo to catch the high speed ferry to Mykonos island. We got to the island before we could check in to the San Marco hotel, we had a guided tour of the old port town of Chora, where many cruise ships anchor and tender to port. 

We could not get many pictures on the ferry because most of the trip was in the dark. Our guide Ivanka, had everything organized at it all went off without a hitch, there were many people embarking and debarking but we managed to smoothly get on and off without any incidents. This was the only time we had to handle our own bags to date. Next time when we get the ferry to Santorini we will have to take our bags personally on and of the ferry, but they are taken to the hotel and magically appear in our rooms when we get there.

The San Marco hotel was another fantastic stay.

San Marco hotel with super balcony view

Nice views of the sunset from the balcony

King Minos hotel near Nafplio

 We had a beautiful two night stay at the King Minos hotel in Tolo, a small town near Nafplio.

The view was fantastic. We were finally able to uncork our bottle of champagne that our friends from Windsor had surprised us with at our first night in Athens. 

We also had a walking tour of Nafplio and took a local bus back to the hotel.

Panoramic view from King Minos hotel in Tolo

Looking from balcony down to the pool

Shots along the narrow beach

Having our champagne

Panoramic view from balcony at night

Day 6 in Greece.

 First thing in the morning we took the bus tour to a paint shop where Byzantine artist carried on the ancient trade of painting the icons, of the saints and gods, adorned many of the images with gold and silver leaf. Meticulously painted the images to resemble how they were done ancient times. The artist use a rod with a large ball on the end to steady their hands to make the detailed strokes with the very fine brushes.

We bought a small souvenir one that we had signed by the elder monk that was carrying on the family tradition .

Day 5 Greece trip

 At Convent and Monastery at Kalambaka and Meteora. Built on 600 to 900 foot cliffs.

Some of the main rooms in the sanctuary area were off limits to photography, so some of the areas are not shown. It was amazing how they were built on the cliffs. The artistry of the carvings and painting was beautiful to see.

Too many things to describe in a short time, just have a look at the pictures. Our guides were very knowledgeable, but way too much information for me to retain. I hope you like looking at the pictures, some of the explanations where way too involved for me. It was like being back in school again. Not my cup of tea but still beautiful to look at.