June 28, 2010 - Today was probably our favorite day so far. Tom and I started out at a local cafe for breakfast waiting for the boys to get up. We booked a ship excursion to the volcano and the hot springs. We made our way to the old port in Fira. This is not a simple walk. You must walk all the way down the cliffs... 600 steps to the bottom (and they are big, long steps!). There are many donkeys available to hitch a ride, however, we decided to go down on our own. Julie probably almost fell 6 or 7 times, Tommy stepped in donkey poop and we had to dodge the donkey poop, and donkeys the entire way down there. The walkway is made of rocks, which is very unsteady - we must have been crazy to choose that mode of transportation, but it was worth it. We finally made our way to the bottom and had a much needed drink and lunch before we boarded our boat for the volcano. Our boat left at 2:00 for the volcano. We arrived at about 2:15 and were told that we could have until 3:30 to climb the volcano and make it back to the boat. We had just enough time to make it to the top and back with 10 minutes to spare! It was a treacherous trek up to the top. Once we were at the top, we could see water all around us, very cool! We made our way down, silly Julie only wore flip flops (what was she thinking?). Tommy said to Julie "Mom, why would you knowingly go to a volcano and wear flip flops?" Smarty pants, but he was right! We left the volcano on our little ship and set off to the hot springs. Our ship had to dock about 50 meters from the hot springs, so they warned that all those that were going to explore the hot springs needed to be good swimmers. We all dove off the ship (Nicholas thought that was pretty cool) and swam to the hot springs. The water was ugly red from the iron in the water and the rock. We were able to find some of the springs, however, none of them felt as warm as 95 degrees like it is possible. We all felt like we were hogging the springs because all 4 of us were planted on a rock near a spring. We spent some time frolicking in the muck! There was a small shack by the water and on it was a sign that said "if you need help need rescue please call my cell" and it gave the cell number. Tommy read the sign aloud and made the joke that "sure I'll just whip out my cell phone that's in my pocket and give him a call if I'm drowning" Most everyone from the ship heard him and laughed. While we were sitting on the hot springs, we were watching the goats on the side of the volcano climb to the top. They were clinging to the tiniest portion of the rocks - it looked like at any moment, they could fall. Why were there goats there and how did they get there??? Who knows, but it was fun to watch them on the side of the cliffs. We made our way back to the ship for the trip home. We were a bit early for our 5:00 return time, so the captain put up the sails, cut the engine and sailed a few minutes. We will never forget the song that was playing as we were floating around the Agean Sea - it was Phil Collins, Another Day in Paradise - how fitting and how surreal it was to be out there staring at the Caldera of Santorini and the volcano that we just climbed to the top.
We took the cable car back up the cliff and made our way back to our room for a quick rest before dinner. We were all tired from the day's activities and felt like we worked out all day! Tommy went on a beer run - yes, he went to the store and bought some beer for his dad!!! Of course it was his first time and he said it was pretty weird! It was a big bummer that he got home and handed his dad WARM beer!!! His first beer purchase and he didn't buy cold beer.
To top off our perfect day, we had dinner reservations at a very nice restaurant on the cliff. We were given the best table. It was a table for 4 on the cliff's edge and there was NO railing. Tommy sat at the edge by the cliff side and I was a nervous wreck for most of the meal. We got to pick our own fish and they filleted it at our table after it was cooked. The meal was amazing and the view was spectacular. All 4 of us recalled all the fun we've had so far and laughed at some of the funniest moments. It was the perfect night. Tommy even sensed how special the night was and had a beer with his dinner.
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