Greeting Greece: Santorini II

We had a quick few hours on the island. I could have stayed much longer...days, even. But we walked quickly...saw beautiful churches and bells....

 ...the homes of the wealthy (our tour guide told us Angelina Jolie has a home up here...when she hears Angie's in town, she always makes sure to be out and about in case AJ sends Brad out for the bread...ha!)...

....beautiful architecture...

We got to be there as the sun set.

I wore my blue/white shirt so I could blend in!

I was so happy to see Bougainvillea, so prevalent in Singapore.

I have read that when the Ottomans took over Greece, they were forbidden to fly their flags. So, as an act of defiance, they painted their homes blue and white. Others say that the houses originally were not painted white, but white-washed, and cools the homes in the summer. Blue resembles the beautiful sky and water around them. Whatever the reason, it was uniform and beautiful.

We had taken a bus up, walked around, then would bus it back down to a cable car, which shot us literally straight down to the port. Heights don't bother me at all. It was just that little interior cruise cabin....!

Greeting Greece: Santorini I

We got back to our boat, and stumbled upon this fruit carving competition by the staff chefs.

As we pulled up to Santorini, it seemed very much to me like Cappadocia, here in Turkey. Both were formed from volcanic rock and ash, so that would make sense.

The white caps in the distance seemed like snow. However, they were the famous white houses of this island. We took a little tender boat to the island. I was jostled on the tender boat, but waited until I could get the Greek flag unfurled.

I really like the seaport look of these islands.

This island was unlike anything I'd ever seen. This mime was entertaining the crowds.

Though I realize many inhabitants on this island may have never found the relationship with Christ that I treasure, it still blessed me to see their beautiful churches and reminded me to pray that He would reveal Himself to any who truly seek Him.

The insides were ornate and beautiful.

Greeting Greece: Crete's Town Center

Our cab driver then took us for a quick stop at the town center, where we saw this fountain. Constructed in 1628, it was made not for beauty, but to bring 1,000 barrels of water a day to this place from an aqueduct 15 miles away. It has 4 lion mouths, so that many people could fill their jugs at once. The ingenious thing is that the final point of the aqueduct were the lions' mouths, yet they had no pump to bring the water up to that point.  This town square was the center of the largest slave trade in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Arab rule in the 9th century, was the site of the Byzantine governor's palace in the 10th-13th centuries, and was where the Venetian Duke of Crete stood to determine the fate of these people. Now, it's surrounded by coffee shops and people, modern life wrapping itself around history.

I got to quickly see the Basilica of St. Mark, built in 1239. It's amazing to me how many earthquakes these structures have survived.

I briefly hopped out of the cab to take a picture of the Koules Fortress, built in the 13th century, destroyed by an earthquake, then rebuilt in 1540. It served to store supplies and military weapons, and also as a prison.

I loved the color and crowdedness of this picture.

Biblically, we know that  some Cretan Jews were at Pentecost and were converted. We also know Paul briefly stopped here, while being taken as prisoner to Rome. It was from here that his shipwrecked voyage occurred. Paul's letter to Titus references a church here and gives instructions about elders. I took this picture because it reminded me best of what it might have looked like then.

Greeting Greece: Crete

The next day, our ship stopped in Crete. We walked off, negotiated with a taxi driver for a quick 2 hour tour of his city, then took off. He took us to Knossos, the ancient civilization of the Minoans, which dates to 2700-1450 BC.

I could not resist photographing the color of these pomegranates.

Here are some of the ruins of Knossos. It was surrounded by beautiful mountains. The ruins were in wonderful shape and building structures easy to detect.

Much of the public baths reminded me of the ruins in Turkey.

Support beams have been added, but the rocks remain from thousands of years, earthquakes, and invaders.

While Turkey generally leaves its frescoes and original ruins alone (and even lets the goats and sheep crawl all over them!), Greece seems to work toward restoring to the original design. Fragments of this piece were found, then they crafted around it what the original would have been. You can see the Egyptian design, which has helped them date this civilization.

Many things were grown on the mountainside. I think some of it was tea. It was beautiful!

I found this mineral-rich rock.

These storage jars were found. It was impossible at the angle from which we viewed them to get the size orientation, but they were so big I could have climbed inside. But I didn't. Have I mentioned I like plenty of space around me?

This was the queen's chamber. Historians have said these people mainly worshipped goddesses and that it was a matriarchal society. Dating it alongside our biblical history, I kept thinking of our intentional God and his many warnings against idol worship like the peoples around them. It becomes more relevant how He insisted that His people be separate from the others.

This was the crowning find, the Knossos bull, restored to its original color and texture by historians.

It was a quick tour, but I am glad I got to see it!

Greeting Greece: Greek Show and Buffet Breakfast

The cruise ship had nightly shows. Though it made us stay up WAY past our bedtime, we decided to take them in and get the full experience.

The first night they had a show presented by Greeks in traditional costumes. I loved it!

The gals were so feminine and flower-adorned.

The guys did this dance that reminded me of CC's Russian dance he occasionally breaks out into!

And when we got back to our cabin, our maid had folded our towels into this. So cute! She was selling a "Towel Art" book for a few euros. I knew Sweet Cheeks would have a ball with it, so her souvenir was chosen.

The next morning was breakfast, by far my favorite meal. Bacon! Sausage! Waffles!

Here's L!

Here's H!

And here's another towel art the next morning! (The maid benefitted from the purchase of the book, so we got extra special creations!)