Day 21, Santorini

From our room's balcony, below, we watched the sun slowly make its way up from the horizon.

I forget how beautiful a sunrise can be. It is magical. 

As the sun was starting a new day, there were roosters crowing, a dog or two barking, and church bells pealing. Not the sounds I usually hear at home when I see the sunrise. But peaceful nonetheless.

Off in the distance, a plane takes off, heading north.

A guy deliverying something in crates hops out of the passenger side of a van and traipses down an alleyway.  He doesn't stop to view the colors in the sky. Maybe he did that on the way here. Or maybe he has other things on his mind.

Breakfast was delivered to our east-facing balcony. I felt indulged, spoiled. I could get used to that feeling! 

Since our ferry for Crete leaves at 4 pm, we need to hit the ground running today. Right after breakfast, we drive to the northern end of the island, to Oia where we walked, took photos, and enjoyed the warm sun.

Then we drove down the eastern side of the island (which was surprisingly at sea level and flat) before heading inward (west) to the traditional little town of Pyrgos Kallistis, which was not at sea level or flat. It was pretty and interesting. 

Next, we drove to the south end of the island to see three different beaches: Red Beach, Black Beach, and White Beach. On Santorini, because you're usually up high above the water, one is never far from a spectacular view. You find that you just have to pull over and snap a photo, like this one.

This is Red Beach.

A close up of the red rock that gives the beach its name.

This is White Beach. Note all of the white in the huge cliff. 

On the other side of that cliff is Black Beach (below) which had no sand, only black pebbles and small rocks. I did not go in the water here.

Now it was time to return our rental car and hop on the fast speed ferry to the port of Heraklion on the island of Crete. Here's what the ferry's interior looked like.

We are staying in the town of Rethymno on Crete for our last week of this four week trip. The WiFi in our little apartment is suuuuper slow. I had intended to post more photos but it takes too long to upload them, and it's been a long and fun day. My head is hitting the pillow in four, three, two, ...

Carol