This is the ancient village of Akrotiri, what some people call Atlantis. When the volcano blew up around 4000 years ago it was covered in ashes. They did not find many dead people so everyone must have known something bad was about to happen and left. You can walk through the streets and see what is inside the buildings even though you are not alowed to go into the rooms. I don't believe that this is Altlantis, but you can believe what you want. My Dad says Atlantis is under the ice in the south pole. Don't ask me how he knows but it sounds possible to me.
This is me in the archeology museum of Akrotiri
which is in Thira. They brought all the stuff they found in the
buried town here. My dad was taking
pictures of all the staues and pots and the guards said it was OK. Then he took a picture
of me in front of this big pot to show the size and the guard came running up and said,"No,no,
it's not perrmitted to take pictures of people standing in front
of the pots or anything else in here!" My dad said,"Wait a second, I can take pictures of anything in the museum, but
if I put my own daughter in the picture, then it's not allowed?"
The guard thought about it for a second and then said,"Oh, go ahead," and
walked away. I guess when my Dad put it that way it seemed like
a stupid rule to the guard.
I think
it was because they didn't want people knowing how big the stuff
was. But why?
This is my cousin Alex. We spent the summer together in Greece. Here she is looking at the menu from a cafe that is right on the top of the cliff in Thira at least a thousand feet above the water. It has a great view. Near it is a ski-lift that brings tourists up from the cruse ships. Or they can go by donkey. By the way, the club sandwhiches there are really good. So are the french fries! Those islands you see behind her are made of lava and in some places they are still hot. There are hot springs and people go there on small boats. If you are smart you will have figured out that this means Santorini is still a live volcano. Don't worry. It has not errupted since the nineteen-fifties.
Even though it only rains a coupel times a year, they still grow grapes and these little tiny cherry tomatos that are really good. (And I don't even like tomatos!) They don't water anything,but because of the volcano, there is lots of dew in the morning and that's how the plants get their water. Santorini is famous for wine and there are lots of wineries that have tours and food. We went to one that was an art gallery that was pretty amazing. It was called Art Space and one guy did everything.
As you can see (or even if you can't see), there is a city on top of the cliffs. That is what thoese white things are. The cliffs are the wall of the crater of the volcano. The name of this city is Thira and it is the capital of Santorini. It really is like a city with traffic and buses and fast food and shops and stuff. It is kind of hectic. It is fun for parents and people who like to shop and hang out and look at the sunset. But if you are a kid you want to be somewhere close to the beach with a pool.
Santorini was a lot more fun once my Dad took us for a ride in the jeep the hotel gave him to use. He also had a friend named George who drives people around in his van and shows them weird things they probably would not find in the guidebooks or on their own. This is an ostrich he showed us on the way to Perissa Beach.
Santorini was pretty amazing with its volcano and cliffs and ostriches and tomatoes. But after a long day of sightseeing it is good to know you can go back to the hotel where the swimming pool is waiting for you and there might even be some kids around.
There is more about Santorini on my Dad's site at www.greektravel.com/greekislands/santorini
