The Magic Island of Santorini

We’re back home after traveling more than five-thousand miles away. First to Rome, Italy, and then a cruise through the Greek Islands. We sailed through the Ionian, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean Seas.

Today, I’ll focus on one of the days of our trip. We sailed on the Aegean Sea to the largest island in an archipelago string of islands–numbering more than a thousand–produced after a giant volcanic eruption where the the center of the mountain collapsed into a caldera with islands surrounding it, Santorini. To get on the island of Santorini, is a steep trail you can take by donkey, or your own feet–or like us, a tram up, up, up the steep hillside.

For some fun, enjoy a little flavor of Greece–but please come back to read the rest of my story of Santorini…

We booked (or rather our faithful travel agent, Kristy did) a tour with a young Greek islander named Nikolas. He drove us to different points on the island and willingly took many photos of us at this beautiful place. As we drove, he told us about his island. He grew up there, plans to have his own tour service, marry, and have children here. He spoke excellent English and with the other couple from Florida, we learned more about his homeland.

Nikolas–or Nik–told us most of the residents don’t lock their homes or cars.

The homes are painted white. During a cholera epidemic in the 1930s, they painted the homes with lime as a sanitation measure–and the white lime/paint has continued to this day. The white paint keeps the hot temperatures inside the homes cooler by about ten percent.

The domes of the churches are painted blue. Some of them are private churches, others for all to attend and worship. The people are Christian and are of the Greek Orthodox Church.

We really enjoyed our visit to the island. Nik was friendly and outgoing and took us to the major points on the island. Of course, we stopped at a shop for gelato–Nik had coffee–he said he couldn’t eat sugar all of the time. It was delicious. He dropped us off to walk through the narrow streets and shop in the many stores along the narrow path. He’d navigate the narrow streets further along and pick us up to continue on our way. He brought us each a baklava that was chocolate covered–I would have preferred no chocolate–it was sweet enough without it. Below are some of the sights on the island.

Our last stop was at the black sand beach where we tucked our toes into the sea. There were families enjoying the evening as the sun began to set.

It was a good day and we returned via a boat tender for a short ride to deeper waters where the ship waited for us.

This morning, finally recovering from jet lag, I read from a devotional about the promise of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who trust in Christ:

…Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:18-20 NLT).

I want to give thanks to God for the enormous gift He gives to those who trust in Christ. It’s a promise that is given to those who believe:

And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago (Ephesians 1:13 NLT).

I’m so grateful for yes, the opportunities I’ve had to travel and explore other countries and cultures. To see their buildings, homes, and taste their foods. But the greatest gift I’ve been given–and you can have as well, is the gift of eternal life and the presence of the Holy Spirit when we believe.

Thanks for letting me share a bit of my trip. I’ll tell more next time…

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