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Today we started out by exploring Fira, Santorini island's capital and largest city. It was a blazingly sunny day, the brightness enhanced by the ubiquitous white buildings and reflections off the wine-dark sea.

I'm reading the the Odyssey and can visualize Ulysses' ship sailing these waters, trying to avoid bashing into the rocky shores. In fact, at the base of the cliff, 250 m below our hotel, is an outline of where a cruise ship sunk in 2007. The giant ship is still there.

Fira's 7,000 inhabitants are dwarfed by tourists; the town is covered with hotels and restaurants, many of which cascade down the cliffside to afford views of the caldera and the boats that ply its waters. Yet everyone we've met has been friendly and helpful and most people we've encountered speak English—and their English is certainly better than my Greek. Signage, too, is almost always accompanied by an English translation.

Next, we walked north from Fira along the cliffside path to the two adjacent villages, Firostefani and Imerovigli. While there Paul hiked out to Skaros, a rocky outcrop that once featured a village and a castle.