The results of the volcano allow for some of the most beautiful settings on earth. The sunset over Ia, a small village on the North side of the island.

Santorini (AKA Thera, but the modern word Santorini comes from Saint Irene) is an obligatory tourist stop, but for good reasons. It is a beautiful volcanic island that has a fascinating history. Any time a huge volcano explodes it is interesting but like Pompeii it preserved an amazing culture that leaves us with some very intriguing questions. The island had a strong relationship with the Minoans in Crete, a great trading, ship faring nation (3000 - 1250 b.c.).

Any time you have a chance to visit an active volcano, if you are the Airharts and Bornos, of course, you take it. You are allowed to take a small boat to the volcano and hike up. The water is super blue against the black lava.

A good hike up the volcano. The gang makes it up.

Our guide shows a picture the pre-explosion Santorini. It is easy to see why Thera was such an important island. It is called a "caldera" the Spanish word for cauldron, almost circular with an opening to allow ships into the protected harbor. We are on the mouth of the volcano in the center of the picture and the inhabited part of the island is the large part to the east. After the explosion which was around 1450 b.c., there are several more openings making 4 different islands.

The volcano was huge and changed the world weather for an extended period of time. They said there was evidence of climate change seen in the Red Woods of California and even lava ash as far as Ireland. There is always mention of the myth of Atlantis in association with Santorini. However none of the guides give it an credence because Plato very plainly states that it is to the West of Gibraltar, which would but it in the Atlantic. This probably makes more sense because it is called Atlantis.

The other historical question that comes up is, "Did the explosion cause the destruction of the great Minoan Dynasty"? The volcano happened around 1450 b.c. and scientist believe would have included a devastating tidal wave that would have been directed at Crete 80 miles to the South. The interesting thing is that the Minoans did not fall until 1250 b.c. One guide explained that he thinks that the wave destroyed the palace a Knossos and the ships, which were vital to Minoan way of life. Then slowly over the next 200 years the empire went down hill and eventually collapsed. This theory made the most sense to me.

Ike and Yousef were a little disappointed that we could not look down into a boiling and bubbling volcano. It has a magma crust over the top and looks like regular soil. When you pick up a handful of soil, however, it is full of hot moist steam, almost to the point of burning.

Here we are at the top looking back a the main island formed from the volcano.

Sorry this is out of order. Look at the next blog first. This is our grilled fish.

Ellen finishes up the zuchini on the stove in the kitchen. We have decided that even though we can not build a fire and grill our own fish the Greeks would be very impressed with the size the American appliances.

This is the story of our fishing dinner. Ike and Mister Grandaddy Fisherman and Angelo's Dad bring in the fish.

Maria teaches Mom to clean and scale the fish.

The Greeks help the stupid Americans to grill the fish.

The fish are looking good over the coals. We think that it is Talapia.

The original Antikythra Mechanism, found in a sunken Roman ship off the coast of the island Antikythra.

This is a reconstruction of the Antikythra Mechanism build by a researcher, Solis de Price in the 1980's.

This is one of the most interesting things we have learned about. In our tapes we have been listening to, the professor compares and contrasts the Greeks and the Romans historically as well as by subject. One of the lectures is on Science. He uses the Antikythra Mechanism as the example to show how clever the Greeks were in the field of Science. While the Romans were interested in admininstration and "get-r-done", the Greeks have always been a people interested in the whys and hows of natural wonders. His quote to describe the Greeks is, "Damn clever chappies" (obviously he is from the UK). This mechanism was found in a shipwreck along with some incredible statues and is dated to about 80 B.C. Stolen from the island of Delos by the Romans to take back to Rome. Scientist now believe that it was a "computer" of sorts that would tell time based on the movement of the sun and moon and also predict movement of other stars and planets. It is made up of 32 gears and plaques inscribed with greek zodiac and month labels. Newer models and reconstuctions still continue as this device captures scientist's imaginations almost 2100 years later.

The sights of Athens are amazing but even more fun when you have a friend to share them with. We were so excited that the Bornos came to see us in Greece. As every tourist must do, we visited the Acropolis. The Acropolis means "rock" and it includes all the buildings and entire area around the Parthenon (the main buidling). The Parthenon was a project undertaken by the Athenians at the height of Hellenism. However, like many public works, there were numberous cost overruns and the Athenians protested for work to stop. The great statesman of Athens, Pericles, told the people that he would fund the rest of the building so that it would be finished, however, above the entrance it would read, "Built by Pericles". The Athenians were outraged and voted to complete the project with public funding.
The girls pose down in the Agora or market (at the base of the Acropolis) where there is still plenty of great dining and shopping.
The kids check out the "Mask of Agamemnon". A funeral mask excavated by Schlieman and proclaimed as that of Agamemnon, although dating has now put it 800-1200 years prior to when Agamemnon would have lived. Agamemnon was the leader of the Acheans (Greeks) who attacked Troy for kidnapping Helen, his brother's wife. On an aside note, there is a marker in our town Antikyra that states that at the time of the Trojan war this area was a ship building center and sent ships with Agamemnon and Menaleus to fight Troy.

I can not get the pictures to load right now but I will try again later!


We have returned from an incredible 3 weeks of island hopping. Although there are many adventures, I want to start with the last thing we did before returning. We met our friends from Lubbock, The Bornos, and visited Santorini, Naxos, Paros, and Crete. Each place of course has it's own charm but I loved Crete, (Creta with a short e).

Our big accomplishment for the Summer was trekking the Samarian Gorge (Samarian is a derivative of Saint Maria). Supposedly the longest gorge in Europe, it was an amazing experience. We had heard several horror stories from other travelers, so I was a little nervous, but I had made up my mind that we were going to do it. It is 19 km long, our guide said 21 km (12.6 miles), and 1250 m (.75 miles) altitude drop. One of the first things our guide, Demetri, said was that kids do great and he was right. The kids bounced down the mountain with hardly any problems. Ike fell once and popped back up. Ellen said dust yourself up and make sure you are OK. Ike responded with, "Live like a warrior, die like a warrior", with normal Ike attitude. It is down hill the whole way and at first it sounds like that is great, better than the alternative. However, after about the first hour your legs begin to shake. The terrain is also solid gravel rock, usually about 3-4 inch diameter, so all those muscles in your ankles that are never used get a wake up call. We made the trek in about 6 hours with several rests. We met the nicest girls, one was wearing an Aggie t-shirt and so I spoke to her. She and her friend were not Aggies but a math graduates from Dartmouth. They were lovely traveling friends and they were so patient and listened to Carter the whole time. After several days of being sore I am now recovered and of course the kids were fine after the first day back. What an absolutely amazing experience!