Santorini!

OK. Back on track. Chris and I arrived in Santorini yesterday, an island that is really the ridge of a caldera, the largest neighbor of some other islands forming other parts of the caldera, all surrounding one more island, which is of course the tip of the massive volcano itself. When I say massive I really mean it too. Pictures aren't going to do justice to the sheer scale of this place. Imagine cliffs as tall and steep as those of the Grand Canyon, but dropping to an ocean. Now imagine a crater as large as Baltimore, and then fill it with seawater. Think about that, imagine being able to drive out to the mountain cliffs of Fells point, and from there being able to see across the sea to the mountain cliffs of Pimlico Park. Oh and the sunsets here are famous for a reason. Our hotel is built right into the side of the caldera cliffs like some modern version of an ancient Hopi village. Apparently the current residents kept the architectural traditions of the ancient Minoans going. It made me wonder if the Hopi had not been mostly wiped out by the whiteys if they too would be carving 5-star hotels into the sides of the Grand Canyon for visiting Seminole tourists.

Anyway, Chris and I decided that today was going to be a day of fun in the sun at the beach, just lazing around. I spent most of that time under the umbrella of course, but for a while I did lay out into the sun and attempted to get a light burn. I managed to accomplish my goal (a light pink which quickly faded to off-white, as opposed to my normal freckled alabaster), but it seems I am among the 10% of those who experience the doxycycline side effect of photosensitivity. It was a remarkable feeling actually, everywhere the sun touched my body felt like someone had just rubbed fresh Ben-Gay on my skin, like fire but less dramatic. It wasn't so much uncomfortable or painful as it was just intensely, distractingly, odd. Speaking of Lyme disease, I think I am going to live. My angry rash seems in rapid retreat and the antibiotic isn't too bad on my system.

Other random bits I haven't mentioned in previous posts:

The SCUBA diving in Mykonos was a disappointment honestly. The water is cold enough to require a wetsuit (which isn't a downside really). The water is clear as crystal and 100-150 foot visibility was the norm for the day. However, I expect that all this great visibility is due in large part to a severe lack of nutrients in the water, which of course prevents things from growing, which in turn obviates the existence of any large, diverse, or interesting aquatic animals. All I saw were some big schools of minnows, a handful of some weird spiny worms, and a little bit of an octopus. The octopus would have been the highlight except for the fact that he was doing a very good job of hiding himself, so I only saw a flash of tentacle and beak. What a tease. Judging by the size of his tentacle and suckers, I'm guessing his head was about half the size of mine.

All the most popular beaches in Mykonos have adjoining clubs. Literally. It just goes straight from sand to dance floor to bar. At around 5 pm, the DJ starts up and if you happened to have been sleeping on the beach, too damn bad, its time to dance fucker. I actually really thought this was cool as hell. Unfortunately, they play mostly shitty diva house, but some of it was tolerable enough for me to want to go on a Friday or Saturday night when the shit is really hopping so I might get to see how all those topless sunbathing chicks dance at night. *note to my wife: you are the hottest dancing chick I have seen topless and you know it*

Athens is a very cosmopolitan kind of city. Like New York or LA, everyone is beautiful and young, or selling something to them. The room we had stayed in was postage stamp sized and yet was considered "top shelf" and expensive. For the same amount of money we are living like kings in the islands, although our bed in our room here in Santorini is hard as a rock and in Mykonos, the bed was actually two singles pushed together. The same was true with our room in Athens and at one point we started to think this was some strange Greek-Orthodox cultural thing. Alas no, it is just a Greece thing I think.

Lessee, what else? I can say I have finally settled into my vacation stride. I know when I start to forget I even have a job.

Opa!