The next day was the day we were going on our excursion to see the volcano among other things. I met Matt and Benedict and this was my breakfast as Szymon and Tim settled in and I took this self portrait before we drove into town and prepared to walk down to the old port along this path where we met the donkeys even as the path wound down affording views of where we were heading past more donkeys and a view of the cable car that would rescue us on our way back until we were on flat land wondering which of these boats might take us on our excursion over the sea to this island even as we looked back up the hill we had come down as our crew gathered and Szymon posed sans camera as we looked out at yet another boat that was not ours and then watched our boat come to get us which again was not this one. After admiring the path we had taken and the dock we had left we enjoyed being on the sea and looking back at the cities on the hills which had been formed by layers of volcanic ash over the (many, many) years. We passed the cruise ship and took some more looks back at the path we had come down and Thirasia in the distance, not yet realizing that we would eventually be among the hilltop houses. I was still focused on our path here and our ultimate destination as I paused to see Oia off in the distance as we found our way towards the new port with the steep road coming down and the many buildings along the dock and after another view of the road down I watched us come in to shore and the activity that was happening on the shore before we headed back out to sea with the volcano island in our sights.

Once on the island, we started up the paths to the entry looking back at the beautiful water we had left and the neighboring islands as we climbed up the hill to Point A on our maps where we admired the caldera heading off in all directions and were sure to obey this sign (except that we generated no garbage while there) as we continued along the path and noted large piles of lava while looking down on a caldera that has begun to sprout vegetation

and looked out to the distance around the volcano island and over the lava to the neighboring island as our path was ahead of us and our guide gave us demonstration (with visual aids) of how a volcano works. Against this backdrop we saw the the waters emerge and then continued along our way past the lava and around calderas

as Szymon took his pictures and we looked down at the small island next door before reaching the peak admiring the views

looking towards the port and back to the neighboring island while this boy was willing to stand on top of the volcano island and model for us. Having made our way to the top, we made our way back down recording scenery along the way from many views

before the view of the port where we had docked greeted us. We made our way to the hot springs which presented a unique hot swimming experience because the springs alternated hot and cold and then made our way away from the volcano island keeping Fira and the path we had climbed down in view as the water turned to a beautiful color and we found ourselves approaching the island of Thirasia where this was the view as we pulled in.

We came into town and were greeted by octopus on the grill along with these dishes as we looked out on the sea and found a place to settle in for lunch by the sea including this self portrait as we ordered tsatsiki eggplant salad a vegetable plate and enjoyed bread and wine along with the souvlakies while looking out at the path up the hill into town and wondering if we would try a climb while this boat pulled away and we were convinced to start our way up so that we could take a breath catching break and see these wonderful views of the sea below.

When we were near the top, Matt was nice enough to pose for the obligatory phone booth picture before we reached the point we declared to the be the top where he posed again. We walked through the town and came across this school before heading down where Benedict posed for the next obligatory phone booth picture and we admired views of the town and the sea below before Benedict headed down to a roof like this one and took this collection of photos

before we began our walk down recording the occasional picture on the way down and stopping to get pictures of a small lizard who may have eluded the view of my camera before we reached sea level and I posed for the final obligatory phone booth picture. I recorded the ice cream sign on the dock and noted the curve of the land as these women admired the donkey.

We began the trip back and the views got better as the land got closer as we approached Oia and then headed towards Fira

as the dock came into view and we could see the path up as I tried to record where we had stayed last year and then took one last look at Fira.

Back at the hotel, the others posed with the gift they had gotten me on the last trip here but unfortunately a checked bag is required to bring it home and after some hacking on the patio we headed of to see the sun slowly set

after which Tim finished his beer and the moon rose white we waited for the crowd to assemble so we could go off for dinner. At dinner, the bread suffered until the flash was turned on and my salad and the communal salad and spiced cheese as Benedict bit into his sausage.