Perry L. Gardner: Private Journal #26
Monday, September 11, 1989
It is sunset on the Mediterranean Sea. We just left Santorini, or Thera, as the ancients called it. This was the volcano that exploded and wiped out the Minoan era on Thera and Creta. The island from the sea is a spectacular sight, rising steeply from the volcano crater under the sea. The cities of Thera, with strings of white buildings, look like icing on a cake, because they are on top, with the exposed layers of the volcano under them. To get to the top, we rode donkeys up the switchback stairway. That was an interesting experience, with a fantastic view down if you weren’t too terrified to look. The bus ride tour was interesting in that it gave a view of life on the island, but not worth the 8-hour to 10-hour ferry ride. Unfortunately, the museum and archaeological digs were closed on Monday.
Yesterday was Sunday, and we went to Knossos palace, where Minonan King Minos lived, and to the Archaeological Museum in Heraculum. There we saw artifacts labeled as Neolithic, Minoan, and post-Minoan. We negotiated the trip on local buses and did pretty well with the public transit system. Crete is a rough terrain island. Knossos was a seaport on a navigable river, which is now a dry valley.