3. Santorini, Greece (2002)

Welcome to the Greek Islands and to Santorini! Also known (especially in antiquity) as “Thera”, Santorini is about 120 miles southeast of mainland Greece and is relatively tiny at only 28 square miles.

But Santorini, despite it’s small size, is special. About 3,600 years ago, when the island was bigger and known as Thera, one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history occurred here. The volcanic eruption fragmented the island, creating a huge sea-filled caldera in the center. The resulting massive tsunami rolled across the Mediterranean and completely destroyed the Minoan Civilization on the island of Crete.

The first challenge at Santorini is to outrun the tsunami and to preserve some valuables. Play the “Escape Tsunami” game and save at least one brainbot to proceed. Click on the above photo to begin.

Santorini (ancient Thera) was also considered a prime candidate for the lost island of Atlantis. There are many compelling arguments for this; but there are other contenders, of course, with equally compelling arguments. No one knows for sure. Just in case, play the “Treasures of Atlantis” Match 3 game, and save at least one relic and play one level. Click on the above photo to begin.

I’m going to take the cable car up to the port city of Fira. You are going to take a donkey up to the top! It is what tourists are expected to do here.

Find the donkey path up to the port city of Fira in the above photo. This is an easy one.

Once at the top of the cliff and in Fira, it’s not a great hop to the village of Oia (it’s a small island, after all). One of the most famous and most-visited sites in Oia is the Church of Panagia Platsani. Legend has it that a statue of the Holy Mother kept disappearing until this church was built in just the right spot. Apparently, they finally got it right since the icon is still inside and has stopped disappearing. Your challenge here is to complete a picture puzzle of the church by clicking in the above photo.

The Venetians ruled Santorini in the 15th century. They built a fort in Oia (known as the Castle of Agiosnikolaos) ostensibly to protect the people living there from pirate attacks-which were quite common in those days. Much of the castle collapsed into the sea during a 1956 earthquake; but what remains still offers splendid views of the sunset over the caldera.

Find the words in the above word search to enjoy one of those sunsets.

Speaking of sunsets, Santorini boasts some of the best sunset-viewing in the world. Click on the above photo and search for this photo in the link. It is the landmark token for this destination of our trip.

That’s it for Santorini-at least as far as challenges go. To stroll around the island at a more leisurely pace and to see what Santorini has to offer, click on the above photo. Apolafste!

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Answers to last month’s (Barcelona) challenges:

1. The shortest flight (in the air) between Reykjavik and Barcelona is Lufthansa flights 845 & 1138 (making a stop in Frankfurt) combining for 6 hours and 5 minutes in the air

2. The Guell Park bench photo differences are those circled below

3. If you selected any of these words, or came close to them for the differences between Casa Batllo and Casa Mila, good enough: “color”, “sea-themed”, “furnishing”, “rooftop”, or “massive”.

4. The answer to the Ciutadella maze is:

5. The solution to the word search is as follows:

The landmark token can be found at the beginning of the second section covering the Sagrada Familia in the link.