Sorry if this sounds like a lecture, but some of you may be interested in the different types of ferries.

Hydrofoils are not the same as catamarans. <i>There are no hydrofoils between Athens and Santorini or Crete&gt;Santorini&gt;Mykonos.</i> They are only used in sheltered waters.

Athens to Santorini is served by the Highspeed series, huge car-carrying catamarans, almost as large as the conventional ferries. These ships are very smooth and stable.

Crete&gt;Santorini&gt;Mykonos is served by the Flyingcat series, smaller passenger-only catamarans, which cause problems with some people in rough weather. In calmer weather they are also very smooth.

Go to http://www.hellenicseaways.gr/index.asp?a_id=209 and click on &quot;The Fleet&quot; if you want to see pictures and stats of these ships. This is a hydrofoil: http://tinyurl.com/2y5a2v

Yiorgos, you really should post that ruins question on a separate message -- people who are not interested in a ferry may not open this message.

To your query: do you mean the Minoan village of Akrotiri? Definitely very interesting -- BUT it has been closed since 2005 due to collapse of some scaffolding, and no re-opening date has been announced; certinly not '08.

If you mean ancient Thira, I think it is mainly about the climb and the marvelous vista of the Aegean. It is about 5 acres+ of higgledy-piggledy ruins with no signage at all... if u can find a map of ruins in a guide book (I never could) u can make some sense of it; luckily 2 of my travel pals on that trip were architects so we puzzled it out. NOTE: you can drive up part way if u have a car, or share a taxi(us). We walkd back down --goat path then 16 switchbacks -- and then bus backto Fira.