THE POSTCARD RACE- ROUND 5 WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Congratulations to Szu and Alexis of New York City, they are the winners of Round 5 of "The Postcard Race"! Alexis reported receiving her postcard on Monday, July 27th.

This means that so far the Greek round winners have been from the United States! There are only two contestants in the United States. I guess this proves that people from the USA are real winners? OR Could it be that they have a far superior postal system? Does the USA have better political relations with Greece than Canada and is this reflected in preferential postal service?

Will the home town team ever win a round, or is Vancouver, being SO far away, never going to receive a postcard first, wait that does not explain the LA winner. maybe you will do better with the South American Rounds Vancouver.

HMMM we will continue to explore all these questions as The Postcard Race continues; Round six will be sent, again from Amorgos, August 15th. Good Luck everyone.

Meanwhile news is still coming in of people receiving the Round 4 postcards. Thanks for your updates we appreciate all your receipt acknowledgements. We are now certain that the Tholaria box is operational.

So we will be searching for the perfect thing to send to NYC, way to go Szu and Alexis and postal workers of NYC!!!

The Postcard Race Round #5

July in Greece

“The Santorini Island Round”

There are claims that, Santorini was Atlantis, the legendary continent that plunged to the bottom of the sea while at its zenith. A volcanic eruption 3600 years ago, more powerful than any other ever recorded, is proven, to have interrupted a very prosperous civilization on Santorini.

Santorini is what remains of an enormous volcanic explosion, that destroyed the earliest settlements on what was formerly a single island and lead to the creation of the current geographical caldera of spectacular physical beauty.

The name Santorini was given by the Latin empire in the 13^th century and is a reference to St Irene. Before then it was know as Kalliste: “the most beautiful one” OR Strongyle “the circular one” The spiral symbol common on Santorini is a reminder of the island’s volcanic history.

The island is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions the planet has ever seen. It occurred some 3600 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization and may have led indirectly to the collapse of the Minoan civilization on Crete, 110 km to the south, from the resulting gigantic tsunami.

Archeological excavations begun in 1967 at a site called Akrotiri reveal a wealthy, thriving, bronze age civilization. Remains of dual pipe systems suggest hot and cold running water and are the oldest such utilities ever discovered. The source of the hot water was probably geothermic, given their proximity to the volcano.

Archeological excavations begun in 1967 at a site called Akrotiri reveal a wealthy, thriving, bronze age civilization. Wall paintings or frescoes found have kept their original colour well, as they were preserved under many metres of volcanic ash.

Archeological excavations begun in 1967 at a site called Akrotiri found wall paintings that have retained their original colour well, preserved under many metres of volcanic ash. The paintings depict everyday life and lack the insistent religious or mythological content familiar in classical Greek décor.

A small wine industry flourishes on the island based on the indigenous grape “Assyriko”, a very old vine adapted to the well-drained volcanic soil and its chemistry. White wines from the island are extremely dry with a strong citrus scent and a slightly sulfurous flavour.

A 2006 documentary from filmmaker Simcha Jaacobovici called “The Exodus Decoded” suggests that the eruption of the Santorini volcano caused all the biblical plagues described against Egypt. Rather than crossing the Red Sea, a marshy area in northern Egypt known as the “Reed Sea” would have been alternately drained and flooded by tsunamis after the eruption and could have been crossed during the Exodus.

It is easy to see why Santorini was added to the list of possible locations for the fabled city of Atlantis. Some archeological, seismological and vucanological evidence regarding Crete, Santorini and the description of Atlantis from Plato links the myth of Atlantis to Santorini.

In April 2007, a cruise ship carrying 1586 people struck a volcanic reef and sank resulting in the loss of 2 passengers. The wreck of the MS Sea Diamond rests precariously on an undersea ledge and still contains 200 tons of fuel oil, a threat to the environment. Plans are being made to salvage the ship and prevent a fuel leak.