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Hiking Skaros Rock!!!

About Skaros Rock:
Skaros is a rocky headland that protrudes out to the azure blue Aegean Sea. It is ideally located at the frontage of Imerovigli village. In the earlier days, a majestic castle was located here which used to be the principal place of Christian congregation in Santorini till the beginning of the 1800’s. Unfortunately, the castle was completely ruined during an earthquake in the 19th century and all that remains today are the remnants of the castle. Legend has it that the medieval castle of Skaros, was never ever conquered during its long 600 years of existence.

There is a well-defined trail that originates from the renowned Agios Georgios church that connects Skaros with the village of Imerovigli. The views are breathtaking and are literally a treat to ones eyes.

Skaros used to be the capital of Santorini till the 18th century. Later on in the 19th century, Fira became the capital due largely to its proximity and easy accessibility to the sea. Inspite of this, Skaros still retains its old world charms and has plenty to offer in terms of scenic beauty of the surrounding areas inclusive of the Caldera.

The neighborhood around Skaros is choc-a-bloc with restaurants, bars and hotels. Due to its stunning landscape and scenic beauty, many couples from the world over come here to celebrate their wedding ceremony as well as to spend their honeymoon at Skaros and the picturesque village of Imerovigli.

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About The Milky Way:

The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Earth. This name derives from its appearance as a dim "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky, in which the naked eye cannot distinguish individual stars. The term "Milky Way" is a translation of the Classical Latin via lactea, from the Hellenistic Greek γαλαξίας κύκλος (pr. galaxías kýklos, "milky circle").
The Galaxy has this appearance because it is a disk-shaped structure that is being viewed from inside. Earth is located within the Galactic plane of this disk, around two thirds of the way out from the center, on the inner edge of a spiral-shaped concentration of gas and dust called the Orion–Cygnus Arm. The concept of this faint band of light being made up of stars was proven in 1610 when Galileo Galilei used his telescope to resolve it into individual stars. In the 1920s observations by astronomer Edwin Hubble showed that the Milky Way was just one of around 200 billion galaxies in the observable universe.
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy 100,000–120,000 light-years in diameter containing 200–400 billion stars. It may contain at least as many planets, with 10 billion of those orbiting in the habitable zone of their parent stars.[14] The rotational rate of the Galaxy is once every 15 to 50 million years. The Galaxy as a whole is moving at a velocity of 552 to 630 km per second, depending on the relative frame of reference. It is estimated to be about 13.2 billion years old, nearly as old as the Universe. The Milky Way is part of the Local Group of galaxies, which forms a subcomponent of the Virgo Supercluster.

Interesting facts about Light Pollution:

Light pollution has caused one-fifth of the world's population – mostly in mainland Europe, Britain and the U.S. – to lose their ability to see the Milky Way in the night sky.

"The arc of the Milky Way seen from a truly dark location is part of our planet's natural heritage," said Connie Walker, and astronomer from the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Arizona.

Yet "more than one fifth of the world population, two thirds of the U.S. population and one half of the European Union population have already lost naked eye visibility of the Milky Way."

Star-free night

The phenomenon, caused by the reflection of manmade light by the Earth's atmosphere, impacts astronomical research and can even affect human health, warned Walker, who will present her research on Wednesday at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Pasadena, California.

The effects of light pollution on human health can be as mild as the disruption of the circadian rhythm leading to problems sleeping, but it can also be serious, she said.

One study of 147 Israeli communities, published in 2008 in the journal Chronobiology International, found some evidence for an increased risk of breast cancer for women living in areas with the most light pollution. This is thought to be due to unnatural light at night affecting levels of hormones such as melatonin and estrogen.

Light pollution comes in a variety of forms such as 'over illumination', 'light trespass' and 'sky glow' – the orange glow that hangs over cities and is produced by upwards directed light.

Walker's research has found that cities using light fixtures that direct just 3% of their light upwards can almost double the sky glow experienced by astronomical observatories 100 km away. "Allowing 10% direct uplight increases this figure to 570%," said Walker, who is chair of the U.S. Dark Skies Working Group, part of the Dark Skies Awareness program, a global citizen science effort to raise awareness of light pollution.

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Sunlight shining through the bright green canopies high above paint parts of the stream with a beautiful greenish/yellow glow.

About Blanchard Springs:

Rainwater falling on the Ozarks has soaked into the ground for millions of years. As it moved through cracks in the limestone bedrock, it dissolved the stone and slowly widened the cracks to form Blanchard Springs Caverns.The water remained in the caverns until surface erosion carved valleys and allowed the water to escape. You are in such a valley now. As this valley cut deeper and deeper, lower sections of the cave were drained. New springs then developed below older dried-up springs. Blanchard Springs probably came out of the holes high on the bluff above us many years ago, when the streambed lay 20 to 30 feet above its present level.
This stream flows through bat sanctuaries on its way through Blanchard Springs Caverns. The water is enriched because of bat wastes and the decaying remains of those that died. Although this does not affect the appearance of the water, it does make it unsafe to drink.

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About Great Smoky Mountains National Park:
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to southwest through the centerline of the park. It is the most visited national park in the United States. On its route from Maine to Georgia, the Appalachian Trail also passes through the center of the park. The park was chartered by the United States Congress in 1934 and officially dedicated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940. It encompasses 814 square miles (2,110 km2), making it one of the largest protected areas in the eastern United States. The main park entrances are located along U.S. Highway 441 (Newfound Gap Road) at the towns of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and Cherokee, North Carolina. It was the first national park whose land and other costs were paid for in part with federal funds; previous parks were funded wholly with state money or private funds.

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About the Meteora:
The Meteora. Greece. (Greek: Μετέωρα, "suspended rocks", "suspended in the air" or "in the heavens above") is one of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece, second only to Mount Athos. The six monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains, in central Greece. The nearest town is Kalambaka. The Metéora is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List under criteria I, II, IV, V and VII.

The Story:
After a nine hour ferry from Santorini and a five hour bus ride from Athens we arrived in Kalambaka. Which was cold and wet the night we got there. After talking to a few people, we discovered that the weather had been like that for days. Thankfully the next morning we woke up to a bright blue beautiful sky!

Notes:
The landscapes here were so awe inspiring. Photographs truly cannot do it justice.

The Meteora/ Greece/ World Heritage Site/ UNESCO/ Monastaries/ Europe