We've all seen the tourist brochures with that iconic photo of Santorini in the Greek Islands and daydreamed of taking that photograph for ourselves.
I know I did.
But until the SPV Star Clipper actually sailed into Fira Harbour this morning, I thought that that was all Santorini was about.
How wrong was I?
The tourist brochures never show from the waterfront looking up. That's because some people consider the volcanic cliffs ugly.
But Santorini's beauty is in her completeness.
"Ah. Santorini. There is no other Greek Island like her. She is unique in the world," the old man serving in the souvenir shop tells us when we express our love for the scenery later in the day.
And he certainly is right.
Santorini is one of the Cyclades group of islands in the southern Aegean Sea, and lies about 200km from mainland Greece.
The island, which the Greeks call Thira officially, was once round. But about 1650BC, a catastrophic volcanic eruption caused the island to sink and break up, leaving the caldera and high cliffs we see today.
Our Flavours of Santorini shore excursion takes us to the archeological site at Akrotiri to the south, where we see fairly well-preserved buildings and up to three-storey homes of the Minoans who settled on the island from Crete and subsequently had their civilisation destroyed (though we hear that the absence of human remains points to the fact they likely escaped in time after the first warning signs).
Excavations began in 1967 at the site likened to Italy's Pompeii, and a bio-climatic roof now protects the ancient area from the elements. Magnificent frescos found in some of the houses are displayed in the National Archeological Museum in Athens.
In exclusive Oia on the northern part of the caldera, we walk through narrow alleyways filled with trendy boutiques to the Old Fort for majestic photo opportunities of the terraced buildings on this perfect northern-autumn day.
Fira, the capital, offers more opportunity to shop, take panoramic photos and relax with a drink overlooking the harbour before getting up close and personal with the long, long lines of donkeys - the symbol of the island that still offer visitors rides up and down the hundreds of steps from the harbour to the top as a quirky alternative to the funicular or sore feet.
Lesson of the day: The Greek Islands are indeed everything the tourist brochures say ... and so much more.
Donkey count: has gone off the charts.
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