GREECE

GREECE
Mamma mia, it's Santorini
By PATRICIA BALDWIN McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Santorini is among the most popular European wedding destinations.

SANTORINI, Greece — It doesn't take a blockbuster summer movie to spark the imagination about a magical wedding in a mythical Greek setting. The release of the movie Mamma Mia!, however, has probably created a lengthier queue of brides- and grooms-to-be.

How can you jump to the head of the line? Combine your wedding and honeymoon with a cruise. And leave the details to someone like Chris Scurr of Royal Ocean Events Inc., exclusive contractor for Holland America Line.

I contacted Scurr recently after filling my Olympus Picture Card with photos of the chapel domes and church bells of Santorini, Greece. The images of the island's hundreds of whitewashed, religious structures and their cobalt-blue crowns would excite the heart of a robot.

Fortunately for me, the gorgeous, volcanic island provided the opportunity for a shore excursion during a Mediterranean Sea cruise aboard Holland America's Zuiderdam.

Scurr confirmed what my photos indicated: Santorini is among the most popular European wedding destinations. He added that Greece is one of the few countries in Europe that allows same-day residency and, thus, a legal venue for marriages.

"You can get married on the ship or on shore," Scurr said. And take your pick: civil ceremony, Catholic wedding, Orthodox wedding or vow-renewal ceremony.

"We provide complete, worry-free, coordinated, cruise wedding packages around the world," Scurr said. You just invite your family and friends along. You can even save money by booking your travel arrangements at the same time.

As a cruise port of call, Santorini offers more than big fat Greek wedding bells for Hellenic nuptials. The dramatic island, with its rugged coastline, is surely one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Here's a short list of "musts" for newlyweds on Santorini.

• A toast to the future: The island's most famous wine is a dry white called Nykteri, or "wine of the night." So raise your glass to the Greek translation of cheers: yiamas (pronounced as it looks, yia-mas). By the way, grapes on the island are grown on the ground, with the twisting vines forming circular "baskets."

• Wiggle your toes in the sand: Black lava beaches stretch along the island's south and east coasts. Bring along beach shoes as the volcanically spawned beaches get hot at midday. A history lesson: A massive, volcanic explosion in 1628 B.C. transformed the once-round island into a crescent-shaped land mass surrounding black volcanic islets peeking up from the caldera.

• Shop 'til you drop: The village of Oia (pronounced ee-a), which is set into a cliff face, boasts a narrow, pedestrian street lined with cafes and artist studios. Popular souvenirs include lava-rock jewelry and products made of olive wood. Buy a bag of tasty pistachios, which are grown in abundance on the island. The larger, yet still charming, Fira also is filled with shops and restaurants.

And don't forget the donkeys and the cable car. Cruise ships must anchor in the caldera, and passengers are tendered to shore in small boats. They then traverse the cliff up to Fira via a cable car or astride donkeys. You don't call a taxi.

As the practical and no-nonsense Rosie character says in Mamma Mia!, "It's very Greek." Supperb.

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