I know I keep saying it but Samos might be my favorite Greek island so far! Samos is right next to Turkey, very green, and very mountainous. Alyssa had heard of Samos as a kid (she has a Greek Grandmother) and we also wanted to stay on a less touristy island. Everyone seems to go to the same islands (Crete, Santrini, Mykonos, Ios, etc) and we both really wanted to visit an island off the beaten track and this one did not disappoint. We loved it so much and ended up adding a day which we realized we've done on every Greek island!
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| I really liked the design of this statue, there are symbols all over the triangle as well |
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| View from our room, taken while sitting on our balcony |
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| Spanikopita, the inside was very creamy but the outside was not crunchy enough. |
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| Interesting thing about Spanikopita, the menus in Greece say Spinach pie not Spanikopita! We ordered it once and the waiter was all excited thinking we spoke Greek |
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| Moussaka |
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| It was good but I had to scrape off the top layer, it was too much béchamel sauce |
Alyssa is scuba certified and really wanted to do a dive in Greece and after the nap we went to sort that out at the dive shop. She was able to join in the dive the following day and for a fraction of the price I got to tag along and snorkel. After showering, probably blogging, and doing other stuff in the room we walked along the harbor to find dinner!
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| Saganaki, no they do not flame it at the table |
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| Chicken souvlaki, this may be the best chicken souvlaki I've had, the meat was very moist and flavorful |
Interesting tid bit about the Greeks.... they don't generally bring your starters or salads before your main course, they bring whatever whenever. They're pretty good at everything else so I'll let it slide.
We spent the following day on the boat! Alyssa dove and I snorkled. It was a ton of fun and I saw a HUGE octopus. I wish I had an underwater camera because it was so cool! There wasn't much to see in the water so I was stoked when I came across that! He was hanging out against some rocks just moving along to another hang out spot. When I swam down close to him he would open up and turn a very light white/blue color and shrink back down when I moved. I watched him for a really long time and just followed him as he moved around. Alyssa enjoyed her dives but she's a bit spoiled from diving in the Caribbean so she didn't see as much as she's used to.
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| On one side Greece! |
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| And on the other Turkey! |
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| Both Turkey and Greece are in the picture |
After all of that is was time for a bit of a nap and than a late dinner at a restaurant I read about on TripAdvisor.
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| Their version of Spanikopita, very different but pretty good |
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| Salmon |
Our last day in Samos, I think it's safe to say, was a highlight for both of us! A Danish couple from the boat the previous day recommended a hike for us and we LOVED it! We rented a car and drove to another part of the island called Potami and did the Potami Waterfalls hike. It was seriously hard work and we're both a bit sore today. We had to climb ropes, swim through water, climb over boulders and along rocks, it was great fun! We couldn't have done it without each other and a few people on the trail helped us as well. Luckily it's pretty difficult so it wasn't overrun with people. We also didn't know it at the time but we went the more difficult way!
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| At the start, that water is freezing and goes up to your neck here |
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| The first waterfall we had to climb up |
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| The second, which was very difficult to do with that rope! |
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| At the top of that climb! At this point we didn't know there was another one! |
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| The second waterfall/rope climb |
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| Between the waterfalls, the rest of it was all like this! |
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| We climbed up the rope on the left |
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| On top! |
It was a gorgeous hike and a ton of fun! After we stopped for a bite to eat before heading to another town on the island, Karlovassi. It's also on the water and pretty cute, but not as cute as Pythagorio!
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| Karlovassi sunset |
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| After we got back we went for some baclava, our first while in Greece. We didn't really like it, it's just too heavy |
Our last day in Samos we packed, I mailed some more clothes home, I now have virtually nothing I came with, and booked a few things for a few days from now and headed to Samos town. That's the major city and it's not great, just another city, nothing special. We had lunch and drove to the port to buy our ferry tickets back to Athens.
I'm pretty sad that our time on Greek Islands are over and I really hope I get to make it back soon! They are all lovely and all very different! I enjoyed each immensely and could probably stay forever! Our ferry left at 5pm and got in at 1am to Athens. We are currently sitting at the port waiting until it's early enough to go to our hostel. We're too cheap to pay for a partial night I guess! That and I just booked the place we're staying tonight about 30 minutes ago!
More pictures of Pythagorio...
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| These little chapel things are everywhere along the roads all over the islands. We're not sure what they are but we heard that if you have a church on your property you don't have to pay property tax. Not sure if that's what these are all about. I'll ahve to look into it. |
Emy! The pictures look awesome! Yeah I saw those little churches by people's houses in Crete too. You might be right ... someone told me the reason had something to do with money. You know, there are houses in Crete where multiple families share because each one couldn't afford the whole house. We would drive by houses where it was obvious the bottom portion was occupied and the top portion was empty. I also remember someone telling me the reason why you see so many spokes sticking out from the top of the houses was to avoid paying taxes because the house appeared unfinished.
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