Happy in Samos after Bodrum

click here to view images

We arrived in Bodrum via ferry from the Greek island of Kos and did not have enough euros for our Turkish visas (45euro) so we added the last of our money, 4 blue five-dollar Canuck bills. The immigration guy looked at them with thinly disguised disgust, and with a crowd of tired and hot tourists behind us, accepted them. (They don’t take Visa for their visas.)

We then rolled our bags from the port to the old city looking for the hotel we planned to stay at, fronting on the lovely bay. We couldn’t find it and it took about an hour to discover that it had been damaged by fire and changed into another bar amidst the hundreds or so that dot Bodrum.

So, this being high-high tourist season, we knocked on some doors, and finally settled on the Artemis Hotel at 140 Turkish Lira a night, ($78) with breakfast, wi-fi and AC. It turned out to be just fine, right across from the beach and choc-a-bloc among the myriad old city shops that Barbara loves. Except for Sunday, they stay open till the last shopper has collapsed, and that means well past midnight. Hundreds crowd the narrow streets – local tourists, Northern Europeans, French, Polish, Italians, the odd Yank. Restaurants extend on platforms to the water’s edge. There are fabulous pastry shops, fish restaurants displaying their offering in glassed-in refrigerated cases, pizza and kebab joints. And that is what we did in Bodrum: swimming, eating, shopping, gawking, and reading. Irwin has read three books so far, Barbara five.

We left after three days, taking a ferry back to Kos, not knowing where we would end up next. The Greeks and Turks not getting along so well puts a damper on trying to arrange Greek Island hops in Turkey. We luckily found a fast ferry to Samos, 4 hours or so, and when we docked we knew we had found our next little magical island. We are in the village of Pythagorion in a lovely little hotel (30euro a night) with two balconies, a fridge (so we can make our own pikilia), and AC, overlooking the main cove and port. What more could we ask for? More on that soon.