Blog from Samos

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As we sit on one of our two balconies overlooking the marina in Pythagoria on the isle of Samos , we feel lucky once again to have found an island we have grown to love. We are staying at Acropol Rooms (30euro a night) on the main boardwalk just five minutes from the port and 200 meters from our favorite beach. Today we discovered another beach at the end of the main commercial street just past the archeological site of Samos. It was a bit rocky and wavy for our liking. We prefer the first beach with its restaurants that serve you right on the seashore. The best time to swim is either in the morning before 10am or after 5 or 6 pm. Otherwise, expect to be broiled and served up on a platter along with a lobster. Last evening we went to our favorite beach for a swim at 6 and then stayed at the same table for dinner, sampling the specialty of grilled sardines. Yummy! Irwin helps by eating the heads. Maybe he thinks they will make him as smart as Pythagorus, whom if you haven’t guessed is from these parts.

We have stretched out our stay to four nights because we feel very much at home and comfortable in Pythagoria, having met Sandy this morning. Sandy is from New Zealand, has lived here more than 23 years and raised two children here. She owns the bar where we stopped for breakfast, which included three large fresh orange juices, (one was extra) and our favorite brown baquettish toast and filter coffee. Real milk is quite a deal here so you have to ask for it. Otherwise you get Carnation. Sandy suggested we dine at Thanasis’ Sister, an ouzeria with authentic Greek music so off we went last night to hear lovely ballads by a gentleman playing the Bouzouki with guitar accompaniment by the owner of the restaurant. His wife, Joclyne, also an owner, is an American Greek from Utah and she serves up Greek homemade delicacies, including what we ordered: a tomato anchovy salad, freshly made fried chick pea balls, a grilled red pepper stuffed with spicy feta, tiny and tasty calamari, and some indigenous boiled greens from the island. For dessert, a herbal tea from the island and a chocolate log with walnuts which was sumptuous. We’ll be back tomorrow night to try as many other dishes as we can. It will be our last night in Pythagoria before we set sail for Icaria (yes, our next isle is named after Icarus). Icaria is very near Samos but takes four hours on a very slow ferry. We chose Icaria because well…. we’d never heard of it before and when we started reading up on it, we loved the idea. The island was a island of exile for Communists after the Civil War which followed the Second World War and apparently still maintains a strong communist presence. We’ll let you know just how strong in our next blog. Till then…….