second Samosian visit to Vathie

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After one adventuresome and one peaceful day in Icaria, we broke our rule of always going forward and never going back. We returned by ferry to Samos Island, disembarking at the port of Vathie. This was necessary to link up the ferry to Lesvos and Limnos leaving August 4 from the third Samosean port, Karlovasi.

Once in Vathie we strolled along the port, if one can stroll, with bags on wheels, and found a nice hotel with swimming pool for 65 euro. The accomodations lacked in three ways: fuzzy TV, two wading pools, one for kids and one for adults, and lousy air conditioning. The included breakfast was wanting to say the least.

The only thing to do in Vathie is to walk and we did so stopping to have the occasional freddicinos. Our dinner find was The Garden, which we highly recommend — an open air courtyard that reminded us of the one in Chania, Crete. This one had a fountain in the middle, Greek music, albeit recorded, and good fresh fish with trimmings for under 11 euro. We also have developed a penchant for the Spicey Cheese appetizer.

There being no beach in the town, we walked one kilometer or so to a recommended beach and found it beneath our standards. It was very rocky and full of tourists in sunbeds and umbrellas and the waves made it difficult to swim out. After the second day we were ready to leave… too early to catch our overnight ferry from Karlovasi to Limnos and had to wait several boring hours in a café… playing chess and reading! We bought feta, tomatoes, and bread in the supermarket and picnicked on a bench while photographing yet another sunset.

Luckily we were able to book cabins in Karlovasi, having been told in Vathie that there were no cabins available. But we weren’t able to get our own cabin and ended up sharing with three others of the same gender (to the best of our knowledge). It was a lovely experience for Barbara because the three ladies were very quiet and sensitive about her sleep when they boarded at 4am at Lesvos. At 11am we disembarked at a non-descript looking village called Mirina in Limnos and walked a kilometer from the port to the town deciding to stay at the only hotel we saw, Hotel Lemnos, overlooking the harbour and perfect sandy beach down the street. More on the Limnosian experience in our next blog.