KO and the Turk: 45 Minutes to Greece

Just a 45 minute boat ride from Kusadaci Turkey is the Greek island of Samos. I've been to Turkey four times, yet never across the Aegean Sea to Greece, so we had to go!

This is during a time when refugees from middle east countries like Syria are also going to Greece, most of them through Turkey. In fact, many take the same trip from Izmir to Samos to get to Greece - albeit in rubber rafts or boats driven by opportunists. We saw a couple of families 'living' on the sidewalk outside of the Greek Coastguard station in Samos when we arrived. Two days later, they were gone - probably being processed through Athens for relocation to Europe.

The Turk is excited to go to Greece

leaving the port of Kusadasi, and the castle on its own island

We stayed in the west side of the island, where the road ends, in the port town of Karlovasi. This was a great location for mountain hiking and remote beaches. Our apartment hotel was across the street from the water, so of course I needed to jump in!

water was a bit chilly, but still nice

Turk after successfully managing the Greek grocery store

view from our balcony of nearby original town of Karlovasi with its church that we hiked to

Samos is very mountainous (maybe this is true for all Greek islands?). We took a scenic drive up to the remote town Manolates to walk around, see the views of the Aegean Sea, and have an early dinner.

house that is not yet renovated

ancient water fountains - with Christian markings - even exist here

we keep running across communist signage -Italy and Greece. Interesting

We explored the hilltop town near the modern Karlovasi that was the original town. The Greek Orthodox church on the hill was used as a lookout for pirates. It has an perfect view of the sea around this part of the island.

the hike up - we passed many stone homes

smaller church on the way up with intricate pebble patio

more detail of the colored pebble patio designs

view of Karlovasi from the original town's church

The town's original church - used to lookout for pirates

altar

sea stones were often placed in window ledges - not sure why

a home in ruins - but the handmade ladder and blue doors and shutters are still visible

closeup of a window frame

most homes have vegetable, herb and flower gardens everywhere they will fit

streets in Samos were often painted with whimsical designs

From our vantage point, we could see more churches and decided to hike down to this one. It had a stunningly blue door with double cross. The latch was broken, and the door was held shut by a wire carefully wrapped around a catch. So I carefully unwrapped the wire to enter the small church. It was ornate and reverent and the art was beautiful.

smaller church with the port in the background

church door with broken latch

rich interior

beautiful art work

As we drove around Samos we noticed small monuments or altars along the roadside. I took pictures of a few of them. Each had an interior compartment where gifts or offerings were placed. It seemed like each of these was to honor someone special and the items in the compartment were associated with the remembered person. In most cases, they had some sort of illumination - a battery operated light, or a candle.

some items in one of the compartments

Pythagorion is the home of Pythagoras, the famous geometry mathematician. This town is another UNESCO site and represents civilization from 10th century BC (Ionians) through the Hellenistic period when Samos lost a war with the Greeks and were exiled from their island - to be allowed back by Alexander the Great in 300 BC. Then was added to the Roman empire where pilgrims would visit the nearby Temple of Hera. As seen elsewhere, the sites remain active as they transitioned to Christianity in the Byzantine period. The Ottomans did not require the Greeks to practice Islam. Samos rebelled against the Ottomans in the 1800's but it remained under Ottoman sovereignty. Renewed funding of excavations in Pythagorion in recent times have unearthed a broader understanding of the island's early people and history.

Goddess Athena with some sort of helper

BC vase

Emperor Trajan - who we heard about in Pergama Turkey

BC vase

clay heads, mostly of women

mosaic floor of home - recently excavated in Pythagorion

original statues are in museum. these represent a family. placed along the Sacred Way - the highway between Pythagorian to the temple of Hera - and other assorted temples and statues. Generally where people came to present offerings and commemorate relatives or leaders

still standing - partial column (half the original height) from Temple of Hera which was huge when it was standing

mosaic floor of Roman home near the temple

WWII bunker outside of the temple grounds

Near Karlovasi is Potami Beach where the road ends. The beaches here are beautiful and further inland one finds waterfalls, an ancient castle and a small church. Our hike was cut short by driving rain. While this is the rainy side of the island, the rain was much more than a drizzle. We were deep into the woods and found a stairway to a restaurant. The stairway was probably 8-10 stories long and toward the top became a rickety ladder. In the rain, this started getting treacherous and we realized we would not be taking this same route back!

modern church stop Potami Beach

Potami Beach

mosaic pebble patio in front of church

Turk looks over the beach from the church patio

inside - brilliant green and paintings of the saints

Ornate altar

At the restaurant, we were greeted warmly by the owner, an older but very 'in shape' Greek man, a Polish couple who were also stuck, and an eclectic restaurant. The owner came out with home made white wine and crunchy, delicious bread. After some Greek coffee (which is the same as Turkish coffee), and some gesturing conversation with the Polish couple who spoke no English, we all realized the rain was not stopping. The owner offered, in Greek, to take us to our vehicle on the main road. We all squished into his rickety car and off we went on the twisty, bumpy road with loud rap music shouting to the trees. We were hit with the craziness of the situation and all of us - except the driver - laughed the whole trip down. Once we got to our car we all offered gas money to the owner, but he refused. The Turk and I took the Polish couple back to their hotel and later we joined together for local wine tasting. A fun, but soggy day!