Destination: Greece & Turkey
Duration: 18 Days 17 Nights (Aug 06~Aug 23, 2012)
Day 14: Samos
Samos would be our last Greek island destination before
Costa Atlantica sailed to Izmir tomorrow. Our day started with pastry feast (oh
no!!! Carbohydrate overload!) at the Botticelli self-service restaurant. The
surprise of the day was there was smoked salmon! Yum yum!
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| Carbohydrate & FAT Overloaded! |
Once we disembarked Costa, we turned right to walk along
the shore to get to the Samos (Vathi) bus station which was about 10minutes
walk from the port. Based on a bus schedule from internet, there is a9.30am bus
to Pythagorion - our planned destination
and a world UNESCO site. It was quite a rush to reach before 9.30am and we
could see others were also rushing for this bus. Unfortunately, this bus was
not scheduled today and we had to wait for another 11am bus. I guess this was
the con of traveling on a Sunday. =(
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| Walking along the Shore |
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| The Lion Square from afar |
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| The Samos (Vathi) Bus Station |
We could not risk missing the 11am bus thus we simply
walked to the Vathi Lion Square to utilize the free wifi in the area. We were
back to the bus station before 10.30am and noticed there was a bus waiting
there and it was already full. Thankfully we were still allowed to get on the
bus to stand on the aisle. The bus actually departed around 10.30am since the
aisle was full by then. The bus ride to Pythagorion took around 20-25minutes
and cost around EUR2/pax if I remembered correctly.
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| Lion Square to use Free WIFI! |
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| A Random Building |
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| Picture of Costa Atlantica Docking taken in the Bus on the Way to Pythagorion |
Pythagorion was one of the most beautiful villages on
Samos. Did you feel ‘Pythagorion’ sound familiar? Well, if you still remember
your mathematics lesson – you should remember Pythagoras, the mathematician who
invented Pythagorean Theorem a2 + b2 = c2!!!
Apparently Pythagoras was born in Samos.
Once we reached Pythagoras main bus station, we were on
our own. We did have a map from the internet but it didn’t seem to help much. We
were trying to get to Panagia Spiliani but just couldn’t find the way. A random
friendly local greeted us good morning so we asked him on the direction which
he simply told us to turn to a small alley between houses and walked straight. We
were like: just walk straight?! Okay!
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| Ancient Agora on the Way when Looking for Direction |
The alley quickly turned into rocky paths between no-man lands
with only a single farm house along the uphill path. Did I mention uphill? It
was basically a HIKE! There was no one else there at all! The place was really
windy as well. We were getting higher and further away from the main street of
Pythagorion and finally reached a tar main road with road sign pointing out Panagia
Spiliani, Ancient Theatre and Tunnel of Eupalinus. I guess the local pointed us
to a shortcut. By the way, the wind was so strong that it pulled at your
umbrella until you lost your balance especially when you were standing there
taking a photo. In case of your wife or girlfriend fell accidentally, the
correct phrase to speak should be: “Oh dear! Are you all right?” and definitely
NOT “You broke the umbrella!”. WTF!
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| Oh no! No-man Lands! |
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| We are getting higher! |
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| Walk Straight? Really?! |
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| Getting even Higher! |
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| Are We There Yet? |
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| Finally! Road Signs!!! |
The Ancient Theatre was very near to the sign – majority of
theatre plays, ancient tragedies, concerts and recitals take place there.
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| The Ancient Theatre |
Panagia Spiliani
was basically located near the top of the hill and offered a stunning view of
the village. The church building was not that spectacular but the view totally made
up for it.
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| View from the Tar Road |
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| Walking to Panagia Spiliani |
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| Pythagorion from the Road |
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| Almost There! |
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| View from Panagia Spiliani |
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| A Zoom in of Castle of Lykourgos Logothetis and Metamorphosis Church near Pythagorion Shore |
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| At Panagia Spiliani |
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| Goodbye Panagia Spiliani |
We walked back to the main tar road to get to the tunnel
of Eupalinus – Panaga Spiliani was at the right side from the sign whilst the
tunnel was at the left. The Tunnel of Eupalinus was built in 6th
century as an aqueduct to supply Pythagorion with fresh water from Mount
Kastro. The entrance fee was EUR4 and it was really narrow to get in. It was
really chilly down there and only part of the tunnel was opened for tourist. We
really hoped that the tunnel could just bring us straight into the town so that
we could walk in a chilly condition rather than under the hot sun up there. Unfortunately we ended up returning to the
main village road by using the same path we came.
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| Hey! A Plane! |
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| A Zoom in of a Ruins |
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| Heading to Tunnel of Eupalinus |
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| It's a Narrow Entrance |
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| Dark and Chilly |
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| Tunnel is getting Wider |
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| Oopss... We have to stop here... |
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| Goodbye Tunnel! |
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| Another view of the Entrance which happens to be the Exit as well |
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| Getting back during the same path |
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| This is the Alley there leads to no-man lands |
We could see the Castle of Lykourgos Logothetis from
across the main road thus we continued in that direction. The beach was right
in front of us and was basically ‘calling’ us to go over thus we made a stop
there to chill out. Gosh! The water was actually cold under the hot sun and it
was non sticky at all! Love it!
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| Castle of Lykourgos Logothetis from afar |
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| How I wish to take a dip |
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| Look how Clear the Sea is.. |
We turned left to walk along the shore to get to the
castle and that was when we noticed the Samos airport! Oh my Gosh! You won’t
believe where it is located! It was right behind a beach with people sun
tanning and swimming! Imagine a plane took off right above you! We did not walk
to that part of the beach though as it was at the opposite direction.
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| Going through the Ruins to get to the Castle |
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| Beautiful Cerulean Sea |
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| Walking again.. |
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| A PLANE taking off right above the beach!!! See the plane at the runway and the crowd at the end of it? |
We finally reached the Castle of Lykourgos Logothetis – a
tower built in the 19th century by Lykourgos Logothetis, the leader
of the revolution of Samos against the Turks. The entrance was free and there was
a gallery inside the castle which offered astonishing view of the port.
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| Finally here! |
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| We are at a Cliff! |
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| The Tower Looking towards the sea... |
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| The Castle |
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| Some Exhibits in the Castle |
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| View from the Castle |
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| Sammy was there! |
The Metamorphosis church was right beside the castle so
we took some photos before heading to the Pythagoras Monument! Yay! A giant
triangle! I just couldn’t hide my glee since I was a Maths major last time.
Hahhaa…
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| On the Roof of Metamorphosis by Accident |
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| Metamorphosis from the Front |
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| Going to the Town |
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| Look at this!! |
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| At the Port |
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| Here it is!!! The Pythagoras Monument! |
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| Boats at the Shore |
We wanted to go to Heraion Sanctuary – a UNESCO site but
there was no bus to the place. We had no choice but to hire a taxi to bring us
there. Since we wanted to get back to Vathi after the sanctuary, we asked the
driver (who basically didn't speak a word of English) to wait for us at the
Sanctuary before bringing us back to Vathi. The taxi from Pythagorion ->
Heraion Sanctuary -> Vathi cost us EUR29.
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