[For 15 years I have
had a summer house in Karlovasi on the Greek island of Samos. I used it
infrequently to begin with, but now my wife and I spend about 4 months there
every year and we delight in the many positive aspects of this Aegean
beauty-spot. My first article describes Historic Samos and the second Modern
Samos].
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Map of Samos with its two main towns of Karlovasi in the North West and Vathi
(officially called Samos Town but always known as Vathi) in the North East.
Between these two on the North coast is the surfing resort of Kokkari and on the South East coast is
the main tourist resort of Pythagoreio.
My first article described the long and sometimes convoluted
history of Samos. This second article is about the Samos we can now experience
in 2013, with all its highs and lows. The places I describe are my own choices
and I do not claim to be non-partisan. My apologies go to those who deserve
mention and are omitted arbitrarily. Do check locally or via Google about any
establishment I recommend in my footnotes.
Most visitors will arrive at the modern airport, just
outside Pythagoreio (1). Amazingly
the airport and the much-touted Doryssa
Bay Hotel were permitted to be built in the 1970s on top of parts of the
6km Sacred Way to the Heraion. The ruins of an Early Christian basilica are
hemmed in by a putting course and by one of the hotel swimming pools, but
access is easy. Pythagoreio was only so named in honour of Pythagoras in 1955
(it was previously Tigani) and it occupies the site of Ancient Samos. There is
a multitude of excavated but fragmentary classical sites, stadium, temples,
city walls, villas to wander through.
Tourists come to enjoy the attractive harbour strip (the
harbour is one of the oldest in the Mediterranean) where pavement cafes and
fish restaurants abound and behind there is a full array of hotels,
pizza-parlours, tavernas and souvenir shops. Some splendid yachts and tourist
boats are to be seen. The nearby swimming is popular, part sand and shingle.
This is the liveliest place in Samos in the Summer season.
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| Pythagoreio Harbour |
Leaving Pythagoreio for Vathi (officially Samos Town) you
take a detour east to Psili Ammos (Fine Sand), in my view the best beach in
Samos, looking across the narrow Strait of Mycale to Turkey. It is entirely
sandy, the water is shallow, there are beach beds and an excellent fish tavern
opposite.
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| Psili Ammos Beach |
Samos does not rate highly for beaches. The North of the
island is entirely given over to stones and shingle, requiring the wearing of tight
plastic shoes to swim in comfort. There are some agreeable coves like Avlaiki
and anyhow many visitors make the best of it. The South is better served with a
mixture of sand and shingle from Pythagoreio via peaceful Ormos Marathakampos to Votsalaikia
and further on tranquil Limnionas but in truth there are many better Greek
islands for a beach holiday – Mykonos, Paros, Rhodes, Skiathos, Corfu etc –
leaving Samos as an also ran. I confess we do most of our swimming in a hotel
pool, no stones, no sand, just sun, reading with ouzo and snacks under a shady
umbrella!
Vathi (2) is the
administrative capital of Samos with its law-courts, tax offices and utilities
centres. It is one of the two main ferry-ports and looks most inviting with its
spacious situation in its bay. Close-up, I find it disappointing, rather dusty
and forlorn with not much to offer apart from the excellent Archaeological
Museum with its Kouros described in
my earlier piece. I watched the Olympic flame being proudly paraded here in
2004 ahead of the triumphant Athens Games. Maybe the town can be revitalised
again.
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| The Promenade at Vathi |
Taking the coast road West soon gets you to Kokkari (3), lying in bays between two
coastal out- crops. This is a modern resort but it is agreeable to sit on the
cushioned chairs on the strip beside the sea drinking frappé coffee or eating
ice cream. Kokkari is windy and it attracts many wind-surfers, indulging
enthusiastically in their energetic hobby.
In the hills behind Kokkari you encounter some of the best
of Samos. There is a succession of hill villages, Vourliotes, Manolates and
Ambelos (4) in beautiful situations overlooking the distant sea with
traditional balconied houses, narrow streets and welcoming locals offering
delicious food. This is also prime walking country, much practised in Samos.
Organised and expertly led groups of 10 or so tramping through the footpaths
are a common sight in early or late summer. Age does not seem to be much of a
barrier as there are plenty elderly participators.
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| Village Street in Manolates |
The green hills and deep ravines are a lovely feature of the
island and it is not just the expected olive, cypress and plane trees or the maquis shrubs and herbs. Samos is home
to rare flowers like the spiny knapweed, the lilac flowered larkspur,
grape-hyacinth, and over 60 species of orchid. On Mt Ambelos there are rare
crocuses, the alpine squill and the crimson-pink Gladiolus anatolicus. There are even unusual fauna; in the
mountains, the short-toed eagle, the honey buzzard and the eagle owl: in the
woodlands the blue and red rock thrush and shearwaters out to sea. One European
butterfly is only seen on Samos, the orange-banded hairstreak.
The area between central Pyrgos
and coastal Karlovasi is also graced
by dense woods and vineyards clinging to their terraces on the side of Mt
Ambelos. The cultivation of vines holds a critical place in the Samiot economy.
Samos wine, then red, was not rated highly in Antiquity but when Byron sang
“Fill high the cup with Samian Wine” he was lauding the rich Muscat-grape wine,
developed in the fertile soil of Samos from the late 17th century.
The grapes are picked over-ripe to give them the fullest flavour and golden
Samos Wine, sweet and flavoursome, takes its place among the most admired
dessert wines in the Mediterranean. Only some grapes are used for this purpose
and the very acceptable standard white or rosé Samena wines are mass produced and happily quaffed daily by me and
many others.
The road down to the sea passes remote but cheerful Platanos, high in the hills, charming Kastania with its eponymous chestnut
trees and traditional wash-house and Lekka
perched on a ridge overlooking Karlovasi. The forests of Samos were grievously
damaged (25% destroyed) by a huge wild-fire in 2000, but have almost recovered
through replanting and natural regeneration. Some of the remoter
Byzantine-style monasteries (mainly of the 18-19th centuries) were
also damaged where they were not already decrepit. None is of the first rank
but I admire the large Profitis Ilias
Monastery, 3km out of Karlovasi,
crowded on his 20 July feast-day.
My circuit of the island ends at Karlovasi, (5) my Samos base where I have a summer house. Frankly
Karlovasi is not especially attractive, in particular its approaches are
concrete-infested and uninspiring. But we are happy here, as there are pockets
of good things and we have many friends to cherish. The central Plataea (square) has been upgraded and
is now a lively place of pavement cafes, tavernas and ice-cream parlours. The
many students (mainly studying mathematics) at the University of the Aegean
faculty here bring spending power, vitality and laughter to the town. In
September and October the farmers queue in their 4 x 4s with their loads of
grapes for grading and a price at the wine cooperative, recently having to
accept IOUs rather than hard cash in the Crisis.
There are sea front hotels, where the patrons (this year
predominantly tattooed East Europeans on fully inclusive terms) spend frugally
but worship the sun and sea-swimming. Many locals swim at the Potami, a river outlet nearby where the
beach is shingly and uneven but the water blue and inviting. There are several
decent restaurants in town, some seasonal but mainly open all year. Alfresco
eating is a great pleasure but warming fare in a cosy winter dining room has
its merits too.
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| The View from our Veranda |
So this is my version of Samos. The last 5 years have been
very hard on Greece. The egocentric Greeks are more or less ungovernable and incivisme is rampant. Thus you will admire a wooded ravine only to discover it is used
for fly-tipping rubbish. The peace is often shattered by thundering
motor-cycles from which silencers are routinely and illegally removed; the
Greeks do not give a damn for others. Some Samiots are sullen and unfriendly
and there is a small coterie of lawyers, notaries and collusive public
officials ready to cheat absentee Greek and foreign owners out of their
property. Slowly, with EU pressure, these things will change as Greece roots
out corruption and adopts civilised standards.
Should you come to Samos? Of course you should, and savour
the beauty of the island and the often infectious warmth and convivial
enthusiasm of the great majority of her people. The Greeks can be infuriating but
enjoy their voluble conversations, their generous hospitality and their
life-enhancing vitality!
SMD
15.09.13
Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2013
Sources: McGilchrist’s Greek Islands (vol 3 Samos with Ikaria & Fourni)
published by Genus Loci Publications, London is indispensable and I acknowledge
my substantial debt to him.
Landscapes of Samos
by Brian and Eileen Anderson (Sunflower Books, London) is well informed and
illustrated, especially for walkers.
Footnotes
(1)
Pythagoreio: Hotel Doryssa Bay, very well appointed, large resort hotel. Maintenance
standards erratic. The best on the island. Restaurant Faros at the far east end of the harbour strip. Good fish in a family atmosphere and swimming directly in front.
(2)
Vathi: Café Dodoni
on main strip near law courts. Good pastries and service.
(3)
Kokkari: Restaurant Basilico good Italian food in its own bay. Nearby Avlaiki: Kosmos Taverna, excellent fish
professionally served, in idyllic setting.
(4)
Vourliotes: Restaurant: Blue Whale; country food. (Old favourite Source Pnaca, by a spring
amid plane trees sadly closed down with lack of family succession). Manolates:
Restaurant Three Alphas, well-cooked
local specialities.
(5)
Karlovasi: Hotel Samaina Inn. Comfortable and well-run with good pool. Restaurants: Meltemi, attached to Anema Hotel on sea
front: calamares and salads. Hippy’s
at Potami, relaxing with warm welcome from Apostoli and Yarmo: Dionysos: at Meseo, reliably good meat
dishes, pork and chicken with cheese pie. Dimitri presides benignly. Kerkis (known as the Megalo Kafeneon) near the Megaron. Old
fashioned hearty Greek taverna, run by Yannis, big menu, strong on beans,
pulses, salads, pasta, pork chops with great draught white house wine.
Students, locals and workers clientele. Modern Café: Tram in the Plataea and Meli
Gala for excellent ice dream.
.
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