A day in Samos

Trip Start May 21, 2011

Trip End Jun 11, 2011

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Where I stayed

Samos Hotel

(Samos Town hotels)

Flag of Greece Samos Town, Northeast Aegean Islands, Greece
Sunday, May 29, 2011

Today we slept in and had breakfast at the hotel. It was a decent, buffet style breakfast and we certainly missed the hospitable touch that George provided back at Santorini. After breakfast we found a travel agent right next door to line up our ferry trip to Kusadasi in Turkey for the next day. We also checked into renting a car, but decided to rent it in the afternoon so we could have full use of it until afternoon the next day. We then took a leisurely stroll down the promenade along the harbour, stopping to purchase stylish new hats and take in a cappuccino while people watching. Not that the morning was terribly taxing, but we had a nice rest by the pool before heading back to rent our car.

Our first stop with the car was a small beach town not far from Samos Town on the North side of the Island named Kokkari. We stopped in for a quick stroll on the beach and some ice creme

Samos 1

. The beach was small but nice, with crystal clear water and rounded rocks. The ice creme was well timed as Renata had been looking for Pistachio ice creme for a few days and finally found some. Our next stop was Manolates, which was highly recommended by our hotel clerk and a gem of a find. To get to Manolates you must drive on some narrow roads, that are canvased by thick trees and wind your way up a steep mountain. Manolates is full of little artsy shops and is built on a steep incline with narrow lanes. In some ways it reminded us of small artsy communities that you might find back home in BC such as Crawford bay or something on Vancouver Island. Being a Sunday night the place was quiet and peaceful. For dinner we found a place called Loukas Taverna. The views from where it was perched, high up in Manolates, were spectacular. It was the sort of place where you can hear the chickens clucking faintly from somewhere on a tier below it and you're pretty sure that all of the vegetables and herbs in your meal were grown within 100 m of where you were eating them. The meal was easily twice as good as what you would find in Samos Town and for half the cost. Even the wine was home made and a bargain at 1 euro for a small glass.

We then drove back to Samos town and took a quick stroll down to the main square to take in the night life. The children were all out running, biking and kicking the ball under the loose supervision of parents and grand parents who were often deep in conversation. Finally we turned in for the night to try to get an early start the next morning for our last day on Samos.

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Samos 2	Samos 3	Samos 4	Manolates 1
Manolates 2	Manolates 3	Manolates 4	Manolates 5
Manolates 6	Lukas Tavern 1	Lukas Tavern 2	Kokkari Beach 1
Kokkari Beach 2	Kokkari Beach 3	Manolates view Comments!