Samos 2005: An Unusual Greece...

Summer 2005, destination Samos, the island where a very dear Greek friend of ours, Yannis (Yanakis), was born and where he returns every summer from the capital, Athens, where he works and lives with his family. We are guests of his parents in this wonderful, artistic setting, and perhaps it's the holiday we'd long wanted to take in Greece... First of all, free from the usual itineraries, the crowds and the packed beaches... we had a great longing for freedom and on this island we rediscovered it. The island is large, you can drive around it in 1 or 2 days and go from turquoise sea to mountains of about 1,000 metres with waterfalls and caves... On the island you find everything to make the holiday comfortable; we hired a quad and toured it far and wide, and with our friends we went fishing and ate the fish with big local salads............ delicious.

You get to the island from Athens by ship or plane; in the first case it's 14 hours, in the second 40 minutes, and we chose the second option. Samos faces Turkey; from here you can go to Ephesus, or, staying on the island, you can see the remains of ancient cities and savour the history of the Aeneid, given that archaeological sites are everywhere, particularly near the airport. Sea and beaches... in Greece freedom means finding wonderful places and blending with nature... here you can go nude without any hang-ups and with the greatest respect, but nature isn't just that... you can dive in and see the blue of the Mediterranean, with its fish and its history. Unforgettable the beaches of Psili Ammos and Takis's taverna... 20 metres from our friends' house. If you're after different emotions in Greece... consider it an island well able to give you them.