DO NOT COME TO SAMOS IF...

What is the first thing to come to your mind when you think about Greece or Greek islands?

I’d think about beautiful blue beaches with crystal water, lots of seafoods, Greek salads, Zeus.

1 week before my 1 day trip, I was choosing which greek island to go to. Honestly, I didn’t have many choices. As I live in Izmir, I could go to Lesbos (Mytilini), Chios, Samos (Vathy) and Samos (Karlovassi) where boats go from Ayvalık, Ceşme, Kuşadası and Seferihisar to, respectively.  However, there are also boats going from different port-cities of the Aegean coast, but they are a bit far from Izmir, around 3-4 hours by bus. So, after doing a little research about the islands, and skipping Chios island, as I visited it 2 years ago, I chose Samos. Samos is only 27 km away from Kuşadası port, it takes 1.5 hours to reach Vathy (Capital of Samos) port by ferry, and is located in the Aegean Sea. It is the birthplace of many great figures of ancient culture: Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras, the philosopher Epicurus, and the astronomer Aristarchus of Samos, who first suggested that the Earth revolves around the sun. How awesome this is! Samos is also known by its wine and vineyards. Being in the ferry before arrival, I made a plan for myself to sit in a good Greek restaurant by the seaside for the lunch, order shrimps, calamari, greek salad and enjoy the sound of Aegean waves. After arrival, I spent few hours in Vathy then took a taxi to go to Pythagorio. Taxi driver charged me 20 euro one way, however reviews on internet told me it’s usually 15 euro. But as I am a tourist, and taxi drivers see tourists as euros, I had to pay 20 euro. I asked the drivers to stop near the shops and restaurants, but most probably he just burst out laughing after hearing this. I’ll tell you why! Only one advice!

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND YOU come to Samos in … winter season. Because all my dreams about spending the day as real Greek fell apart in one second after learning THIS HORRIBLE SAMOS TRADITIONS. After speaking with a few Turkish passengers, I learned that Samos is summer island, and nearly 99% of the shops, restaurants, cafes are usually closed in winter!

In Pythagorio, there were hundreds of restaurants and cafés throughout the coastline, but I could not find one single open restaurant! Shops were closed! ‘Rent a car’s were closed! Touristic agencies were closed! And there were almost no one on the streets whom I could ask for the direction, it was like after the apocalypse: empty streets. The only food place I was able to find was Gyros shop, something similar to Döner. But trust me, i haven’t eaten such a delicious food before! I ordered one with chicken becons: they serve it with chips, tomatoes, onion, special sauce and bread under all of this.

In sum, my trip was full of frustration, I didn’t expect it to be like this, because I was in Chios in winter season as well, and I loved it: there were lots of tourists, street foods everywhere, Christmas trees in every store, everything was so bright and with full of life, in other word it was lively island!

At least I could bring lots of chocolates and local wines from the island :D 

 

 

 Pythagorio:

The entrance of the (closed) restaurant.

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The ancient capital of Japan.

If you want to feel the spirit of Japan, be sure to visit the temples and museums of Kyoto, the city that is the ancient capital of the country. Having a tour of this beautiful city will give you a lot of good impressions.
As we didn't have much time to explore the city (1 full day we had problems with accommodation, 1 day we spent in Kobe), therefore we couldn't see much in Kyoto. Here are the photos that i took while being in Kyoto.

Kobe. View from Kobe Art Center

 

Ryōan-ji temple is famous with its rock garden. There are 15 stones of different sizes, composed in 5 groups. According to which, there are only 14 of stones are visible from any angles. The 15th are always outside of vision field.  It is traditionally said that only through attaining enlightenment would one be able to view the fifteenth boulder. ;) 
But actually we could find an angle where all 15 stones are visible :D lol So maybe it's just a trick for attracting tourists. Entrance fee is 500 yen for adults.

Fushimi Inari-taisha was our last destination. It's located on a mountain, also named Inari, that span 4 km and takes 2 hours to walk up. The orange gates (torii) is donated by japanese businessmen, and the first gate was build in 711 A.D. and they are seen as an entrance to a sacred shrine. These shrines located at Fushimi Inari is to honor the god of rice (inari), and walking throughout these gates you can also see foxes, that are messengers for Inari. It can take up to 3 hours from bottom, until the top and back to the bottom part. 

For the case if you want to donate a torii :)

And in the evening we walked along the central street of Kyoto (don't remember the name).

Walking in Gion district - Eventually it was build to satisfy the needs of visitors and travelers to the shrine. Nowadays it's well known as a famous geisha district.   

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