Mrs Egeland’s Greek Holiday

ΣΑΜΟΣ or Samos, the Greek island where the Apostle Paul visited amongst many that’s mentioned in Acts 20:15. An island of authentic Greek charm, this is no Disney-fied Greece of the type you might find on other islands. This is where the Greek come to relax, visit at your peril, the people are charming and the scenery is breath-taking. It’s easy to fall in love with this place. It mightn’t be as prettied up as Santorini or Mykonos, but it has charm with its varied architecture of multiple eras, its lush green environment and turquoise sea. We were Greek virgins (so to speak, we had never been to Greece before) we had travelled often to the noisy dusty chaos that is Southern Spain, that dirty little mischief, but we had never experienced the tranquillity of the Greeks, the sophistication of an ancient civilisation and the easy relaxation that the grace of Greece naturally brings.

Gagou Beach

We arrived at our hotel, Samos Bay Beach hotel and quickly acclimatised to the easy routine of breakfast, coffee on the balcony of the Sunset bar and the subsequent lazy days of lying in the sun, swimming in the beautiful Aegean sea and walking around Samos Town. The staff at the Samos Bay Beach hotel were gracious, hospitable, kind and very helpful. My tip. relax, get to know the staff. There’s no need to hurry, no rush, no stress, these people aim to give you the best experience they can, let them. They are very good at their jobs. Smile, say hello. You will find that they will reciprocate.

Capriccio Gelateria

Whilst walking around Samos Town we found an Italian Gelateria, the ice cream was some of the best I have ever tasted and we soon found ourselves gravitating to the little gelateria every evening. My favourite? Two balls of ice cream in a cone or a cup, one ball of cioccolate bitter and one of menta. That’s dark chocolate and mint to the rest of us… It’s like After Eights ice cream. The cioccolate bitter tastes like Italian chocolate mousse, rich, heavy, and chocolatey. The menta is creamy and minty fresh. The owners of the Capriccio Gelateria are Italian and have lived in Greece for 16 years, Luciano and Laura Cottura. All their ice cream is homemade, in a sterilised room above the shop, they all have delicious sorbets if you don’t want or can’t eat ice cream. Their daughter Barbara is a talented baker and makes fantastic cake creations. All in all, a gourmet family!

Samos Travel Services

We decided, once we’d arrived in Samos, that we wanted to make the effort to visit Patmos. To see where the Apostle John, the last and youngest of Jesus’ apostles was directed to write the book of Revelation. It was a moving experience for me, to know that I was standing in the same place as the Apostle John had stood before me. But enough of that!

What I really wanted to mention was the great service we got from Samos Travel Services. Manolis Sp. Kypraios arranged our trip to Patmos and since we were the only two for that tour that particular day with him, he generously picked us up in his car from our hotel and escorted us to Pythagoras port where we could board the boat to Patmos. He was clever, witty and very kind. Upon our return to Pythagoras port, he picked us up to return us to our hotel and showed us the old town of Vathy and recommended an excellent Greek restaurant.

Oinomageireion, The relishes of Urany

That’s the name of the amazing restaurant Manolis recommended. We went there for our last meal in Samos on our last day. The food was superb, its a family run business. Grandma is head chef, Grandpa, father and son run front of house. We had a marvellous view over Samos, watching the sun go down with a glass of local white wine, ouzo, local bread and traditional Greek dishes.

All in all, it was one of the most delightful holidays we’ve ever had, and my only regret was that we didn’t stay longer. We’ve made friends and will be returning to this beautiful island of Samos.

Until next time

Davita