Karpovoulos

Pronounced "pee-,tha-gore-rion is an idyllic seaside village on the south-eastern side of the Greek Island of Samos. It was there we discovered that naughty Rach had not learnt any Greek as was her mandate 😵. 'Opa' being the extent of her learning.

Idyllic was needed after the rushed pace and cultural quirks. We all felt a little fragile after two weeks in such a conservative, 2nd world country experience, but there was so much to love ❤️

The soft sea air, relaxed atmosphere and generosity towards women's attire were a balm and sweetly did we sink into Samos' bosom,. This could also be partly due to the amount of Mythos beer and Greek cuisine consumed. Resort included private beach with crystal clear waters and large swimming pool with large Greek male lifeguard that was stuck in Groundhog Day, asking us each new day if we were staying at the hotel.

One of the less populated and young-people-free touristy islands we were surrounded by a German pensioner convention of mahogany flesh, tobacco and bright caftans. Cleanliness was a MAJOR bonus with our rooms being fully cleaned daily and new linens. This is probably due to the strict rule 'NO TOILET PAPER IN TOILET' and a small bin is supplied. 😩 At least the public toilet floors werent coveredvin water from the ritual foot washing in Turkey.

Nothing much to report from our relaxed spot under the €3 Balinese umbrellas and sea lounges. We have changed now to Euro so meals are more like €80 compared to the $15 AUD we were paying in Turkiye; so dieting may come into effect. Eric now has Turkey belly so that's 3/5ths of the food bill down.

Something very odd possessed me one morning and I walked cross-country to a little Greek white church, momentarily losing the track and walking through a random's property with thankfully no shots fired. The stone ruins I passed seem commonplace now.

A kayaking tour with a strange Spaniard 'Juan': exhausted our arms for 8 klms of sea kayaking. Poor Bill had to share a 2-man with me and we mostly bickered like teenagers. The snorkelband beach lunch made up somewhat. Our beach lunch being periodically interrupted by Jordie Shaw-accented English refugee camp workers springing up out of the bush to have a swim.

We unfortunately did not see Pythagoras,' cave as we felt we may have seen enough for the time being.

Tomorrow we fly to Thessalonica and leave our beach reverie behind 😭Read more