Maritsa Bay Pithagórion

... in France during the NATO conference in April and these were obviously government security and secret service. Never one to be shy, I left my group and walked right up to a Kalashnikov carrying soldier in full battle gear and asked him what was going on? He gave me the once over and said what sounded like, 'That's the Italian president, Napolitano'. Wow! So I then went up to a secret service guy and asked him. Same answer. I asked which one it was and he pointed ...

... me the bike, "all fixed!" I smirked, shook my head in amazement and exclaimed "No," pointing to the bigger, newer looking bike behind him. 10 minutes later the alternate
moped and I were on our way. My first stop was a town about eight km east called Sirince. To my delight, large signs with arrows directed me towards Sirince. Once out of the town and
on the open road I spotted my destination, nestled comfortably up in the hills ...

H's Notes
We woke to find ourselves mooring in Kusadasi. Our tour to Ephesus had been planned for the afternoon so we took ourselves off for a walk along the seafront and out to Pigeon Island which gives Kusadasi its name.
The tour to Ephesus was quite stunning and the ruins were far more extensive than we had ever envisioned. According to our guide Ihsan who was born in Greece but who has lived in this area for over 30 years, only a quarter of the Ephesus complex has been ...

... on them or carried drinks over some of these incredible pieces that took years to make. Once the presentation was over, our host called in his 'associates' and we were effectively cornered by 10 or so Turks trying to engage us in conversation in the hopes that we would buy as many carpets as possible (starting at around $2000 US for the small ones and $6000 US for the big ones). It was quite amusing - they didn't bother us as much as other ...

... 8211;which is the only sound heard inside this tranquil and devout place – creates an especially emotional feeling for the visitor.



A legend tells us how the icon broke:

Many years ago some strangers came here out of devoutness by caique to secretly take the sacred icon back to their land, but the Virgin Mary did not want to leave Samos. So as they took the icon out of the ...

... free water and electricity, no mooring charges and superb views from the harbour. The old town with its ancient, narrow winding alleyways wending their way up the hill behind the port, is one of the nicest , shadiest spots to enjoy a glass of ouzo out of the sun. Samos and Sinful Showers On Sa**************ed for our favourite marina at Pithagorion on the South coast of Samos. As we got closer we realised that we had now left the remote Northern Aegean and were ...

... s grave stone had a turban on top of it. Turban's were symbols and each wrapped in a special way to denote the individual's position in life ( a governmental official, an imam, etc.) A women's stone did not have the turban, and usually had flowers on it. The mosque itself was covered with prayer rugs-some hundreds of years old. We then went to the ruins of the Church of the Sleeping Seven. My initial thought when İ heard the name ...

... be an inspiration, able to survive with the highest gasoline prices in the world, with much less income, an extremely difficult feat at times to make ends meet, but they make ends meet because their transportation system--buses, trolleys, trams, dolmushes, and more--is designed to get people from place to place, together. Artemis, the nature goddess, would agree, though she's a goddess so a bus isn't really necessary for her.  And does she even exist...anymore?

... monastery we burbled about the narrow streets and found a traditional Patmos house which was open to the public. The owner gave us a delightful tour of the property. She was one of 6 children and the only girl. Unusually her parents had given her the house in preference to her brothers. Her family, over the past 400 years, had travelled widely and the house contained goods and chattels from all over the Ottoman Empire as well as Russia and South America. She was a ...

... statues which symbolised the four virtues Justice, Courage, Wisdom, and Moderation. A little further on is the main attraction, the massive grand theatre which would have held 25,000 spectators, there to watch plays, concerts, or perhaps a gladiator or a Christian getting ripped apart by wild animals. And as we were sat at the top looking down from the dizzying height and wondering if ...