The ferry from Pireas arrives at Vathí, the capital
town near the east
end of Samos island, at the regrettable hour of 5:00am.
An hour earlier it stops at Karlóvassi in the
western part of the
island. Karlóvassi's port sits under a cliff which is floodlit - for
effect? to make it easy for boats to find? I dunno, but it made a
workable photo.
Vathí sits at the inner end of a long straight sound that runs
northwest out to the open Aegean.
To my delight, the attractive main square of Vathí is named, not for
some military or political figure, but for Pythagoras,
inventor of the eponymous geometric theorem.
Seems that Samos is in fact Pythagoras' birthplace. He is the
local boy who made it bigtime.
Curiously, the town hall is the same shade of pastel yellow as the
nearby Orthodox church.
Cartoonists know that the inner soul of a character is
revealed in its
shadow.
Is this little stone cross really an agave cactus at heart?
Along the main shopping street between the town square and the ferry
dock, more and more shops are opening for the impending season.
Funky
Fish - not an eatery, thank goodness - was a bare room when I
arrived five days ago. It is now a brightly-lit room full of plastic
purses, hair barres, and shopping bags.
This jewelry and crafts store, which has been here at least since I
arrived, has one of the more attractive window displays.
Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Bulf