The island of Samos is less than 2 km and a world away from the coast of Turkey. You know you're not in Turkey anymore when there's no picture of Ataturk on the wall of a public office. Instead, the walls of the small inner office of the police station are decorated with icons and religious artwork. The police officer who checks us in has the face and body of a Greek god. As he examines our passports, he is simultaneously having a very loud telephone conversation punctuated by emphatic exclamations of "Nay!" "Nay, nay, nay!" If you don't know the Greek language as well as we do (which is to say, if instead of knowing about 10 words, you know none at all) you may assume he was saying No!, but in fact he is saying "Yes!" "Yes, yes, yes!". Later, I comment on his god-like-ness to Rick, who hadn't noticed. On the other hand, he was very impressed with the woman in the Customs office, who listened to Van Morrison while she checked him in.

With passports duly and energetically stamped, we wander down the main street of Pythagorio (named for the mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras, who was born on Samos). We pass a site with ruins that we later learn are the "ruins of Aphrodite" but we don't go in. Instead, we check out the prices of bacon and proscuitto in a small supermarket, then headed for a waterfront café where we toast our arrival in Greece with the extra-cold extra-large Mythos that Rick has already told you about. The pleasant waterfront reminds us of our first landfall in Greece, on the island of Paxos, two years earlier.

The next morning, we catch a bus to Samos town to buy an internet plan. At the bus stop, a woman points out some unusual yellow and purple flowers growing at the side of the road. She invites me to taste the small green berry...capers! In rapid-fire French, she launches into an explanation of how to pickle capers and what to serve them with. By the time we arrive in Samos town, I know most of her life story and have seen every photo on the memory card of her camera. I am saved from revealing the significant limitations of my French grammar and pronunciation by simply murmuring "ah oui" and "tres jolie!" at appropriate intervals. But she is very kind and in Samos town she walks with us all the way to the "Wind" store, where we will buy our internet plan. I am surprised to see her stop and chat in apparently fluent Greek with an elderly woman. "I took a three-month course eight years ago and I rent an apartment here every winter" she says. "If you just talk to people, it's easy. I don't speak English though...too difficult!"

Compared to the ordeal of buying an internet plan from Turkcell, our visit to the Wind store is a breeze (pardon the pun). For only 14 euros, we walk away with a new Sim Card and a one-month 3G internet plan. Our next stop is a little café in the garden of the museum, where we drink cappucino and watch the world go by. We are feeling pretty happy with our accomplishments until we get back to the boat and realize that Wind has only GPRS cellphone coverage in Pythagorio and the signal is too weak for us to get on the internet. This is bad timing, since I have to join a conference call at 6 p.m. and had hoped to use Skype. Instead, I have to make the call by cellphone (but fortunately our "One Sim Card" plan makes this less of a budget-buster than it might otherwise have been). By the time I finish the call, it is dinner time. We decide to go ashore and eat at the Poseidon restaurant, where we have calamari, stuffed eggplant and our first taste of Samos wine (which comes distinctively packaged in a small, clear bottle with a crimped metal lid; like a beer cap).

Going cold turkey on internet access can be good for the soul. The following day is given over to a mad cleaning and organizing frenzy. By late afternoon the boat is spic and span, but once again neither of us feels like cooking dinner . We are also in serious internet withdrawal. We take the dinghy ashore and walk along the waterfront to the "Remataki" restaurant, where we enjoy the "stifadho", "kleftika", Samos wine and internet coverage. A torrential downpour begins as we are eating and continues throughout the evening. By the time we get back to the boat we are drenched to the skin and my lovely white pants are splattered with black mud stains that will never completely disappear.

Pythagorio is a World Heritage Site, mainly because of the Evpalinos Tunnel that lies on the outskirts of the town. This 6th century engineering feat, over 1000 meters long, once carried drinking water to the town. There is also a 19th century castle, an ancient theatre and a monastery , none of which will be explored by us. We have decided to leave Samos the next day and begin making our way across the Aegean.

The next morning, we get an unscheduled wake-up call when our cellphone rings at 6 a.m. We are worried that something has gone wrong at home, but instead it is Turkish Airlines calling to say that they have found our bag! We can hardly believe our ears, but now we aren't sure what to do. We could have the bag delivered to the marina in Kusadasi and take the ferry back over to pick it up, but that would mean delaying our departure from Samos by at least two days. Since we are anxious to start our journey across the Aegean, we decide we will leave the bag in storage with Turkish Air (a bit of a leap of faith at this point) and sort it out later. By 9 a.m. we have checked out of Samos and are underway for Fourni. The wind gods are with us again, which is fortunate, because the engine gods are not (the stuffing box at the prop is leaking). After an otherwise good day, mostly under sail, we anchor off a beach in Marmara cove, Fourni. The scenery and colours of the water are stunning and we have the anchorage entirely to ourselves, but there are big gusts off the mountains. We spend the entire night hanging on for dear life in some of the worst swell I've ever experienced at anchor. The village around the corner looks charming, but the next morning we decide to press on to Mykonos. Are you still there, Shirley Valentine?

Cruising Notes:
Pythagorio is a port of entry for Greece and the process is simple here with each of the Police, Customs and Port Police offices fairly close to the harbour. You have 3 choices for the boat. The first is to go bow or stern to the quay in town and it is a beautiful setting. The 2nd is to go to the marina about 2km outside of town and the 3rd is to anchor just outside the main harbour. We picked #3 and anchored in 24' of rock, sand and weed. It took a while for the anchor to bite but we did get a good hold eventually. The marina is a bit of a walk from the town but we were told by a friend that it has 2 great restaurants, a full service mechanic and a travel lift. Fuel and water are available in town by truck or at the marina. Local vegetables, fruit , fish and meat markets on the main street and camping gas can be purchased at the supermarket. There were lots of tavernas with traditional Greek food available along the waterfront. We had a great meal at the Poseidon. There is regular bus service from Pythagorio to Vathi (Samos Town) for less than 2 euro.