Greek Getaway
May 2025
When you receive a 'save the date' for your friends’ destination wedding that's being held on a small Greek island... you say YES! After much anticipation, May arrived and we packed our bags and jetted off to the island of Samos.
After a long travel day and a total of four flights (Spokane - LA - London - Athens - Samos), we landed on the island. Needless to say, jet lag hit us hard... so we spent our first day at the resort... relaxing at the beach, playing cribbage, sampling local wine, and trying to stay awake.
By day two we were well rested and excited to start exploring. Samos is a small Greek island that sits in the eastern Aegean Sea a mere 20 miles off the coast of Turkey. As you look out across the horizon you can see Turkey's mountains jutting up above the ocean. We left the resort on foot and spent the day exploring the town of Pythagoreio. We strolled along the picturesque harbor walkway and enjoyed looking at all the white and blue fishing boats. We bopped into a small family-owned restaurant and sampled our first (of many) servings of Greek salad (complete with a giant chunk of feta) and pork gyro. The wedding festivities began with a courtyard happy hour at Pythagoreio's brewery. We sipped craft brews and enjoyed chatting with a few familiar faces.
The next two days were dedicated to celebrating our friends Erin and Tam, their love story, and their amazing families. We (ok, mostly Tatum) cried during their wedding ceremony, laughed with old and new friends, indulged in the amazing food, and danced till our feet hurt. Their wedding was so special because it was beautifully and uniquely theirs... we later described the wedding as feeling about 1/3 American, 1/3 Turkish (Tam is originally from Turkey), and 1/3 Greek. Being in Greece you better believe the dance floor was full when the DJ put on ABBA. We ended the night smashing plates on the dance floor while yelling "Opa". Their wedding was without a doubt the highlight of our time in Samos.
After recovering from the celebration, we spent the next few days enjoying the island. Samos is roughly 27 miles long and 8 miles wide, making it the perfect size island to explore. The rural winding highways curve from villages nestled in the rugged, arid mountains to oceanfront fishing towns. With a map in hand, we rented a car and set out.
Our first stop was the Monastery of Megali Panagia… This eastern orthodox monastery dates back to the 1500s and was built high in the mountains to protect against pirate raids. We meandered around the complex and enjoyed taking in the mountain views, stone architecture, and biblical paintings. Fun fact… the monastery is active to this day with a small community of monks.
Throughout Samos we passed countless churches with blue topped domes… this one was by far our favorite. After catching a glimpse of it out the window, we parked the car, walked a short ways down a dirt path, and arrived at the secluded hillside chapel. We had the place to ourselves… what a hidden gem!
When you plan a trip to Greece… you envision mornings on the beach, lunches in quaint villages, and afternoons sipping wine in a vineyard. Well, to our delight, today had all of those things. What it also had was a misadventure down a ‘short-cut’ (not-recommended) dirt road in which we were lucky to have avoided damage to the dinky rental car; we ended up having to carefully turn around, adding another hour of driving between us and the hotel. We laughed and still considered today one of the best days of the trip.
And now for our favorite stop… while leaving a rural beach, we spotted a church sitting atop a prominent rocky peak and decided to check it out. We found the parking lot and set out in the direction of the church. Spoiler alert, we did make it to the impressive church… BUT… the highlight was the walk there. We worked our way up the spine of the ridge towards the church and found that the narrow paved road was lined with small homes, cafes, and chapels. Unbeknownst to us, the slender ridge was bordered on both sides by a quaint town. We sat roadside while sampling some vegetarian Greek mezze’s (appetizers) and sipping a cold beer.
After days spent exploring, we’d make our way back to our hotel and spend our evenings in the sleepy oceanfront town of Ireon. We’d play a game of cribbage on the hotel’s patio before strolling and taking our pick out of a handful of family owned seafood restaurants. We indulge in mezze’s, fresh Greek salads, grilled fish, sardines, and savory moussaka (an eggplant and meat casserole topped with a creamy sauce). Two unique and delicious items were dolmades (stuffed grape vine leaves) and saganaki (pan fried salty cheese drizzled with honey). We could go on and on about Greek food, but the last thing we’ll say on the topic is that the tzatziki will blow your mind and goes well with everything! Evenings spent together in Ireon were a dream… we’d eat while looking out at the Aegean Sea, listening to the waves splash on the pebbly beach, feeling grateful.
After six amazing days in Samos, our last day on the island had arrived. We spent it exactly how one should… on the beach!
Even though our Greek adventure had come to an end, our time in Europe had not. We hopped on a plane en route to...
With Love,
Boots Abroad
Corbin’s
Highs: Ridge town, Ireon dinners/evenings, Churches, Wedding
Lows: Dirt road “short-cut”, day after the wedding
Tatum’s
Highs: E&T’s wedding, Pythagoreio dinner, ridge town, beach time, evenings with Corb in Ireon
Lows: not being able to rent a motorbike, feeling anxious, being hangry on our first day exploring
Bloopers…
When our car rental was delayed for the afternoon, we decided to hoof it from Ireon to a nearby Greek ruin… the Temple of Hera. The day was hotter than expected but before long we sweatily arrived at the gate. However, it turned out that this gate was locked… after a brief chat we decided that the other gate was too far away to walk to in the heat. So… we snapped a photo through the fence, called it ‘good enough’, and headed back to Ireon.
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