The Island of Samos lies in the northeast Agean sea. The capital city of Samos is Samos. It is the main port on the north coast. We landed on the south coast and made our way to the small seadide city there. We found a taverna. We sat at an empty table and waited, waited, and waited. Twenty minutes later a nice middle aged gentleman came over and sat down with us. He said that no one will wait on us because we were tourisnts. He also said that since he was sitting with us they would serve us. He waved a hand snd a waitress appeared.
We ordered some sort of danishes and coffee and he just had coffee. We told him we were waiting for the bus to Marathacompo, a beach farther down the coast. He told us he was the high sheriff and that’s why they served us. He explained that tourists were expected to go to the tourist restaurants and not the local ones. When I rolled a cigarette he told me to be careful because drugs were a big nono and even rolling a cigarette might cause a stir. We thanked him for the tip and as we got ready to catch the bus I reached into mt pocket for some money and he stopped me and saiid that his guests never paid and the they never charged him any way
The bus ride was a long trek over a mountain with an interesting cast of riders, including a goat named Yarri. We stopped in several small villages and most of the passengers got off at them. By the time we reached Marathcompo there wer only 6 or 7 of us touristists. Two more friendly than the rest were Paul and Helga. Australian and German on vacation from Munich. We bacame fast friends, checked in to the pension, and got ajoining rooms. Off to the beach we went.
After a nice nap we met up for dinner at the taverna across the street over looking the water. Too much wine, food, and good conversation. At about ten o’clock we decided tto go for a swim. There was alittle floating raft about 56/60 feet off shore that the kids played on all day. Someone got the idea we should swim out to it and drink more wine. Paul and I went back and got two more bottles of wine and when we got back the girls had stripped naked and were waiting for us
Stripped naked it was. We swam out to the raft and had a little party. When the wine ran out we swam back, went to our table, and drank a few brandies (Metaxa). The next day everyone was really nice to us. People came over and chatted a lot. Almost like we were celebrities. Later that evening when were having dinner the moon rose over the water and lit up that little raft like a New York stage. It was so clear that you could almost see the deck screws holding it together. That was when we realized why we were so popular.
We left a few days later taking the bus north to the capital Samos .Pauk and Helga were staying for two mere weeks. We took their number in Munich and told them we would call them when we got there. Onward and upward.
ps We found out that the high sheriff was the most important person in the town
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