"Samothraki, a Hidden Treasure !!" Samothraki Island by into-thin-air

The first part of planning my trip to Samothraki was again pure accident !! I was surfing V.T. pages and came across " Irine 29's " Samothraki pages -- Thank You Irene !! -- On this page I noticed the statue of The Headless Angle ( The Winged Victory of Samothrace ) ----- In November last year I had been to Rome with my Friend, Gabriela from Zurich and she had bought a copy of this statue there, She had emailed me to say that she was going to Greece so I emailed her back and asked if she would like to visit the Island of Samothraki with me, telling her about the connection with the Island and the statue that she had purchased on our last trip together and she said Yes That she would Love to Go !!!
Then it was just a case of arranging the transport, I found return flights from Newcastle to Athens, Gabriela found a return flight to Athens from Zurich and also managed to buy two onward tickets to Alexandroupolis from a travel agents in Zurich. so on Wednesday 28th of May we met up at Athens Airport in the early hours of the morning, my plane was running a little late so we had to dash across the airport from the international to the domestic section and just managed to board the aeroplane, from Alexandroupolis airport we got a taxi into town, had time for a leisurely breakfast, buy ferry tickets and catch the morning ferry to Samothraki and there we were !!!!!! --- in time for lunch !!
Our ferry crossing was truly Memorable because we were accompanied for part of the way by Dolphins swimming in and around our ship ---- a Fantastic Omen for things to come ..........

Apartment's "Aleka " at Thema - our Home from Home

After we had our lunch we decided that the best thing to do was to initially hire a car for 24 hours -- as we had brought camping gear with us we were both a bit overloaded so with a car we could find a base to stay and then go and tour the Island ( also the Island's public transport system is to put it mildly -- a bit slim !! ) so off we went and booked into the Hotel at Pahia Ammos, this is the Island's only sandy beach and there is only one hotel there, an Idyllic place to start the Holiday !!
We toured the Island the next day and dropped our excess baggage off at the car hire place-- they were happy to look after it for us, then we exchanged the car for a Scooter and ended up keeping this for the next 9 days, the rest of our time on the island !!
We stayed at Pahia Ammos for 3 nights before moving to Therma, this was a Fabulous place to stay Thermal Baths to Relax in, Well located for the Sanctuary of the Great Gods and to Explore the rest of the Island from.
We found an Excellent place to stay here and Really Enjoyed our time Walking on the Mountains, Climbing up the Gorges, Relaxing on the Beach, Wandering around the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, Exploring the Island on our Scooter, Taking a boat trip around the Island from the local harbour at Loutra, Eating Wonderful Food at the local Restaurants and Taverna's and generally having a Superb time enjoying All that this Wonderful Island had to Offer !!!

Leaving Samothraki on the Ferry !!!

After spending 9 days on the Island we discovered that there was a ferry leaving for Lemnos the next day so as neither of us Really wanted to travel back the same was as which we had come we decided to catch this ferry then have 3 days in Lemnos before flying back from there to Athens and from there back to our homes !!
We managed to book both the Ferry and the Air Tickets that day so as to leave all the time that we had left to Really Enjoy our last few hours on the island of Samothraki and also so that we could concentrate on Enjoying whatever Lemnos had to offer without having to worry about our homeward journeys !
We were Exceptionally lucky -- on Our very last day was the Very day that the First Island Boat Trip sailed so what a memory to depart with --- around the southern coast of the Island where the mountains drop straight into the sea ( and No Roads !! ) ---- Awesome --- I have Never seen anything like it anywhere in the world -- at one place there is a Spectacular Waterfall that Drops Straight off the Mountain Right into the sea !!
Then we were back in time to return our Scooter, retrieve our excess luggage ( The tent and camping gear had remained untouched !! ) have a final cup of coffee and board our ferry to Lemnos !!!

I had to Think both Long and Hard before deciding on whether I should build this Samothraki page !!!
Samothraki is such a Beautiful and Unspoilt Island and part of the Beauty of this Wonderful Place is that as yet that it has remained relatively unspoilt my mass tourism !! -- So the Question was -- should I be even a small part of it's downfall ???? The decision that I came to is that not to many " Mass Tourist's " would bother to visit a site like V.T. and that as also some fellow V.T. members have already requested that I should write at least a small Samothraki page -- So here it is -- I only hope that i have done the right thing !!????!!

• Pros:Fantastic Island, not very Touristy, Loads to see and do, Mountains and Gorges to walk in / up, Fantastic History with Great Ancient sites to visit and above all Great People !!!!
• Cons:A bit Difficult to get to --- but well worth the effort !!!
• In a nutshell:Wonderful Island, Seeing is Believing !!!!