September 28, 2013

We are on our way to Istanbul for 4 days. We are really excited to visit the city where West (Europe) meets East (Asia).  Everyone we have met on this trip has given Istanbul, and its citizens, rave reviews.  It is a city that has no “official” census, but whose population has been estimated at over 16 million people.   But wait, we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s share the amazing things we have done over the past 3 days!

After our tour of Ephesus, we had 3 open days before we had to fly from Izmir to Istanbul.  So, Rita and I decided to visit Samos, Greece, an island that is 17 miles from Turkey. So, the next morning we boarded a ferry in Kusadasi, Turkey and 90 minutes later we were in Vathi, a city on the island of Samos.  In Vathi, we rented a car and 14 kilometers later, after numerous hairpin turns over one or two mountains, we arrived in Pythagoria, another city on the island of Samos. For those of you who slept through your geometry classes, Rita claims to be one of them, Pythagoria probably does not ring any bells in your minds.  But, for the rest of you, you will remember that Pythagoras was born in Pythagoria. Pythagoras came up with his theory while sitting in one of Pythagoria’s many harbor front cafes sipping wine and observing the awesome yachts tied up dock to stern in the harbor.

The Pythagorean Theorem is that the side opposite the right angle in a triangle is equal to the sum of the SQUARES of the other two sides.  So to test the Theorem, Rita and I followed one SIDE of a triangle to the cafes, another SIDE of the triangle to the harbor and finally took the RIGHT ANGLE which lead us directly to the statue of Pythagoras, which is prominently displayed on the SQUARE, the town square that is, to the left of the town hall which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

I couldn’t believe Rita’s geometry skills, particularly since she admitted to sleeping through the class. (But, later she confessed that her geometry skills came from a tutor, a very handsome tutor, she added.)  While studying the statue of Pythagoras and the architecture of the town hall, we observed another fascinating fact.   Both the statue and the town hall had plaques honoring the benefactor that contributed the funds for the statute and for rehabilitating and improving the town hall. The benefactor in both cases was Alki Scopelitis’ Father.  This we found VERY INTERESTING so we quickly added two and two together, since addition had never been a problem for me, a Scot, and Rita, a Hungarian/German, and posed a THEOREM that Pythagoria was not only the birthplace of Pythagoras, but also the birthplace of the family lineage of Alki Scopelitis, the founder of our law firm. But, to PROVE OUR THEOREM, we needed additional axioms to prove our theory.  So, being a good lawyer, that is me, and being a good paralegal, that is Rita, we set out to deduce our theory.  What we needed was some time on a beach to think.  So, we got a hotel room and went to the beach to think, and what a lovely beach it was, our very own private beach right there in Pythagoria.

While at the beach, we noticed a “call button” on our umbrella stand so we pushed it, and lo and behold, drinks with umbrellas in them and food appeared.

Later on we wandered back into town for some dinner and after eating dinner right before we were leaving, I remembered a post card Alki had sent me over 30 years ago, it had an “x” on it with an arrow that said “this is my house”. So we walked around a few blocks, and down a narrow street and I turned and told Rita, “this is his house, I just know it, it feels right”.  We took a few pictures just to be safe, now it’s dark outside, but still, we took them.

We wondered if this could be Alki’s house.  Thus, ended our first night on Samos!!!  Lights out!

Early the next morning, through the fog of blood shot eyes, I watched the sunrise over Turkey and the first light of sunshine hit the shoreline of Samos.

As I watched the sunrise, I thought today is the day we will prove our THEOREM.  So, after breakfast, we drove into the town of Pythagoria hoping to find some support for our Theorem.  Our walk around the town led us to the Sunshine Pension, a block off the harbor, on a shady narrow street, but wide enough for one car.   The street looked familiar, like the same one from last night.  By luck, the Pension had only 7 rooms and looked like it was right out of Mama Mia, was run by a proprietress, Eva, who claimed to be the cousin of Alki.  Eva also introduced us to her daughter, Angelika.  Together, they led us down the same street (THE STREET WE WERE ON LAST NIGHT) to a three story, blue and white house a few doors away from the Pension and claimed that this was the Scopelitis house.  Rita and I just looked at each other in amazement and laughed out loud to each other!!

When we asked them to confirm it, they unlocked the blue door and showed us the kitchen and there on the walls around the room were photographs of Alki, his children, his Father, his Grandfather, and other family members!  Thus proving our THEOREM that Alki Scopelitis’ lineage came from Pythagoria, the birthplace of Pythagoras.

That night we came back and went to dinner with Eva to get to know her a little more and spend some more time with her.  She said, when we come back, “just park in front of Alki’s house”.  “Yeah, ok”… Rita hesitated, but then she parked the car there.  Don’t worry Alki, Rita didn’t break either of your beautiful flower planters with her awesome parking skills!

We thanked The Lord for helping us prove our THEOREM by praying at the Monastery before driving to the harbor at Vathi to return to Kusadasi.

This was our last view of Samos, as we drove to the ferry!  such a beautiful place!

Love and Miss you all !  Norm and Rita

Samos, Greece  – Such a joy to visit the home of Alki! Had a wonderful time meeting his cousin Eva and her daughter Angelika.

Coming in to Samos, Greece harbor.

We always rush to the window to see what kind of view the hotel gives us. Pretty nice…

And this is the view from the other patio we have! Love it!

View from Alki’s balcony! Nice…

Nice little meal we had at Four Seasons on the harbor. Don’t you love Eva’s  little flower? Green been stems, mashed potato flower with a carrot in the middle!

Pythagoria harbor at night

This view never gets old.

Love the sunrise in the early morning!

This is our view as we left Samos heading back to Kusadasi.

Off we go back to Kusadasi!! We are almost there!