​On the dock at Samothraki there is only room for 6 yachts end to end with no safe anchorage alternative. This means that for most of us after an all day sail to reach the island there is a chance you may miss out on a spot on the dock and have to tie on the outside of another boat. This causes problems when the weather turns nasty – spray and waves crash over the sea wall onto the dock and into the cockpit making life unpleasant.

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Our German friends on Anixi sailed here too, so the next day we all caught the local bus to the Chora (the high town up in a lovely green valley with magnificent views and – yes – an ancient castle. Not a defensive castle this time but more I think was a lookout. The ancient town was quite run down in some areas but still plenty of photo opportunities. 

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The following day we hired a car and drove as far north and as far south as possible on the limited roads, visiting the lovely waterfalls, not so lovely thermal pools which were ‘slime green’ and the ancient ruins of the Sanctuary of the gods. 

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The most important artifact from these excavations was an eleven-foot tall statue of the winged goddess Nike found by the amateur French archaeologist Charles Champoiseau in 1863. Headless and armless, and currently displayed in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, this masterpiece of Hellenistic sculpture gave its image to the Rolls Royce emblem and its name to the world’s largest athletic shoe manufacturer.

Winged Nike of Samothrace

Next we tackled the high mountain road and were rewarded with the best Greek meal yet. No menu – just what Iionna was cooking that day.  No English spoken so we had meat and salad. Not one, but five salads appeared, bread and olive oil, a large dish of meat and rice plus beers and a total bill of EUR 24 for 4 people. Over all we enjoyed this mountainous little island which has been bypassed by the tourism industry and and retains its rural charm and simplicity. 

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