Rebetika Tragouthia/Rebetika (rebetic) Songs

Luthier, bouzouki player and singer Yannis Loulourgas from the village of Pythagorion on the island of Samos released a new CD in spring of 2008.

The album is called "Rebetika Tragouthia" and contains 12 masterful interpretations of traditional rebtic songs. The CD was produced in the studio in Thessaloniki. On some of the songs his daughter Maria joins him in singing.

You like the music of Yannis? You can experience Yannis playing his music "live" 3-4 times a week during the season in the village of Pythagorion!

Samos 2008 presentation

Here is my Samos 2008 presentation! More than 100 beautiful fotos - taken during several stays on the island in the years 2004 to 2007 - I used for this presentation showing the beauty and charms of the island of Samos in Greece.

It's sort of a random walk all over the island, the many beaches, villages, bended streets up and down the hills and mountains.

Only near the end of the presentation I have focused a bit on one theme. I have included several photos giving you an impression of what is going on at the local festivals, e.g. the wine festival in Samos-town and some of the smaller festivals called "panajiri", e.g. in the villages of Kedros, Ydroussa, Kondeika and up in the mountains in the cave of Panagia Makrini near Kallithea.



Each village has its church and many chapels, all of them have a consecration day - according to the name of the respective saint - accompanied by a parish fair, a "panajiri"! Usually, a Panajiri lasts for two days. People do not only drink and dance a lot, but are very religious and visit the church at least two times during the two days. And of course, the priests take part in the celebrations on the platia of the village!



The greek music accompanying this presentation and giving it a special atmosphere is played "live" by a good friend of mine, the bouzouki player and singer Yannis Loulourgas from Pithagorio. The music you hear comes from a performance of him together with some of his friends and music collegues from the island at the ancient theatre of Pithagorio, I think this concert took place 4 years ago. Yannis specializes on rembetiko style greek music.

Kako Perato Canyon & Cave

In the mountains of Samos there are a lot of caves. Already Pythagoras is said to have taken advantage of one cave to seek for shelter when he had some arguments with the tyrann Polykratis quite a long time ago.

Of these many caves, one - with a small chapel inside - is located in the Kako Perato canyon (bad passage canyon) west of Karlovasi and Kosmadei. This canyon starts close to a small monastery called "Panaghias Kakopérato" and leads down to the remote Megálo Seitáni beach.

The footpath leading to this cave is really adventureous. It starts somewhere below this small monastery that reigns over the beginning of the canyon. Following that footpath you proceed into the canyon on the southern side (click on images for enlarged view).


But instead of going down, first you need to climb up a hill on this footpath.


Then, like riding on a rollercoaster, you pass a blue door arch with a cross on top of it at the highest point. Depicted here is the musician Dimos, my guide to this canyon, he is carrying part of my foto-equipment:


From there you go down steeply and then for a couple of hundred meters along the western flank of Kako Perato canyon.



Those who suffer from vertigo will have a hard time on this part of the path. But the path is safe, there are blue railings that protect you from falling down into the frightening abyss of the canyon on the right hand side of the path.
Once you arrive at the entrance of the cave, it is time to relax. Turn around and enjoy the beautiful view over the canyon.


A spectacular view is awaiting you - through an opening in the wall - from within the cave across the canyon to this triangular shaped rock on the other side. You could even imagine the face of a person petriefied in this rock (or is that a photoshop artefact?).

Fight of the Egos

Living on a small island has its advantages and disadvantages. Some roads are really narrow and special encounters need special agreements. The depicted situation took place in Paleokastro way back in September 2005. I was on my way from Samos-Town to Posidonio and drove right into this tense situation. The drivers of both heavy vehicles were not sure if they would allow themselves to drive back first. So they just got stuck up staring at each other!
I watched this "frozen" situation for some time, but nothig happened and so I decided to move on. I was lucky, because I was on a motor scooter, so like this other guy in front of me, I could pass the "fight of the egos" on the right hand side.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

With these photos of the panijiri at chapel Panagia Makrini in a cave high above Kallithea in the west of Samos, I would like to wish all the people on Samos, all my friends on Samos and all the friends of the island of Samos a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Panagia Makrini is a very special place! For me the panijiri on August 14th left the deepest impression of my 2007 stay on Samos. I spent a whole evening and night up there in the cave with many nice and interesting people from Marathokampos and Kallithea who were singing and dancing.

Please do like this little girl and light a candle, bring warmth to the hearts of all people!


Hope many of you from all over the world will be healthy and wealthy enough to visit (again) Samos in 2008.

The truth is bitter but it must be told

This year the influx of migrants coming to the island of Samos has increased significantly if not dramatically. Samos is located on the eagean borderline of the EU.
In their desperate attempt to reach the EU, many migrants now focus on taking the route across the narrow straits between Turkey and Samos.

Almost every night there is sort of a "battle" going on, with the greek coast guard trying to prevent the migrants from reaching the realm of the EU. Those who manage to reach the islands of Samos, sometimes under life-threatening circumstances, are facing bad conditions in an overcrowded detention camp in Samos-Town.

If you are interested in this topic and want to know more, please follow the link given below (to a list of ten links with information dating from September to November 2007).

List of Links

Two videos have been published on YouTube and are included in the list of links, one from France24 and one from AlJazeera:

film report: „Samos, door to Europe“
Report-EN-FRANCE24, 2:37 min



film report: „Greek Immigration Center“
von AlJazeera English 5.10.2007, 2:48 min

Fotos from Samos 2007

During my stay on Samos and after I came back from Samos on October 15th, I have worked on quite a few photos that I took this year.
A couple of days ago, I have published them on Flickr.
I have three sets there:
- Samos, green emerald in the blue eagean sea (pool)
- People on Samos
- Kali Orexi
You will find these fotos when you follow the link below or the link given in the link list!

my fotos at flickr

Other fotos you will find on the "trauminsel-samos" website of Anja in two galleries called:
- Spätsommer auf Samos (September 2007)
- Samos-Impressionen (Juli/August 2007)
Again, please follow the link given below or the link in the list!

my fotos at trauminsel-samos