Out of my head

Here is a lovely version of the song "Out of my head" - written by singer/songwriter Kieran Goss from Ireland - sung by Dimos Kasapidis. We recorded this song in beautiful May 2014 in this picturesque green spot called Pnaka (with a phantastic tavern and fresh waters from a well) high above the north coast of the island.

Photo presentation: "Samos, May & June 2014"

Samian Dreamscapes: "Samos, May & June 2014". A selection of more than 250 photos that I took during the months of May and June 2014 on the beautiful and green island of Samos in Greece. Mostly of places that are not visited by mainstream tourism on Samos.

Since the whole presentation is over 34 minutes long, I divided it into two parts!

Part 1 (15 min):



Part 2 (19 min):



Don't expect Samos island to be this green - and full of blooming flowers - in hot summer and autumn! Areas full of yellow blooming broom can be seen best in May till beginning of June.

The music accompanying this presentation I recorded "live" on Samos. Music is performed by local musicians:
- Giamaioi Sygrotima / ΓΙΑΜΑΙΟΙ ΣΥΓΚΡΟΤΗΜΑ during a concert in the school yard in Vathy end of May (Vasilis Sarandou on violin on that day!).
- Yannis Loulourgas together with Georgios Markou in "Notos" in Pythagorion in June 2014.

Yannis Loulourgas & Georgios Markou - O Kaixis / Gel Gel Kaixis (The boatman)
Yannis Loulourgas & Georgios Markou - Άλλος για Χίο τράβηξε (Allos gia Xio travikse)

Allos gia Xio travikse

Yannis Loulourgas and Georgios Markou performing the song 

Άλλος για Χίο τράβηξε (Allos gia Xio travikse) live at "Notos" in Pythagorion.

Reunion with Yannis Loulourgas

Yannis Loulourgas, great singer and bouzouki player, luthier and teacher. Living in the village of Pythagorion on Samos island.

We had not seen each other for almost three years, during which lots of things had happened. So that was some special re-encounter in this May!

Here are a couple of impressions I brought back home from many meetings and encounters with Yannis and his music.

In his shop in Pythagorion:

Yannis working on a new bouzouki in front of his shop:

Yannis and me:

Yannis as a teacher for musical instruments, in front of his shop with his students. You can pass by and meet him and his students there, always on Saturday mornings between 11 and 12 o'clock.

Yannis demonstrates the sound of his type of bouzoukis:



Yannis, with three fellow musicians, rehearsing at "Notos" in May 2014. Dimitris Sofianos (violin), Georgios Markou (guitar) and Dionisis Mastrogiannis (accordion).

One of the songs I always want Yannis to play when I meet him on Samos is "Ο καϊξής " (O Kaixis / Gel Gel Kaixis), the old story of the boatman that is needed to free a beautiful lady kept enclosed inside a harem in Istanbul. What a great song, based on a traditional melody line! Well known in Greece and Asia Minor, sung in greek or turkish language,  The lyrics and a translation into english you can find here.

The recording of this song I took in tavern "Notos", after the noise of scandinavian tourists came down quite a bit after 11 pm (when they left the place!). Yannis is playing with his friend Giorgos Markou, who accompanies him on acoustic classical guitar. In the high season 2014 they will play together at "Notos" every Monday night.

"Believe" - Song about Samos island

"Believe"

A song by singer/songwriter Ad Vanderveen from The Netherlands.  It's about his feelings of the timelessness of the landscapes found and experienced on Samos and the thought, that the old philosophers, writers and astronomers, the wise men of Samos, saw these same landscapes more than two thousand years ago too.

"Written on the island of Samos, Greece, thinking of the wise men who once lived there and devoted their lives to first-hand knowledge and proof of things we may believe, and build on in daily life today" (liner notes by Ad Vanderveen).

Here is the video for the song:

Song taken from his album "BEAT THE RECORD", released in March 2014.

website of Ad Vanderveen 

website of Samos-Media 

Why not learn a bit about some of the wise men who were born on the island of Samos in ancient greek times? E.g.:

Aristarchus

Epicurus

Pythagoras

Samian Dreamscapes: landscapes in the southernmost part of Samos

What about the landscapes in the southern tip of the island of Samos in Greece? A hot and dry region in summer and autumn, which most tourists on Samos will not visit due to bad accessability only via dusty dirt roads. An inclined world full of steep slopes below the mountain range of Bournias and the village of Spatharei.

Here is a photo presentation with a couple of my impressions from adventurous journeys on a motorscooter through these landscapes on the southern and southwest slopes of Mount Bournias, mainly between Tsopela bay and the hamlet Kalogera. 

Visiting small settlements along the coast, up to 780 meters below the top of the mountain. And enjoying breathtaking views along the southern coast of Samos towards Mount Kerkis, and out on the aegean sea with the nearby islet of Samiopoula and further islands like Agathonisi, Arki, Lipsi, Patmos, Fourni and Ikaria in the far distance.

Τι γίνεται με αυτές τις απομακρυσμένες περιοχές, στο νότιο άκρο του νησιού της Σάμου στην Ελλάδα; Ένα ζεστό και ξηρό περιοχή το καλοκαίρι και το φθινόπωρο, που οι περισσότεροι τουρίστες στη Σάμο δεν θα επισκεφθεί οφείλεται σε κακή προσβασιμότητα μόνο μέσω σκονισμένο χωματόδρομους. Και μια κλίση κόσμο γεμάτο από απότομες πλαγιές κάτω από την οροσειρά του Μπουρνιά και το χωριό Σπαθαραίοι.

Μικρούς οικισμούς κατά μήκος της ακτής, μέχρι 780 μέτρα κάτω από την κορυφή του βουνού. Εκπληκτική θέα στη γη και τα θαλάσσια τοπία κατά μήκος της νότιας ακτής της Σάμου προς το όρος Κέρκης, και έξω στο Αιγαίο με το κοντινό νησάκι Σαμιοπούλα και την περαιτέρω νησιά όπως το Αγαθονήσι, Αρκοί, Λειψοί, Πάτμος, Ικαρία και Φούρνοι στη μακρινή απόσταση.

Ως «ορεκτικό», εδώ είναι μια σύντομη παρουσίαση φωτογραφιών με ένα ζευγάρι από τις εντυπώσεις μου από περιπετειώδη ταξίδια σε motorscooter μέσω αυτών των τοπίων στις πλαγιές νότια και νοτιοδυτικά από Mount Μπουρνιά, κυρίως μεταξύ Τσόπελα κόλπο και τον οικισμό Καλογερά

Photos were taken between May 2004 and September 2006 and re-edited in 2013. Hope you will enjoy this presentation!

Φωτογραφίες ελήφθησαν μεταξύ Μαΐου 2004 και Σεπτεμβρίου του 2006 και την εκ νέου επεξεργασία το 2013. Ελπίζουμε ότι θα απολαύσετε αυτή την παρουσίαση!

Revisiting the valley of river Imvrasos

A couple of impressions from visits to the valley of the river (brook) of Imvrasos. Starting the trip from the road between Koumaradei and Pirgos and following the river valley down to Myli, visiting/crossing the river at several locations.



Some photos too:

30 seconds Samos

January 2013: I have started to upload a new series of videos. You will find them here on YouTube!