Copasetic Flow

Day 1 Day 2 The third day in Samothraki, I took off on a tour around the Eastern edge of the island. The variety of sights within a small space is stunning. I visited an ancient temple site overlooking the ocean, hiked in the mountains to an idyllic, deserted waterfall, and wondered around a black pebbled beach! I've written previously about the The Temple of the Great Gods , so I won't add too much. The site is amazingly well preserved considering that Alexander the Great's parents met here. The statue of 'Winged Victory' that is now on display at the Louvre was found here. By the way, France and England, the folks in Greece would like their stuff back. A short ride from the temple and into the hills behind Θερμα, brings you into a dense forest on the mountainside. You can hike back in to a series of waterfalls. I only went up to the first one. In the off-season, the area was completely deserted except for a few goats. A ride east and then south along the ea...

Back on Samothraki: Notes on the slide show are included below. The pictures shown were taken in early September. The island is beautiful then. Most of the tourists have gone home and there's just a slight chill to the air in the mornings. Day two starts in Kamariotissa. The picture shows the main street of the little port town. At Mike's car and bike rentals you can rent a scooter, a motorcycle, a car, or sometimes even a house. I lucked out and got everything I needed in one stop! There's a great internet cafe next to a coffee shop if you need to send messages home, or upload photos. The cafe is shown in the lower right-hand corner of this photo. This is all you need to get around to get around Samothraki! There's not a whole lot of traffic on the roads. Even on the rougher roads in the country, a scooter does just fine. Make sure you learn how to use the kick starter as well as the electronic ignition, the knowledge will come in handy. Also, keep in mind t...

With Winter plodding along, a few pictures of the Greek Isles might be just the thing! The pictures start in Alexandropoli in Greece, near Turkey, and then move to Samothraki after a brief Ferry ride.

Boulder had a lot of beautifully varied weather this week. The blog went a little picture heavy to capture what was going on up here. Here's a summary. Most of the pictures were taken on Dakota Ridge and in Sanitas Valley. For more detail, see the post links: Monday, everything was covered with snow! By Tuesday, things were warming up and a cloud was pulling moisture from one of the area lakes. We had a gorgeous sunrise as well. Wednesday, the clouds were almost gone. Thursday, the fox was out playing By Friday, it was so warm, even the manikins were going topless. Which led to thoughts of the sunny Grecian Isle of Samothraki and the Sanctuary of the Great Gods

Last Autumn I visited the small island of Samothraki, Greece in the northeastern Aegean Sea. The island is beautiful with rocky beaches, mountains, dense forests, and natural waterfalls all packed into a small space. View Larger Map But, what initially drew my attention to it was the Sanctuary of the Great Gods . Alexander the Great's mother and father met there during a initiation. I wanted to find out if there were any links between modern-day Masonic ceremonies and the ritual initiations performed there. The site is beautiful! The layout doesn't fit with the east-west layout of today's lodges. Almost every building on the site was situated north-south. Of course, with the gorgeous views of the sea to the north, who could blame them! This site of temples and meeting halls is also where the "Winged Victory" statue was found. The statue "Winged Victory", which now resides in the Louvre was found on Samothraki and recently featured in the movie Ange...

A few beautiful sunsets from around the world. Mal Pais, Costa Rica. The sky on fire in Boulder, CO The beautiful blue waters and sky off of Samothraki, Greece More gorgeous clouds from Samothraki The author outside Samothraki, Greece The Costa Rica picture was taken with a Canon PowerShot S400. All other pictures were taken with a Panasonic DMC-FX01.