Did you know the island of Samos was once bigger and more powerful than Athens?
Did you know that the largest temple of the Ancient Greek era was located on the island of Samos? It was the most important temple of Hera ever constructed. It was commissioned by the tyrant Polycrates in the 6th century BC.
Did you know that Aristarkhos, a philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer, knew that the sun was the center of the universe, that the earth rotated on its axis, and got the order of the planets correct according to their distance from the sun in the 4th century BC? Yep, BC. He was from the island of Samos.
Did you know that Pythagoras was from the island of Samos? He traveled to Egypt and India to share and to learn mathematics.
Did you know that Pythagoras was the first to use the word "cosmos" to refer to the world and all that is in it? The word also means beauty.
Did you know that Samos has been inhabited since the Neolithic times?
Did you know that Marc Antony and Cleopatra came to Samos in a show of their love for one another by mimicking the passionate love between Zeus and Hera? Legend says the two gods first came together on the island of Samos.
Did you know that the Ancient Greeks discovered that Carob seeds have a uniform weight in each plant? They used the seeds to measure their most important things like gold and precious stones. This weight became know as the carat.
Did you know that Eleni is the best tour guide in the word? That's not just an opinion. It's a fact.
Oh, and Robinson's has the best gyros in the world!
We had such an amazing time learning about Samos today, visiting the monastery, walking ancient routes, touring the tunnel, visiting the Samos Archeological Museum, eating the world's best gyros at Robinson's, and playing in the pool this afternoon.
What a great last day in Greece.
Today, we were present.
