Λέγανε για τη Σάμη...... (2005)

Πλοηγώντας στο διαδίκτυο βρήκαμε το παρακάτω κείμενο, οι εντυπώσεις επισκεπτών στη Σάμη, το 2005.

Sami
Sitting as it does in a wide bay, Sami was once the island’s capital and is the sole survivor of Kefalonia’s four city states. Everyone knows, of course, that Sami was used to recreate a wartime Argostoli for the filming of Captain Corelli’s "Mandolin" in 2000. Being ardent fans of the film, Sami is therefore a must-see for us today.

We enter the town from the west and drive down the road towards the harbourside. “It’s a bit rundown,” says Caz, and I’m inclined to concur. Holes in the road, houses with shutters hanging off them, cars that look like they’ve just competed in (and lost) the local demolition derby, and a general air of tattiness: our image is fading rapidly...

The wide main square is where we leave the jeep to stroll along the harbourside. There are a few decent-looking tavernas here, all offering “catch of the day,” most hanging on till the last seconds of the summer to ensnare some late-season customers while they can. We see a few rundown-looking hotels and a couple of tourist shops, their stock now almost depleted.

Suddenly, there it is, can it be…? Yes, it is, it’s... CAPTAIN CORELLI’S SNACK BAR!! Half expecting to see Nicholas Cage and Penelope Cruz enjoying a doughnut, we stroll by only to be disappointed. Can this really be all that Sami has to offer? The answer to that is an astounding YES.

If ever a place got complacent and decided to rest upon its Hollywood laurels, then it’s here. It’s no surprise that the majority of British tour companies don’t even bother with Sami anymore, and I can’t say that we blame them.

I like to illustrate my journal entries with the maximum four photographs; I’m going to be hard-pressed here to find four things worthy of a picture. Fortunately, a fisherman ambles into view and I catch him with his bag of sardines as he mooches by. I do then find the pretty church up a side lane (that’s two then) and click away here.

We do “find” the central square that was mocked up as Argostoli, but no thanks to the local information boards. Maybe Sami feels that we don’t need telling?

Without wishing to appear flippant, there’s just one thing I can say about Sami: God help her if she ever experiences another earthquake, but at least there’s nothing much left to fall down or to be damaged.

Στην αρχή σκεφτήκαμε να μην το μεταφράσουμε, τουριστικό μέρος είμαστε, ξέρουμε να διαβάζουμε και να καταλαβαίνουμε αγγλικά. Aς ξεκινήσουμε όμως ανάποδα, και ας μεταφράσουμε την κατακλείδα του κειμένου:

Χωρίς να θέλω να φανώ επιπόλαιος, υπάρχει μόνο ένα πράγμα που μπορώ να πω σχετικά με τη Σάμη: Ο Θεός να την βοηθήσει αν ποτέ βιώσει ένα άλλο σεισμό, αλλά τουλάχιστον δεν υπάρχει τίποτα να μείνει και πολλά να πέσουν ή να καταστραφούν.

Και σε άπταιστα ελληνικά: floor is open to comments!