The Pontiki and Other Expat Mysteries

 Solving mysteries sometimes seems a way of life in the expat world.  

Sherlock Holmes - street art Alicante, Spain

We've had a series of them lately but the one that had us stumped the longest, was finally solved after five hours of investigation by three detectives, aka, technicians.

The Stone House on the Hill from the olive grove

Our Stone House on the Hill in the Greek Peloponnese has been the perfect setting for mysteries, particularly this year. Not the cloak-and-dagger type but more the everyday who-or-what dunnit-types that require the investigative skills of plumbers, carpenters, electricians and technology gurus. 

The Lemon Tree Patio on a dark and stormy day

Our dark and stormy winter provided a perfect backdrop for -- perhaps in retrospect, it could even have been an accomplice in -- the string of mysteries that have been solved in recent weeks. 

Sunshine and blooms welcomed us to Monte Carlo

Those of you following our travel tales on Substack know that in late February we took off on a ten-day escapade through the Italian and French Rivieras. The trip's purpose was three-fold: celebrating The Scout's birthday, taking a break from what seems the longest, storm-ridden winter in Mani history, and taking advantage of a favorite Trusted Housesitter's willingness to extend his stay in our area to care of our elderly Princess Cat.

 

While we were gone, the mysteries accumulated as rapidly as our collection of Agatha Christie's books and included: Some random interior and exterior lights not working - around here you don't know if it is one inter-related problem or two separate problems. Then the internet shorted out without rhyme nor reason as to why. However, if it was unplugged for a time, then reconnected, it would work for a few days and poof. . . quit again. 

Fireplace is not just for atmosphere

The Mother of all Mysteries though was why the furnace quit working. Anyone who's lived in, stayed in or visited a stone home during a wet, cold winter knows just how cold and damp the interior can be - especially when the heat goes off.  Thankfully, our sitter got by with the electric wall heaters and fireplace, and he worked around the other malfunctions.

Mystery of the Darkened Stairway continues. . .

Unraveling the mysteries began the day after we returned. The first investigator on the scene was Roland, a tall English-speaking German electrician, who's been in the area some 20 years. He came close to solving the case of the malfunctioning lights, but not quite.  Some clue has eluded him and he's still working the case of the darkened exterior stairway. He's assured us he'll be back when he can solve it. 

George, the local Greek Wi-Fi guru is an answer man with a booming voice and hearty laugh. He was also stumped by the circumstances of our faulty internet. It worked in both stormy and calm weather, until it didn't. There was no pattern of clues that could tie it directly to the weather nor the operating system itself. His investigation was thwarted by another storm that hit the same day he came to the house. The wind and rain were so strong it was too dangerous to put up a ladder, let alone climb it to the roof to check the antennae and its SIM card. While he didn't identify the culprit, he was able to do some computerized investigations and adjustments and get us up and running again.   

The boiler/furnace in its below ground dungeon

The mystery that had required the most detective work was the furnace, or oil burner, as they call them here. Basically, it is a heating system that burns oil to heat water that will run through radiators in the house to heat it. By whatever name, ours is a fancy, new-fangled thing we installed a year ago. Perhaps, too new-fangled, we snarled to each other, after the first investigators/technicians left. 

This team, an English-speaking Greek duo from Kalamata, who've been our go-to guys for years, spent two hours in the dungeon-like space where it sits at the side of the house trying to figure out the problem. Despite their handbooks and a variety of tools, they tried and failed to find answers.

Their parting words were, "You must call the installer, He will need to reprogram the system."  

The furnace dungeon and evaporation, not smoke, from it

We summoned Spiros, the Greek-speaking technician who'd installed our space-age, computerized furnace. He arrived at 8:30 on a Saturday morning. As the hours passed, we'd hear an occasional sputtering as the ignition sparked and then silence. Sputtering and silence for hours. We offered him the installation manual, an encyclopedia-sized guide he'd used for getting the thing programmed when he installed it. 

He declined it, smiling and assuring us it was a 'mikro provlema' (little problem). It may have been small, but it certainly had him stumped.  

Just before noon, with the help of Google Translate, he pronounced the mystery was solved and the furnace fixed!  

The pontiki, a mouse, did it!

 The little critter had chewed a little wire in half. Once that part was replaced, it started right up! 

The Pontiki Did It

We now have Dimitri, our neighborhood carpenter, figuring out the mystery of how to enclose the angled, uneven opening to the dungeon to prevent further pontiki provlemas!.

Mysteries are Mental Stimulation

When we socialize with fellow expats there is usually a point in our conversations in which we come to the agreement that there will be no need for Sudoku or other mind-stimulation games, no memory exercises nor frontal lobe stimulation necessary as we continue to age in our expat world.  There will always be a mystery lurking just around the corner, presenting us a mental exercise in not only how to solve it but how to find the right detective to work the case with us. 

Thanks for being with us again for another look into our expat life.  And a salute to those of you who continue to read this blog, TravelnWrite, as well as Travelnwrite on Substack, (also a free subscription). I've noticed that when you sign up for a free subscription, Substack likes to promote an upgrade to paid subscription, but I am not charging a fee for my writing. Just knowing that you are spending time reading what I've written is enough spending to my way of thinking!  Safe travels to you and yours~

Is It Safe to be in Greece?

Is it safe in Greece right now?

 

Agios Nikolaos, our village, this summer

The question has been asked in a variety of ways and with increasing frequency on Greek and European travel pages in recent weeks, particularly after the recent military conflict between Israel and Iran.  

Even earlier in the year, safety was front and center on social media travel sites following the earthquakes that struck the island of Santorini.

Then a few days ago, we began getting emails asking us if we were safe from the wildfires and heat wave that have again put Greece in international headlines. 

Pantazi Beach coffee klatch on a normal day in Mani

Safety, hmmm, it is a good question.  But in our slice of the Greek Peloponnese, it really wasn't something we had given much thought to as we are and have been far removed from the incidents and areas making headlines.  

It did make for a topic to ponder over a recent morning coffee with my friend Jean though. How would we answer it? What assurances could be offered to a nervous traveler?  

Tux the taverna cat awaits a head scratch

We were at our regular meeting place, the taverna at Pantazi Beach. We watched sun and sea worshippers settling into sunbeds near the water.   A few dogs rested at their owner's feet as it was too hot to race and chase as they do in the cooler off season.  The regular taverna cats came by for a head scratch.  

It was another calm, relaxed and the rather laidback morning; a regular sort of day for the two of us, both American expats who've lived in Greece for several years. 

Mani, the region of the Peloponnese we call home

We pretty much agreed that while we couldn't offer assurances, we certainly wouldn't be living here if we didn't feel safe doing so. But for a traveler who may never have ventured far from home, or one coming to Greece or any foreign country as close to the Middle East as we are here, safety is a valid consideration.   We concluded it would be a timely subject for a blog post.

Fishing boat returns to Agios Nikolaos

The problem is that no one can honestly assure another's safety. Life happens and changes instantly sometimes.  And something I see as safe, like living in Greece, may be totally out of your comfort zone (and vice versa). To discuss safety is like the proverb, 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' -- what one person thinks is safe isn't to another. It is in the eye of the beholder. 

With that in mind, let's take a look at:

 Wildfires and Heat Waves

Peloponnese July 7, 2025 weather

We have a healthy fear of wildfires in our slice of Greece, the Mani in the southwestern Peloponnese. Summer temperatures are already in the 80's and 90's (26 to 32 Celsius). Our land is parched; spring rains are long forgotten. And we have a continuing water shortage in our area. Just this last week we've had no municipal water running to our homes (the new desalination plant that I wrote about in my last post hasn't solved the water shortage it appears.).  Domestic water began flowing yesterday, seven days after it had stopped.

Uncut dry grass along our road home

So how do we fight a fire that breaks out during one of our dry spells?  Recent laws require landowners to cut back grasses and growth but as with so many laws here, it goes unheeded and unenforced. We have a team of trained firefighters in the area, fire spotters are on duty, but it is a concern. While we've been so far spared from wildfires, two Greek islands haven't been as lucky.

Chios, light blue on the right, Crete, green, at the bottom

Just a stone's throw from Turkey's coastline, the island of Chios lost some 2,500 hectares, or 6,100 acres in a recent blaze. The fire, finally controlled and extinguished in late June, was believed to have been intentionally set.  

As I write this piece, a wind-driven wildfire rages on Crete's southern coast, near the town of Ierapetra, and has consumed some 15 square kilometers of forests, olive groves and structures and forced the evacuation of an estimated 5,000 tourists, residents and hospitality workers. The blaze is directly impacting about 1.8 percent of the 8,336 square kilometer island. 

This time of year, fire danger is a fact of life in Greece. 

Earthquakes

Santorini, a popular port of call for cruise ships

The island of Santorini made headlines earlier this year when a couple hundred earthquakes and tremors were recorded on or near this popular Cycladic Island within a short span of time. While Greece is known for its propensity of quakes when so many occur in such a compacted timeframe, it caused a whirlwind of safety precautions. Schools were closed, emergency response teams were on alert and many residents and tourists fearing 'the big one was coming' left the island. 

The 'big one' didn't hit. Residents and tourists have returned, and life is going on as normal although tourism is reportedly down this season. Overtourism hasn't been the concern there that it was last year at this time.  

Tourists, Santorini June 2024

In the last couple of years, there's been at least three quakes occur in our region of Greece that were strong enough to be felt by many. We've not felt any of them. But the fact remains, we have chosen to live in earthquake country. 

Bottom line: a 'big one' or many small ones could happen anywhere, anytime. We don't sit around worrying about it.

Israeli and Iranian Conflict

Travel sites came to life with safety questions. 'Is it safe to go to Greece in light of the Israeli and Iranian conflict?'  After all, on a map the countries don't seem to be that far apart.

Straight line distance is 746 miles between Athens and Tel Aviv

And they really aren't that far apart. The straight-line distance between Athens and Tel Aviv is 746 miles/1,201 kilometers. It is a mere two-hour flight away.  However, we learned of the military strikes via world headlines just like most of you did.

Summer scenes in the Mani

It seems from media reports here that the only tangential involvement Greece had was with the Israeli equivalent of the US Air Force One.  Both Greek and Israeli media reported that following the launch of the Israeli air strikes on Iran, the Israeli state plane, Wing of Zion, used by Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog for overseas travel, was relocated to Athens in what media called a 'precautionary' move'. 

Kalamata waterfront, about an hour from us

What did make headlines in Greece - back in the fall of 2022 -- was Greece's launch of a new international armed forces pilot training center in partnership with Israel. While it opened in 2022, projections were 2024 before it would be fully operational.  

What made it most interesting is that the training center is at the air force base near the Kalamata airport. Kalamata is our 'go to' city, about an hour's drive away.  

A lone helicopter flies over our house 

The only thing we residents feared when the new facility was announced was the noise that fighter jets might make as they flew over our houses.  The flights have been far fewer than we had expected, and the noise factor is similar to any jet that zooms past at breakneck speed.  On occasion we have one fly over so low that it rattles all things including the brain cells, but that happens very infrequently.

So, is it safe?

Kalamata beach front is filled with visitors this summer

Each person will need to make an informed decision on whether or not to proceed with their travel plans. Some sources we turn to for information are the online Greek English language newspapers Ekathimerini and Greek Reporter.  

American travelers also have information from the US State Department available on Facebook, X or Threads.  You can also get information about your travel destination from the State Department's STEP, Smart Traveler Enrollment Program. The free program allows you to register your travels, and the State Department will provide you updates about weather, safety, conflicts, etc.  

Days end at The Stone House on the Hill

I'll end the look at safety with figures from Greek tourism folks: in the first four months of this year, Greece welcomed 4.1 million tourists, an increase of 5.8 percent over last year.  I've seen nothing on social media from any of them saying they regretted having come to Greece.

A big thank you to all who have inquired about our safety!  It means a lot to know someone is thinking of you!!  We close with a wish for continued safe travels wherever you might be headed. Thanks for the time you've spent with us, and we hope to see you back again soon!

Don't Fence Me In. . .

As we watched the painters starting the second week of our three-day fence painting project, one of my favorite neighbors asked, 'Will you ever live here full time?'

'This probably isn't the best time to ask that question,' I responded.

Not this year!

This is a story about a fence. Our fence. In America.

And it is about life in Greece and America. . .life in two very different worlds. 

American world

 

We are expats, living most of the year in Greece and a bit of the year in America. 

Agios Nikolaos

In many ways our two worlds, Agios Nikolaos in Greece's Mani Peninsula and Manson, on the shores of Lake Chelan in central Washington State, are similar. Both are popular tourist destinations. So popular that many who've visited now want longer stays, and as a result both areas are experiencing a housing construction boom that is covering once lush agricultural areas with mega-mansion sized homes.  

Manson 

In each of our world's a small village serves as the centerpiece.  Both tiny towns have short main streets lined with mom-and-pop shops. Each place is populated with many kind, wonderful people who welcome us back each time we travel between the two.

In Greece 

We live at the edge of our olive grove. Our place is reached by traveling a narrow, paved track road. 

The road home in Greece

Life in this world is an independent one. We plant gardens, tend olive groves and go about daily life pretty much as we choose. 

Sometimes we don't see our neighbors for days on end. Some are part-timers, others of us travel, so we do keep an eye out for each other in 'the hood'. When something seems amiss while the owner is away, we let them know.  And, if necessary, do a stop gap fix until they can return and address it.

Jackals are the menace in Greece

The neighborhood menaces are wild boar and jackal that roam the hillsides; the latter terrorizing small animals and in the case of the boars, destroying gardens and groves.

We've often compared our present-day Greek life to the one we lived in mid-century America when 'being neighborly' meant caring for and looking out after each other.

In America

Our home sits among 100+ others in a uniformly trimmed, gated community.  A gated community where security is high - a selling point for a long-distance owner such as us. Our neighbors are a mix of Americans, some retired, some still working. 

Road home in America

 

Here independent thought and preferences give way to the rules of the Homeowners Association, or HOA. A five-member board, elected from among the neighbors, is tasked with making and enforcing rules governing life within the development. 

My yard with approved plants

Such rules and regulations range from how long your garage door can be open to what you plant in your front yard and the time outdoor Christmas lights must be turned off each night as well as the length of time holiday decorations can be displayed.

Aside from an occasional cougar passing through we had thought this neighborhood was free of menaces. That was until this year when we became the target of the real neighborhood menace: the roaming 'concerned neighbor'. 

Gladys Kravitz a concerned neighbor from 'Bewitched'

Roaming the roads with camera in hand, the 'concerned neighbor' looks for violations of homeowner rules and reports those to the board. It seems the individual is a real-life Gladys Kravitz, the iconic nosy neighbor introduced to the world in American television's 'Bewitched'. 

Only here Gladys and her actions aren't funny. They can result in real damage to the homeowner because the HOA receives her reports and notifies the targeted homeowner of said infraction. A second report results in a fine.  Fines get increasingly substantial and could result in having a lien on your property.  

Don't Fence Me In . . .

For the past six years our annual sojourns back to Manson have been a pleasant mix of small home improvement projects and socializing with longtime friends and family. This year we returned with a 'to do' list that included a major fence re-staining project. 

Tom Sawyer and his fence

Made up of cedar slats and stretching 200 feet it encloses our lawn and flower gardens. Its solid stain was in need of touch up.

We'd secured a painter months ago -- while still in Greece -- and had the three-day project set to launch two days after our arrival.

Fence staining now in its third week - 

It would have gone according to plan had it not been for 'Gladys' and the HOA board.  

 

HOA Hell-abaloo*

*Hullabaloo means a commotion or fuss, and when combined with homeowner hell, it becomes 'hell-abaloo'. It is how I describe this visit to America.

Our three-day project became a three-week project. We've put stain on and taken stain off at the direction of the HOA.  (We were replacing the original solid stain but that isn't allowed! No siree! Only translucent stain can be used no matter the original color put on by the builder.) The price of the project has doubled.  

The painters - with help from us - finally got the fence finished within days of our return to Greece.

Beware - the coiled garden hose!

But this tumble into HOA Hellabaloo, has opened our eyes to the world of the American HOA. 

While we've become wiser, we've learned we aren't alone in this haphazard world of rule enforcement. Others living in (or who've moved out of) HOA's have shared horror stories galore. Among their horror stories:  

* In Arizona a friend who'd had three flowerpots in her front yard for six years was notified that one had to go. 

* Two people have been fined by different HOA's for leaving a garden hose visible in the front yard.  

* In a nearby development, homeowners had to cut down decade old trees planted long before the development was built, when a neighbor deemed them too high.  

* One resident had to repaint a new home being constructed in an HOA development after its board determined it a not an acceptable color.  

* Others have been cited for the bushes they plant - some for simply moving existing bushes into new locations in the flower bed.

The American Experience

Overall, this initiation into the HOA world has overshadowed all activities planned for our time in America. Any outing for anything other than 'the fence' was considered a mental health break - lunch with friends, a coffee, a trip to a nearby winery, a get-together with neighbors all provided short and much needed breaks from HOA life.  

Our painter hung in there

On the bright side our painter stayed with us. I might have walked off this job on its third day.  I hugged him goodbye when the project was completed.  He and his son are among the good guys. 

Shadow my 'therapy cat'

The folks at the hardware store recognize us on sight. They call us the HOA People. They have bent over backward to help us through the project. And they have a 16-year-old store cat, Shadow, who became my 'therapy cat'.

And we've gotten to know our immediate neighbors much better, and all are kind, caring people.  They have rallied and offered words of cheer and shared in our frustrations. Several offered to help sand and stain as they watched the project go into week three and the dollar signs mount. 

Perhaps the best thing is that we found 'neighborly' still exists here as well -- at least among those that we are lucky enough to have living near us. We now have a cadre of friends watching our place - Gladys has been outnumbered by the good guys. 

It has been an expat learning experience for us. Usually those of us choosing to live in a new culture have to focus on adapting to their new world.  As we've learned this month, the old world might require more adaption skills than does the new one.  

A foot in two worlds isn't as simple as it sounds. 

The Stone House on the Hill

It has definitely been a journey! Next time I write I am hoping to do so from The Stone House on the Hill in Greece!  Thanks for being with us as another chapter of expat life has unfolded.  Safe travels to you and yours~

Road to Residency ~ Land of Limbo

Here we are. . .back on the Road to Residency! And once again it is leading us through the Land of Limbo.

The Road to Residency always something new along the way

As our regular readers know, we are American expats who've now been living almost full-time in Greece for the better part of five years.  For that reason, our rural slice of the Greek Peloponnese feels like home. We have our routines and chores, we have our friends and social life. We  have our doctors and dentists. When you are recognized at regulars at a beauty shop, you know you've settled in. 

The Scout and The Scribe on an ancient kalderimi (road)

Our rhythm of life is so set that it now seems a jolt, a major disruption in our norm, to go through the motions of reapplying for permission to continue living here, but that is one of the rules of the game when you lead an expat life.  

This residency renewal comes at a time when just a couple countries away from us, people who had a rhythm of life and a norm, are fleeing their country to stay alive. It is a stark contrast and one that puts the hurdles of the renewal process in perspective, but yet, doesn't make the process any easier or less stressful.

Photo credit: Onet Wiadomosci

Road to Residency Route Changes

No trip on the Road to Residency has been the same. There has always been just a 'little something' that needs tweaking or clarification or additional information so we are embarking on this journey alert for possible road blocks and detours. 

Greek detour notice - Stoupa village

One of the first changes we've encountered was the length of time for which the permit is valid. When we initially applied back in 2017, it was offered in a two-year increment, with a three-year renewal option followed by a five year permit.  By the time we applied for our three-year permit, the five-year renewal had been discontinued. Now the three-year permit is also history and we are back to a two-year permit.

However, the application fee which was 300 euros ($324US) per person back in 2017 went up to a 1000 euros ($1,081US) per person three years ago and remains that now.

No need or desire to work in Greece

We know of a number of you who reading this are contemplating a move to Greece and without Greek heritage, which takes you down a different path, you will all be expected to travel a road to residency; each route slightly different depending on the type of residency you are seeking.  We have the retired-don't-want-or-need-to-work version, which is called the Financially Independent residency permit.

Road to Residency in Greece - always an adventure

While the cost of application can take your breath away, one major money- and time-saving change is that we no longer needed to travel back to Washington State to gather and then get documents apostilled. Apostilles are like notary stamps, but at the government level certifying the document. In recent years a number of agencies in the US have developed a process of obtaining apostilles for those who are overseas and find themselves in need of such documents. It is still costly at $150 per page, yet far less than a trip back to the States.

Apostilled documents are part of residency permit process

And while on the topic of technology, a huge change is that the residency permit process has all gone on-line in Greece. No more trips to the Immigration Office where we sat in a stark waiting room for our turn to present our packet of papers to an official.

What hasn't changed, is the requirement for each applicant to provide documentation showing: a monthly income of 2,000 euros ($2,163US), have proof of medical insurance (the amount is determined by the Greek government), proof of residency (house purchase contract or rental agreement) and copies of each page of our passports.

Land of Limbo - Lockdown

Bologna at Night

Once the application process starts, which happens when our documents are submitted, as ours has now, we are no longer able to leave the country (except back to the US).

Authorities construe any travel outside Greece as abandonment of our application and our permit renewal could be denied.  At least three US friends who have been summoned to the Immigration office to pick up their residency cards have had their passports scrutinized by officials there before being finally issued their new cards. That is one of the reasons for our whirlwind trip to Italy two weeks ago (which I will tell you more about in a future post) - it will be the last of such getaways for many months. 

No cruises anytime soon while application process is active

It appears the computerization of the application process hasn't made it any faster.  Several Americans in our area are still awaiting permanent permit cards now many months into the application process.  One was summoned for an interview before a panel of six. Others have been asked for additional documentation. Two finally received their cards last month only to realize they expire again this coming November!

Our world. Agios Nikolaos.

As I said in the opening it is not a journey to be taken lightly - there is no fast-lane, direct route.  But we all agree, the destination, Greece and the life we have created here makes it worth taking.

That's it for this week. Our wishes for safe travels to you and yours. And good luck if you are among those of us in the Land of Limbo awaiting residency permits.  Welcome to our new readers, it is great to have you with us!

Linking soon:

Through My Lens

Travel Tuesday

Our World Tuesday

My Corner of the World Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Friendship Friday Blog Hop