Other Worlds

I write today from our 'other world' as I call the Pacific Northwest these days.  We are in the United States for our annual break from Greece, our expat world.  

Cascade Mountain Range and Downtown Manson - our other world

As with each trip back, our mental state the first few days is a bit etsy-ketsy, as we say in Greek, 'so,so'. Getting from one world to the other requires three days, no matter how we break up the trip. 

Heading to Athens International Airport

This year we drove to Athens and spent the night at the airport hotel. The next day an early morning 3.5-hour flight on Aegean took us to Copenhagen where we spent a couple hours before an SAS flight of nine hours brought us to Seattle. The third day we drove across Washington State. By that evening our jet-lagged brains were mush, but we were settled into our 'other world'.

Traveling through time zones - what a trip!

The first few days we wake at 4:30 am and are headed to bed by 8 pm, with a nap thrown in for good measure. While it makes life a bit topsy-turvy for a time, it is one of the concessions one makes for living in 'other worlds' separated by a 10-hour time zone difference.

The Journey

SAS plane that would take us from Copenhagen to Seattle

As usual, The Scout, began searching for our flights between the worlds several months in advance. In recent years British Airlines has transported us between Kalamata, Greece and Seattle, Washington via London. That airline and routing, while the most convenient, priced itself out of the running this year. So, we tried SAS, Scandanavian Airlines; the Copenhagen-Seattle route had just this spring been reinstituted by the airline. 

Landscape approaching Copenhagen 

The Copenhagen airport was far less congested than London's Heathrow, and had all sorts of interesting shops, such as the one selling 'red deer, antelope and reindeer jerky' and 7-11 Stores that served as both convenience and bookstores. Service on board the flight was great, and the food was tasty. It will definitely be in the running for future trips.

Canadian Rockies as we approached Seattle

Passport Control in Copenhagen not only perused and scanned our US passports, but our Greek residency permits as well.  I don't think the transit would have been as smooth had we not had valid permits in hand.

However, entering the United States in Seattle was quick and efficient.  With Global Entry, we simply looked at a terminal screen and were cleared to enter the country. It was so fast it took a minute for the screen's message, 'Proceed to Exit' to register in our jetlagged brains. We didn't show passports or fill out customs declarations, nor were mobile phones examined. 

Transitions

Lake Chelan from Chelan looking towards Manson

Now in our eighth year of traveling between our two worlds, I think that we've finally gotten the hang of it. This house is familiar, it feels like home albeit if for a short time each year. Routines here are familiar. 

We've learned to balance our stays with 'to do' projects and time with friends. We no longer come with an unrealistic attempt to see everyone and do every project. After 8,000 miles to get here we are content to stay in Manson and not travel further.  We see as many as we can and do as much as we can within our time here. 

The welcome mat is out again

We no longer feel like strangers in the gated community in which our home is located. We are surrounded by good neighbors; with the exception of 'Gladys Kravitz' whom regular readers met last year in my tales of HOA (Homeowner Association) hell. She is still with us but keeping her distance.  

Tabs, Tipping, Tattoos, Technology

Each trip back is a reminder of how far removed we are from this world when living in a small fishing village in rural Greece.  The most ordinary of things here will leave us gobsmacked. For example:

- Tabs and Tipping.  It seems the act of giving a bit extra for excellent service on top of a bill in a restaurant has become an expected bonus in many retail outlets.  As we paid for a purchase at a favorite meat store, we were given a bill that included the option of tipping the salesclerk who took the meat from the display and sold it to us.  Suggested tips usually start at 18%.

An example of Wine Country prices

Prices have always been higher here in one of the state's designated 'wine country's' than in Greece. While we think we are prepared for it, we are taken back when handed the tab from a dinner out.  The menu pictured is pretty much representative of the prices at wineries and their tasting rooms here.

We've been spoiled in our Greek village where a glass of good wine can be sipped for about $5US. Okay, so in all fairness, the Athens Sofitel airport hotel where we overnighted was charging 11 - 16 euros a glass, just under $12 - $19.

But back in Greece a tip of 10% is considered generous and would only be left at a dining or drinking establishment for excellent service.  Many there don't tip, and others leave just a bit of spare change that would round up to the next dollar.

Tattoos seemed normal in the South Pacific, not so in Central Washington

-Tatoos.  We have a carpet installation project going on this year and first step was to have the rooms measured.  The tech doing the measurements arrived with pink fringed hair, body piercings and his arms and legs pretty much covered with body tattoos.  A few days later, a cable television tech, his body decorated with ink as well, arrived and got our television working within minutes. 

Yes, I know we shouldn't judge a book by the cover, I am just saying we don't see a lot of that in rural Greece.  

The rider-less floor cleaner at Walmart still freaks me out

-Technology.  I am missing humans and that connection we once had when shopping or having work done.  Our reminder calls for the television tech's appointment were automated, giving me the choice to press 1 to cancel, 2 to confirm and 3 to change the appointment. And the mechanical voice told me that if I didn't choose one of those options, the appointment would automatically be cancelled.  Luckily, I didn't hit the wrong key when confirming the appointment.

I also have been startled when shopping at our big box store (saving myself an hour's drive to the next closest stores) to see a driverless floor cleaner coming at me.  Thankfully said big box still offers three human-staffed checkout counters amid its half dozen 'do it yourself' bays.  I've chosen the human every time!

On the flipside 

Fran sells far more than flowers at the Market

I was delighted to see that Fran is back at the Farmer's Market every Saturday morning serving up canned goods, fresh picked vegetables, loaves of homemade specialty breads for $5 and making a bouquet of flowers to order in a vase for $7.  

Teri Fink sells her novels next to Fran at the Market

This year we have, Teri Fink, a Wenatchee-based writer who sits at a table next to Fran, selling copies of the three novels she's written. She, like me, is a former communications director for a school district and was a member of WSPRA, the professional organization to which I also belonged in my working days. I purchased one of her novels last week and it was so good that I bought a second this week.  Her stories are so well researched that I'm learning a lot about this part of the state.

And in Chelan I met the new owner of Riverwalk Books, a delightful independent bookstore that has been a mainstay of the town's retail hub for decades.  Actually, I 'met' Tyler while back in Greece. I enjoyed his posts about books and customers so much that I wrote him to tell him so.  I then ordered some books to buy while here. We finally met face-to-face last week.

My other world market treasures.

Living in other worlds does have its benefits.  It keeps us fresh (after recuperating from jetlag) and mentally on our toes. It reminds us to appreciate the good things about each world.  And the importance of getting out of one's routine and comfort zone. While not everyone of you is ready to try out different worlds, you might find that just a day-long jaunt away from 'your world' could kick start your enthusiasm and energy.  This trip is certainly renewing ours.

I'll leave you with that idea and hope to see you all back again for another travel tale.  Safe travels to you and yours and thanks for the time you spent with us today!

You Can Go Home Again!

I disagree with Thomas Wolfe who penned the famous book, 'You Can't Go Home Again'.  You most certainly can go home again! We have done it annually since beginning our expat life in the rural Greek Peloponnese six years ago. 

Heading home at 40,000 ft.

Wolfe's 1940's book, by the way, is about a fledgling author who makes unflattering references to his hometown in his writings and finds that when he goes home again, his family and friends aren't pleased with the way he depicted the place.  

American home is at Lake Chelan, Washington State

The rest of us - who haven't penned such a piece - can certainly go home again.  All we need is the time and energy to do it. This year it has felt like both were a bit in short supply for us.

At Home in Washington 

And the only flack we get from family and friends is that we haven't allowed enough time to see them all.  I can tell you that when you are blessed to have lived 70 years and have a lifetime of accumulated friends, it just isn't possible to see them all during a month-long stay.

The Butte in the distance - Chelan, Washington

Of course, one might ask what is meant by 'going home' when you are an expat with roots in one country and strong ties to another.

I turned to one of my favorite writers, Frances Mayes, to see if she answered that question in her new book, 'A Place in the World, Finding the Meaning of Home'. She doesn't provide any answers, but certainly provides food for thought. Even travelers can relate to some of her observations.

Home is where. . .??

It has been a perfect read during our stay in the Pacific Northwest. I've not had much reading time though as we've found ourselves with far more on our to do list than will ever be accomplished and far more people to spend time with than is humanly possible. 

Whoosh. . .the month is gone. By the time many read this, we will be back in The Stone House on the Hill in the Peloponnese.  

The Rest of the Story

Because I told you about tackling that 'to do' list in my last post, I wanted to wrap up those tales before we leave:

My phone delivered to the door here - a treat!

The quest for a new mobile device (phone) for use in the U.S turned out to be a multi-week effort. I simply wanted to buy a newer phone from my service provider, Verizon. Told that I had a plan that didn't allow for the purchase, they sent me off to one of America's big box stores, Walmart, to buy the phone. When I returned to Verizon with the new phone so they could assist in the switch over, I found I had bought a 'locked' phone that only works with Consumer Cellular, another service provider.  

This time a different clerk - without bright blue hair - suggested a new phone plan for me which. . .drum roll. . .actually gave me the phone I had wanted to buy for free, just by changing plans. Thirty minutes later the new phone was working, and I returned the ordered phone to Walmart.

 I must note that in Greece phones are sold 'unlocked' meaning you can put any providers' SIM card in them, in fact two providers could exist in one phone.  This 'locked' business seems to be a US glitch.

Leading a duck's life at Lake Chelan in Manson

Our new bank account is up and running, after having passed all the identification and security checks initially required. However, the checks associated with it are lost in the mail. They were sent on Aug. 31st and should have been delivered a week ago (an automated voice told me that when I called the bank). 

 A trip to our local post office provided no answers as I had only a photo of the package sent by the bank, not a tracking number.  A second call to the bank finally got me to a human who couldn't help because we had not 'paid extra' for a tracking number. Paid extra. . .really??

Back in 2021 when it was a drive through affair

We failed to get our Covid booster shot while here. The newest vaccine doesn't hit the shelves until the week after we leave.  I was questionable for the shot as I came down with shingles in July and still have the rash.  It turns out a side effect of the shot could be shingles, or reactivating shingles. Always something new to learn, isn't there?

On the Flip Side

Our Stone House on the Hill in the Greek Peloponnese

Meanwhile back in Greece our neighbors report we've been without municipal water for several days on several occasions since we've been gone.  Facebook pages from our area show mountains of garbage that have accumulated at municipal bins.

No place is perfect, we've concluded.  But we still are happy to have two places in the world where we are surrounded by good friends and neighbors; places that we call home. We just may see them a bit differently than we did when we left them. And maybe that isn't such a bad thing. 

Again, thanks for your time with us. Hope you'll join us again next time when we will be writing from our slice of Greece~

 

Back in the Village

 We are back in the village. Not the Greek village, the American one.

Main Street Manson, Washington

Still shaking our heads at how rapidly the last year sped past, we are even more amazed that we are already at a midway point in our annual stay here. 

The Stone House on the Hill in Greece

Our expat life is one that involves keeping a toehold back in our homeland. Thus, we have a house in Greece where we live the majority of the year and one in America that we use for a bit of time each year. This American home has diversified -- and benefited -- our portfolio and provided a perfect getaway spot while serving as the 'fallback plan', should our health or Greece's residency requirements ever dictate a return to the States.  

A morning at home in Manson

Frankly, we like both places and are grateful we can be a part of each. We like having options.

And I know many of you reading this are considering options for expat life. There really is no one way of living an expat life; some choose to pack up and leave a country for good while others keep a toehold as we have done.  Some rent, some buy, some build. There is no one model that works. Your options are many and you need to choose what best fits you.   

Commuting between our villages

That said, we've learned over the last few years that a dual lifestyle, 8,000 miles and several time zones apart, isn't the easiest of lifestyles. It certainly never gets boring. It is far better than Sudoku at keeping our aging brains from going bad. 

Speaking of distance, the commute between our villages is a long one, usually spanning two days with some 14 hours of that in the plane. The good news is that we are able to fly from Kalamata to Seattle, but with a stop overnight in London. It cuts some three hours off our car travel time by not flying out of Athens. Still the journey and time zone changes take a toll on the brain and the body which slows us a bit for a few days no matter which direction we fly.

Mercer Island and Lake Washington approaching SeaTac

Because our time in the States is limited to a few weeks, we pack a lot into those weeks. There are simply tasks that must be done during each visit. And countless friends we try to see while in the area. Our calendar for this trip was full before we left Greece. 

 

Walk in vaccinations - easier than Greece

Long time readers may be surprised to learn that we still don't qualify for Covid booster shots in Greece (as we don't have their equivalent to a Social Security number, required for the shots) so that is high on our 'to do' list here. I block out a couple 'sick' days for them as I feel their impact. My trip to the dentist later this week promises another couple of days of reduced activity. Both shorten what is already a short window of opportunity.

'Cub' newspaper reporters still friends 40 years later

A life of all work and no play wouldn't be fun, so we also will have attended two reunions, hosted house guests, wined and dined with friends and had numerous coffee klatches by the time we return to Greece.

American Culture Shock

Our bank branch closed in our absence

The most amazing thing about our return to America is the dose of culture shock we get with each visit.  This year's tasks - to change banks and mobile devices - are almost tying Greece's red tape and bureaucracy. We're realizing once again that things 'ain't what they used to be'.  

A 'quick stop' at the new bank became a marathon session of showing identification and signing papers. "We don't like it any more than you do," said our young bank executive, "you can thank the Patriot Act for it." I honestly had to think a minute to remember what the Patriot Act is. . .hint, it was brought on by the events of 9-11. 

Lake Chelan in Manson

An attempt to upgrade our five-year-old U.S. mobile device should have been a task completed in the hour or so I allotted to it on the afternoon of our arrival in Seattle. 

Now, nearly two weeks into my quest, we are still without a new device. The biggest shock to me is that I can't call the phone company, . . .sorry, the term is now, 'service provider', and talk to a human. In Greece we walked in the phone store, bought a phone and picked it up two hours later after they had transferred my old device's contents to the new one. Done and dusted.  Here I've texted, chatted and interacted with 800- numbers and mechanical voices. 

Our visit this week to a Verizon (the service provider) retail store finally involved interaction with a real human; one with dyed Greek-blue hair, who was just about to order the phone we wanted. . .then she checked my phone number and said my service plan didn't allow her to order the phone.  Do what?!?!?!

So, true confession: I've resorted to the only option left for an American consumer with limited time: I am ordering from Amazon. In a week I will have a new phone delivered to the doorstep. 

Harvesting Americana

Harvest - a perfect time to be in agricultural areas

Our two villages are located in areas similar in geography and topography. One blanketed with vineyards and orchards, the other with olive groves and vineyards. Harvest of apples and grapes is underway here and by the time we return, we will be heading into olive harvest in Greece.  

My favorite vendor, Fran, at the Manson Farmer's Market

We've grown accustomed to - and love - the laid-back pace of our village worlds so I don't think living back in a metropolitan suburb as we once did in the States would ever again appeal.  We like the concept of walking to the grocery store or to the coffee shop/kafenion in our village lifestyle along the sea in Greece and the shores of Lake Chelan here. 

With that I will sign off as our first houseguest arrive today. I'll have more from this slice of American life in the next week or so.  Thanks for being with us and wishes for safe travels to you and yours~

Going Home - It is Time

 Last Saturday morning as we walked into the village on the shores of Lake Chelan in Central Washington State, I announced I was ready to go home.  

Manson, our Washington State World

Not the one located a few blocks away in the tidy, gated community here where we've planted our part-time roots, but the one on the hill on the other side of the world. In Greece.

At home in Greece

We are at the end of our several-weeks-long stay in the US Pacific Northwest. Our visit here has taken us down Memory Lane to class reunions, get-togethers with long-time friends, family, and neighbors, over lunches and dinners. And I've indulged in long 'girl talk' telephone conversations. It has been great, but still, we are ready to go home.

Our US roots are planted here

Returning readers know I've been pondering for some time, the question, 'Can you go home again?' I did so in earnest this fall as I returned to the town in which I grew up and graduated from high school. But I think if the truth be told, we expats ponder the question quite often, because at some point in our expat adventures we realize that what was once home starts to feel every bit as foreign as once did the foreign country to which we moved. 

Home is where. . .

Frances Mayes, who divides her home life between her home in America and her home 'Under the Tuscan Sun', has just written an entire book focused on finding the meaning of home. The book is described as one in which she writes of the adventures of moving on while enjoying the comforts of that cornerstone we call, home.  It's definitely going to be required reading for me.

Riverwalk Lake Chelan

Another of my favorite writers/poets, David Mason, who wrote 'News from the Village', a memoir about his time in Kardamyli as a young adult living next to Patrick Leigh Fermor, now lives in Tasmania. In a recent interview, he also discussed the concept of 'home':

'At the end of one of my early narrative poems, “The Country I Remember,” a character declares, “This is my home because I say it is.” I never felt like someone with a birthright, someone who would inherit a home. I always felt I had to make home wherever I happened to be. In my memoir I wrote that I could never become an expatriate, but fate has taught me otherwise. There is a kind of death in immigrating, a kind of letting go, but that only makes it a profound lesson in the nature of being alive. You let go of so much that you thought was important, only to discover importance in other things. You grow by losing, by paring away. I’ve always felt like a person who carried his household on his back. Now I can set the load down and stay a while. This is my home because I say it is.'

Lake Chelan vineyards

We definitely feel blessed to have two places in the world to call home. Home in this world is in a small village on the 55-mile-long, glacier-fed Lake Chelan. We arrived here in August; a time when temperatures were near 100F/37C and the summer sun was putting finishing touches on ripening grapes and apples, both trademark products of this area. 

Apple harvest began last week signaling both autumn's arrival and our departure.

Autumn has arrived when the trees look like this

As the days have grown cooler and the leaves have begun turning color, our thoughts have turned to autumn in our other world. It won't be long before the local fishermen start moving their boats from the village harbor and stowing them away for the winter. The olive harvest gets underway the end of October. LitFest, an annual gathering of writers and readers, will soon be taking place in the village down the road. Autumn is one of our favorite seasons in Greece.  It is a fabulous time to visit for those of you contemplating trips.

Olive harvest is my favorite season of the year in Greece

Again, this visit we've been reminded that some in our American world don't quite grasp our desire to make a world for ourselves so far away.  

Their eyes widen - some in wonder and others in horror - when we talk about daily life at our Stone House on the Hill. We often liken it to returning to the world of our childhoods: hanging clothes on the line to dry and our lack of a dishwasher and television there.  Frankly our house is so small in Greece I am not sure where we'd put a television and there is certainly no kitchen space for a dishwasher.

 

'And you like that?' they ask.  

Well, yes, we do, or we wouldn't be going back.

Now that isn't to say we don't enjoy using the clothes dryer and dish washer while in the states, but this new lifestyle has made use of those appliances a treat and not a routine expectation of life as they once were. 

A Shrinking, but Expanding World

Autumn leaf-fall in Greece

We enjoy this expanded world of ours - the one with new cultural nuances, language, landscape and the opportunities it offers. Our friends in Greece are now many and I couldn't imagine life without them a part of it. It isn't easy making a new world for oneself, it can be downright daunting, we tell those expat wannabe's who seek our advice.  Leaving routines, comforts of home and friends and family isn't for everyone.

Towers of the Mani

However, we can thank technology, for shrinking the distance between our old world and our current world. My expat friends and I marvel at the ease of staying in touch with those thousands of miles away. We've all found that our friends who want to stay in touch, do so. Talking face-to-face regularly with some friends is easily done using Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. 

The other thing on which we agree is the fact that is impossible to see everyone you'd like to on a given trip back to the States. There simply aren't enough hours in a day or days in a visit to accomplish that. 

Time to come to Greece

So now that Covid is no longer preventing or hampering travel and tourism folks are touting all the new routes linking America to Athens, we are telling friends that we won't likely see them all while we are in America, but we have the welcome mat out in Greece. 

The Airbnb craze has come to our slice of Mani, so we have one next door and another just up the hill, several at the base of the hill are within walking distance of our home. Our friend George offers fabulous studio apartment tourist accommodations that overlook the sea and are only a short walk away.

Lake Chelan - Silver Bell winery

Our bags are packed, we are ready to go, so we've kicked back to enjoy what remains of our time here. Wishes to you all for safe journeys and happy travels. We'll write again from the other side of 'the pond'! Thanks for the time you've spent with us today~

Welcome Back to the 'Old Country'

 Welcome back to the 'old country' read the note on a gift given us by long time friends last week. 

Back in our 'old country' Washington State

It was a warm greeting, yet, a bit startling to realize that it applies to us these days. As expats living in Greece for most of the year, Washington State -- particularly this eastern side of the state where we were born and raised -- is for us now, the 'old country'.

Lake Chelan from The Butte

By definition, 'old country' is one's country of origin, the homeland, birthplace, mother country, father land. . .all of which fit these days for our Washington State.

A New, Old Country

Advertisement 1914

Manson, an unincorporated village on the north shore of 55-mile-long Lake Chelan, is where we've planted our part-time American roots.  I loved finding the announcement pictured above in historical records as I've always wondered how this little place came to be.  The downtown 'core' is about two blocks long with eateries and winery tasting rooms occupying the old buildings. While they might have built those 'drug store, hardware store, etc.' back in 1914, only two of those types of businesses remain: a grocery store and hardware store.

Downtown Manson

Several decades ago when The Scout first introduced me to this small town, the 20-minute drive between it and the larger Chelan town where he was born and raised, seemed a route into the boondocks as it led through vast apple orchards punctuated with  a few scattered residences.

Planned future residential development

There are still beautiful views over the lake and a few acres of orchards remain but now the route passes several large residential developments, a casino and four wineries.  Construction is booming and home prices are soaring. 

The Lookout development between Chelan and Manson

It seems many in the metropolitan areas learned during Covid lockdowns of 2020 that working remotely could be done from near or far. Many urban- and suburban-ites are relocating to this rural part of the state. The Lookout, pictured above, fills 63-acres with what seems a continuously expanding nest of new homes. Developers describe this resort community as featuring a  'new urbanism' concept. 

Lake Chelan and Wine Country

Lake Chelan, 55-mile-long glacier-fed lake

Lake Chelan, a body of water that reaches a maximum depth of 1,486-feet deep in places, stretches from the town of Chelan at its eastern tip to Stehekin at the head of the lake. Stehekin can only be reached by water craft or float plane.  The lake has always drawn tourists in the summer months and now winter recreational activities in the oft-snow-covered nearby foothills and mountains are making tourism a year-round industry.

Washington State Wine Map

Of course, the burgeoning wine industry here is luring many vino enthusiasts to the area. Lake Chelan AVA, a wine region designation now more than a decade old, has more than 30 wineries and  300 acres of land planted in wine grapes. 

Old Country Favorites

Another orchard gives way to home construction

While we note with each visit here the continuing changes in the landscape - new residential developments, new wineries, and related businesses -- we also are relieved to see that icons of the past remain vibrant in the communities of Chelan and Manson:

Manson Grange Hall

The Grange Hall in Manson is still serving as the social gathering hub of the community. In the U.S. the Grange originated in 1867 as an association of farmers that provided social activities, community service and conducted political lobbying for the agricultural industry. Grange halls were located in nearly every agricultural community in the state. The summer's Farmer's Market in Manson is aptly held in the parking lot here each week.

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church - Chelan

 St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Chelan is the oldest permanent structure in the community. Built in 1897 this log church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.  It has been serving congregants since its doors opened. (It just reopened its doors to in person worship this month  -having been closed to state Covid closure mandates).  

Inside the Ruby Theatre Chelan, WA

The doors opened to the Ruby Theatre, just down the street from the church, in 1914.  It is a step back in time to go to a movie here and it is one of the most popular places in town.

Small retail businesses now operate out of the building that housed the Chelan Transfer company - a place that served freight, express and stage lines. 

Campbell's the hospitality icon of Chelan

Campbell's Resort is a sprawling modern complex and popular convention site on the shores of Lake Chelan. The family-owned business began in 1901 and the original hotel building is now home to the resort's restaurant and bar.

We are halfway through our stay in the 'old country' and our explorations here will continue.  Hope you'll join us for another look at central Washington State next week.  Until then, safe travels to you and yours and as always, thanks for the time you've spent with us today!

Linking soon with:

Through My Lens

Travel Tuesday
Our World Tuesday
My Corner of the World Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday