'It's the Rule' ~ You can't leave Greece. . .

Oh, the places you will go! 
-- Dr. Seuss

Our list of spring travel possibilities was lengthy: a cruise, a ferry trip from Greece to Venice, a visit to Prague, Vienna and Budapest, my birthday trip (carried over from last year) to Morocco, and perhaps a rendezvous with a friend from the States in Geneva.

Regulars here know that one of the reasons we decided to move to this side of 'the pond' was the launch-pad our Greek location provided for travel on this side of the world.

Grounded: 'Because it is the rule'

Hydra Island - Leonard Cohen made his home here

But our trip in late March to the Immigration Office to renew our Greek residency permit put an end to the possibility of those spring trips real quick.

It was at the glassed-in counter in the rather drab office in the outskirts of Kalamata where our applications began their journey through layers of bureaucratic reviews.

They were reviewed first at the ground floor counter as we stood there watching and answering questions about them, then they headed 'upstairs' and if they passed the review there, they'd be off to Athens for further review. We don't know where they are now.

Temporary residence permits - do not smile, we were told

We'd passed the first inspection and were issued our temporary permits; paper versions (pictured above) of what will be plastic cards one day when The Scout asked what he thought was a logistics question,

'Now, we can travel with this document, right?'

'You can return to the United States,' said our attorney,  'but  you can't travel anywhere else outside Greece until you have your permanent resident's permit. . .or you risk forfeiting your right to residency.'

"We could last time,'.  said The Scout, a retired attorney, in reference to the waiting period for our first permit. 'Why can't we now?'

"Because it is the rule," answered our attorney. We all chuckled.

The Scout redirected his question to the official behind the counter, who answered, "Well, because it is the rule!" Again we all chuckled. . .

. . .because 'it is the rule/law/way it is done' is such a standard answer that you almost expect it as an explanation to a myriad of situations.

We quit chuckling when they said we'd likely get our plastic cards in LATE June or MID-July, some four months down the road.

Goodbye spring travels in Europe.

From the Land of the Free

Greek beach at Kitries - Peloponnese

You can't leave.

Such a simple phrase. But let me tell you it doesn't jive with the American mindset.

We 'Yanks' hail from the 'land of the free' where we sing out  'Let Freedom Ring' and where our 'unalienable rights include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'. (And travel, you've probably figured out, is that pursuit of happiness for us.)

Kythira Island - Greece

Many of you are probably thinking, 'So what's the big deal? You are in Greece -- tough place to be stuck, right?'

And in a way, that's a reasonable observation.  Greece offers multitudes of destinations.  We will likely add a few more to our 'been there' list by mid-summer.

My point here is that being told by a government --wherever you are living in the world -- that you can travel to one place but the rest of the world is off limits, just doesn't compute.

Living Life Differently

While I generally write about the good side of 'living differently', there are frustrations that come with living an expat life.  And this immigration process is one that anyone considering making an expat life in Greece needs to take seriously.

A ferry trip may be in the offing this spring to some Greek destination

You see, it isn't just us.

Two other American couples living in our area re-applied for residency permit renewals the end of November 2018.  One of the four got his permit -- the plastic card -- a month ago, but because of errors made in the immigration office, his wife got hers two weeks ago.  An even better tale from their experience was: they overpaid by 50 euros but Immigration will only make a refund into a Greek bank account. Not having one, they tried to open one but to do so the bank needed the residence permit which she didn't have. . .you get the idea. . .

Immigration officials lost a document submitted by the other American couple so they had to round up a replacement copy and submitted it a couple months ago. It is going on a five month wait for them. They've yet to receive their plastic cards

Another friend who spends a portion of his life living in Mykonos had his original residence permit expire while he waited for his renewed permit - he'd submitted the paperwork more than a year before. The government allowed him to stay despite the expiration, but not to leave until the new permit was issued without risking his residency status.  In that case, the delay was the backlog of applications to review.

When we first applied in 2017 our cards were issued in seven weeks -- at the time it seemed an eternity. But the plastic card system was new to Greece then and the delay was caused by fingerprint machines and the photos that had to be incorporated in the process.

Two years later it is taking months for the review of documents to be completed and the cards issued.  The cost, by the way, went from 300 euros application fee to 1,000 euros per person.

The reality: We are Immigrants

Immigrant -A person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence.

We are immigrants - and delighted two years ago when our cards came

The fact is we are immigrants. We've chosen to be and we are working our way through the legalities - and 'rules' -- that are associated with our choice.

As I've told you before going through an immigration process, even when you choose to do it, is humbling. It is also frustrating and rather un-nerving at times.

Our experiences have made us more sympathetic to all immigrants world-wide.  It isn't easy even when you have the time and money required. We can't imagine how it must be for families uprooted by war, famine or who just hope to make a better life for themselves to set forth seeking a new country.

I read a FB post recently that was a statement about people coming to the United States and an abbreviated version of it was, "if they want to live here, then they need to speak English."

I thought about our efforts and desires to live in Greece. And our lack of ability to speak Greek. Thankfully speaking the language isn't a requirement for residency permits. Our Greek friends cheer us on when we conquer a new word or phrase but no one had demanded we speak the language in order to be allowed to stay here or to be a part of the community.

Road trip in the Peloponnese

Come to think about it, that is a pretty kind way of treating us. It is a good life here, even with rules that we question.  The Scout's been at work with Greek guidebooks and maps for the last couple of days. . ..

Thanks as always for being with us on this journey through our new world.  We appreciate your time and interest.  Your comments and emails are so welcome.  We'll be back next week and hope you will be back as well for another tale from Travelnwrite. Safe travels ~


Linking this week with:


Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday

'That' Mediterranean Garden

 

"My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece."

                                      -- Claude Monet

Anyone who has traveled in the Mediterranean region – France, Spain, Italy, Greece – probably read that title and immediately remembered ‘that’ one special garden that snatched your heart and sent your imagination soaring.  You likely thought back to following – or wishing you could follow - the uneven stone pathway that wound through it, letting your imaginations determine who created it, when and why.

Maybe you just imagined yourself as its owner and pondered the many ways you would spend time in it. Mediterranean gardens seem by their very nature to  prompt such flights of fancy.

Wild mint and African daisies line the stairway to the grove

If you are like me and other such travelers, you tried to recreate such a garden ‘back home’ - most likely - again, like me - in a climate that is not Mediterranean. If so, (like me), you’ve failed at your attempts.  I can't tell you how many gardenias, lemon and orange trees have died under my watch in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

"He who has a garden and a library wants for nothing."

                       -- Marcus Tullies Cicero

So half the joy in finding our Mediterranean Stone House on the Hill in the Greek Peloponnese was its garden. Built on a portion of a long-ago olive grove the property cascades in terraces down a hillside coming to rest at the edge of one of this area's many gorges. And most of the property is a garden.

It is a garden that stretches from high above the back of the house, winds itself around one side and front where it meets the olive grove. At the time of our purchase, it was clearly overgrown and under loved. It beckoned with potential and challenged us to discover its secrets . . .and I told you in an earlier post about those first days of uncovering our 'secret garden'.

Lemon Tree patio at The Stone House on the Hill

It needed work - lots and lots of work as we were to learn. But each time we set forth with shovels and hoes, I'd fantasize about creating a place to spend future idle hours reading some of the world’s great novels or writing one. Or I'd think of myself just sipping morning coffee or wine at the day's close; in each scenario basking in the wonder of it all.

A portion of our crop - The Stone House on the Hill

Even the thought of bringing this Mediterranean (potential) masterpiece back to life had a rosy, romantic glow about it. However, it didn't take long though for reality to set in. The process hasn't been quite as idyllic as you might image. Centipedes and spiders welcomed us. And that rich red soil is about as hard as the stones that seem to make up 90% of the land mass here.  Despite following 'how-to' book recommendations, in the last year I've managed to buy and then kill one French lavender plant and the two remaining are at death's door. One rosemary plant -- they normally grow the size of bushes here - has also bitten the dust under my part-time green thumb.

New pomegranate tree in upper garden is a gift from houseguests; Iris, African daisies are in full bloom

"However many years she lived, Mary always felt that 'she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow'."

                                                                        -- Frances Hodgson Burnet, The Secret Garden

On the flip side, our successes have been many and we've loved seeing the fruits of our labors. This is the first time we've been here early enough in the spring to see the garden come to life. We do bask in the wonder of it all as there is always something blooming or sprouting or wilting away. And we do indulge in time spent in our Lemon Tree patio. Yet, 'We've only just begun' just like the lyrics of  the old Carpenter's song of the 70's. We've got more in the planning stages so you'll get another garden tour one day.

A carpet of wildflowers in the grove - The Stone House on the Hill

Speaking of gardens and blooms, I'd be remiss if I didn’t tell you the olive grove  has been carpeted with blooms this spring – wildflowers of white, red and yellow have made it a place that would have inspired Monet.

What's a garden without a cat posing in it?

And each time I am in the garden I think of all that would have been missed had we not decided to have this one last fling, to throw doubt to the wind and grow olives instead of old. 

As Frances Mayes, one of my favorite writer’s, once said:

“Life offers you a thousand chances. . .all you have to do is take one.”

Our first two weeks of this spring stay at The Stone House on the Hill has been marked with on-again off-again internet (which has helped the garden tremendously because we weren't tied to electronics inside).  And as a reminder of the agricultural setting in which we are in, the internet problem was the work of  the mouse that chewed the internet cable last fall and returned to do the same this spring. With luck I’ll get this posted and be able to respond to your emails and comments.

Iris, once buried under vines are flourishing this spring

As always we love having you along with us and next week we'll start telling you about some of the Peloponnese wonders that guidebooks haven't yet discovered. Hope you’ll be back and until then, safe travels to you and yours!

We are linking up this week with:
Mosaic Monday – 
Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday
Travel Photo Thursday – 
Photo Friday
Weekend Travel Inspiration

And for those who want to try your hand at creating a Mediterranean garden, let us recommend this book, Gardening, the Mediterranean Way by Heidi Gildemeister as an excellent resource:

The Greek Stone House on the Hill ~ One Year Later

Here we are in our Stone House on the Hill, this week  celebrating our first year as part time ex pats in Greece.

With most of our major projects completed, we’ve slowed our pace and indulged in blissful, idle hours ~ most of which we’ve spent gazing out over our small terraced olive grove and the view we have up the Mani coastline just beyond it; our own little slice of Greece’s Peloponesse peninsula





Dusk at The Stone House on the Hill

Many of you have followed along or been a part of the journey that brought us to this Stone House and you’ve stuck with us as we’ve turned it into our own. Some through the blog and others in real life, real time. Your companionship, encouragement and enthusiasm have been most appreciated.

‘You are never to old to set a new goal or dream a new dream.’

    - C.S. Lewis

It was back in 2014 when we got serious about focusing that somewhat fleeting daydreaming of ours into an action plan. We - this 60-something duo – decided it was time for a ‘final fling’, a ‘new challenge’, a ‘project’, before we got too old to have one. We’d accumulated many daydreams during our travels but kept coming back to the idea of. . .

Growing Olives Instead of Old

Last December 15th as we sat with the sellers, an array of others, (three attorneys, our realtor and the Notary) in the Notary’s cramped second-floor office in the nearby village, we moved that daydream into reality.
As vivid as if it were yesterday, we recall those pages and pages of documents being read aloud (a legal requirement here) in Greek and translated to English. Then payments (both for the home purchase and costs associated with it) were made and handshakes offered.

The purchase process that had taken months to get in order, was over in less than an hour. . .

. . .then, ‘but, of course’ as they say here, we all – buyers, sellers, realtor and attorney - went to the cafe next door for a drink!

Celebrating the sale

Finally, that Grecian stone and concrete temptress was ours – ten days before Christmas.  We’d  nailed that daydream  - the one that had slipped between our fingers earlier in the year -- and made it reality.

The Stone House on the Hill

Recalling those first few days, we’ve laughed at what a stark reality we’d purchased. It was rather a bleak stone house, both literally and figuratively. Cold (we ran out of fuel for several days that first stay – both central heat oil and wood), empty (we gave away most of the old well-used furniture and the new hadn’t yet been delivered) and rooms with gray stone accents around white ceiling, walls and floor that didn’t make for a warm and fuzzy feeling. With no television or internet – it also felt a bit lonely. That didn’t deter us from the vision we had for this place. . .

December 2014 - The Stone House on the Hill

As the days became weeks, and weeks stretched into months the The Stone House on the Hill has evolved into our Stone Home on the Hill. New furniture, paint and decorating touches and a bit of hard labor, by us and others (not to mention two cats who adopted us) made for some remarkable changes even with this part-time life we’ve had here.

One Year Later - Stone House on the Hill

Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes

Just as the house has changed, so have we.  This Greek adventure has moved us from our world, filled with family, friends and the familiar in the United States’ Pacific Northwest, into a dual existence – living two decidedly different lifestyles on opposite sides of the globe.

‘Let’s be honest. Retirement abroad is not for everyone. A totally new environment. Distance from relatives and long-time friends. Culture clashes. Health care issues. Language barriers. But it’s also possible to enjoy a higher standard of living at a lower cost in foreign locations of natural beauty, appealing culture and great charm.’

                                                                              -- Forbes.com

A neighbors night out 

By living part of the year ‘there’ and part ‘here’ we’ve enriched our lives with new friends; both Greek and other ex pats (from a variety of countries) and have neighbors who are friends as well at both of our homes.

During the months we’ve been in Greece, we’ve developed new daily routines and honed new and forgotten skills. We’ve gotten back in touch with the basics of our childhoods– stringing a clothesline, drying clothes on the line, washing dishes by hand, living without television, putting together the miniscule pieces that come in a box and turning it into shelves or coat racks or other items.



We learned to harvest olives - it is hard work!

Little successes are noted with pride; like learning bits and pieces of the Greek language. . .I know the days of the week and can count to six. We can both order wine and say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Vocabulary victories occur daily!

Two sets of friends from the Pacific Northwest visited us this fall. We explored areas and eateries, sharing quality, unrushed time together; proving as the old saying goes, that ‘the road to a friend’s house is never long’. . . okay, so the flight is rather long, but you get the idea!

As for ‘distance from long time friends and family’, as Forbes cautioned. . .well, technology has made that simply, nonsense.  Thanks to internet, Skype, Facebook and email, we are able to stay in touch with friends and family. My early 2016 calendar ‘back home’ is filling with social engagements and appointments that have been arranged while I am here in Greece as easily as if I’d been at the computer back there.

The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.
- Flora Whittemore

 

Opening any new chapter in life often means ending or modifying others. Our increased time in Greece required that I resign from a board of directors for a non-profit educational agency on which I had served for 15 years. That was tough.  It also sidelined my freelance writing for a time.

 

The Scout, who used to focus on the logistics of life (investments and finances among them) as well as finding travel deals from Seattle has had to expand his calculations to international finances, thinking both in dollars and euros. And I’ve written previously of how this base in Europe has given him a whole new candy-shop of travel options to research.

Dusk in the Village of Stoupa

We’ve discovered the joys of village life with its laid-back pace. As we get to know people in the area trips to town take longer as we must stop and visit, or give a quick hello to someone we know. We refer to businesses by the owners name, “Let’s go to Yiannis’ and Eleni’s tonight” . . . “Let’s see if Ellie has fresh calamari” . . .’'We need to stop at Dimitri’s for nails’.

Slow travel in The Mani

Our pace has slowed here – a stark contrast with life back in the states.

Our olive crop waits for the press

Little did we know when we purchased this home and its 15-tree olive grove how attached we’d become to this agricultural lifestyle. Harvesting our first crop of olives was an unforgettable experience. We are already looking forward to next year’s crop.

Dwell in Possibility.

         -- Emily Dickinson

 

We are looking forward to new adventures in Greece during our second year here and hope you’ll be back regularly to share them with us. We are off to Cairo this coming weekend so will have tales to tell from there as well as more stories from Greece in future weeks. Until then, safe travels to you and yours~

Some of you who’ve signed up to receive these posts in your email seem not to have gotten some of the recent ones, if you could take a minute and reply to this post, saying, “got it” we would appreciate it greatly.

Linking up this week:
Photo Friday
Travel Photo Thursday –
Wordless Wednesday
Our World Tuesday
Mosaic Monday –
Through My Lens

                                                                                          

The Americans in The Stone House on the Hill

We are known throughout the village as ‘the Americans’. Further clarification among the English who populate the area is: ‘the Americans who bought Barbara and Alec’s house’. To Greeks we are ‘the Americans in the house on the hill by Christina and Dimitrios.’ 

We are the house on the hill closest to the post in this photo

 

Our ‘big’ village, Ag. Nikolaos (St. Nick) and its tiny neighbor, Ag. Demitrios (St. Demitri) are so small, we don’t have a street address. In fact, it was just recently that the street (or maybe it is the area, no one seems quite sure) has been called “Kossova”. It might have been named for the person who once owned this land or for the once-owner of the narrow road on which the house is located. We only learned of the name because it was written on Christmas cards sent to the previous owners and we asked what it meant. (The Kalamata store owner who delivered our furniture used Google Maps to find us.)

We initially thought it was the name of the house. So far, the house has no name. But then it has no address, so guess that is fine.

The Scout strolls Ag. Nik waterfront near the fishing port

 

When ‘the crisis’ ( as they call their economic free-fall here) hit, the post office in Ag. Nik, closed. The mail is now delivered to Gregg’s Cafe, run by Gregg and his mother Frieda.  The mail table sits in the corner by the fireplace and is sorted by clothes pins that hold the packets together for each recipient. Yes, Amazon orders are delivered here as well. The cafe is the hang-out of English speaking residents – the Cheers-type place – where a conversation with one is a conversation with all.

So for any of you who want to try mailing us (and I have no idea the cost of postage to Greece) our address is:

Jackie and Joel Smith

Kossova (optional, as not anyone is sure what this is)

c/o Mani Messinias (this is the area and region)

Ag. Dimitrios 24024 (that number is important, we were told)

Greece

I am certain it will be news at the cafe when “the Americans” get their first bit of mail.