Greek Life ~ Our Trip Around the Sun

No, you never see it comin', always wind up wonderin' where it went
Only time will tell if it was time well spent
It's another revelation, celebrating what I should have done
With these souvenirs of my trip around the sun  

                -- Jimmy Buffett, lyrics, Trip Around the Sun

Our village, Agios Nikolaos

Several times in the last few days we’ve remarked, ‘This winter certainly isn’t like last. . .’ or ‘Last year . . .” comparing the weather, or state of the garden or happenings in the village.  And each time, I’ve thought how amazing it seems that we’ve completed our first trip around the sun living in Greece; fulfilling the challenge we gave ourselves to ‘live differently’ while we were still able.

The Stone House on the Hill

In our case, for you new readers, that means in a home at the edge of an olive grove on a hillside in Greece’s rural Peloponnese.

(For regulars here, I promise more tales of our Arabian nights will be forthcoming as I am feeling a bit like Sheherazade with more from our Arabian and Indian travels than I’ll ever be able to tell you. But as the year comes to a close it seems a time to reflect on this trip around the sun of ours and life’s souvenirs we’ve gathered along the way.)

Winter “Wonder” land

Honestly, I’m not sure if I’d have bet money we’d make it as full-time ex pats at this time last year.

Stormy seas, stormy skies, stormy day in Agios Nikolaos

We moved into full-time ex pat life just weeks before the winter storms arrived and what a winter it was!  Weekly, it seemed during the month of December, the wind whipped down the gorges of the Taygetos Mountains, howling and shrieking; a wind strong enough to knock over potted plants while rain came down in the proverbial buckets.

At the time, if we were honest, we’d have to say we wondered what had sounded so appealing about this ‘living differently in Greece’ idea. . .

For a day, sometimes two or three we’d hunker down to avoid the nasty weather in our Stone House on the Hill even though it was dark and cold thanks to power outages caused by blown transformers or downed power lines.

Even with a roaring fire in the fireplace and candles scattered about, let me tell you, you can start going stir crazy in cold, dark houses.

‘It isn’t a normal winter,’ the locals would say.

‘Haven’t had power outages like this for a decade,’ long-time ex pats would say.

‘This is driving us nuts!’  we would say.

In January – as you regulars here know – we set off for our Hawaiian timeshare life and had I not had my cats awaiting my return I might not have come back and doubt if The Scout would have resisted.

Springtime Came Early

Kalderimi near our home in the Peloponnese

By mid-February though we were reminded that most of the time our area – best known for the groves of Kalamata olives that carpet the countryside here – is downright breath-taking in the spring and luckily spring comes early!

The countryside was covered in blooms and you may recall I wrote about taking outings on the ancient kalderimi, cobble-stoned roads that were built decades ago for hooved animals that linked the villages. (They lace the countryside here and are most popular with hikers and outdoor enthusiasts., If you are considering a visit, you might want to time it to see the springtime blooms and experience these roads less traveled. )

Spring was also the time we began in earnest planting flowers and vegetables in our garden. I had visions of the harvests I would have. . .

The sunflowers towered over me. I built bamboo frames (as they do here) for the promising tomato plants. Strawberries were going to be plentiful.

I would make jam.

I’d probably have to freeze some of the tomatoes.

I’d give away potatoes.

Yes, the promise of spring. . .

And then Came Summer

And with it the realities of that Mediterranean sun. . .these photos taken in July tell the garden story. No amount of watering (morning and night) nor the addition of shade (using beach umbrellas) could save the garden.  My harvest was humbling (it’s okay, you can laugh as even I can laugh now) and is shown in the bottom photo – a few garlic, tomatoes, almonds, and potatoes.

Summer realities in the garden

By August another reality hit and that was the loss of our olive crop to the pesky dako, the olive fly that has destroyed crops in Italy and France, and now is invading Greece. We had no harvest this year, nor did many of our Greek friends. Ours is a hobby, so was disappointing, but we could almost cry for our many Greek friends who have hundreds or thousands of trees and who lost their crops on which they depend for income this year.

Reality set in back in August

Many versions of ‘why’ exist but the most often given is that Spring's warm, wet weather also nurtured the fly’s eggs and thus doomed the crops.

Hot time in the summer in the villages

Crop failures aside, summer was a wild, wacky time in the villages.  Streets closed to traffic in the evening and taverna tables filled the roadways. We are so used to our American friends never having heard of our area, that we were stunned to see the hundreds of tourists who flock here every summer from other countries.  It was hot, but it was grand!

Autumn’s Arrival – how quickly it came

By this point in our grand adventure of living differently, we’d given up the idea of being homeless in America. We’d made it for almost a year.  We realized that boomer-aged people who have money in financial institutions and medical care providers in the US, and well, who have to deal with the government (Social Security and Medicare) really need a residential address in the U.S. Greek addresses (which we don’t even have) and Greek phone numbers just don’t fit in the forms (we were square pegs trying to fit round holes).

Another adventure in living: Manson, Washington State

Autumn brought a return to the U.S. so we could move our belongings into our residence we’d purchased back in July (it can be done from Greece) in Central Washington State. For now the home will serve as a landing pad when we visit, provide that much needed address, and be our fall-back plan and destination when the time in Greece comes to an end.

Winter Comes Again

December 28, 2018 Stone House on the Hill

Winter has returned to The Mani, this place where we’ve lived while taking that trip around the sun. This year storms have been few, temperatures are mostly spring-like.
 
Our trip around the sun has been filled with making new friends and creating ‘our world’ here, continuing to learn the nuances of a new culture, struggling to learn a Greek word here and there and planning for ‘next year’.

We will be reapplying for our resident permits in the spring and if granted we can continue on as full-time residents for another three years.

And you know?  I think we just may do that!

A toast to you on solstice in Abu Dhabi at The Grand Canal

Our wishes to you all for the Happiest of New Year’s and we hope your travels – whether in real life or armchair – take you to places you’ve always dreamed of visiting.  And our thanks for coming along with us on this journey and all the others on which you’ve joined us. We appreciate the support and cheerleading when we needed it and all the  kind words and comments you’ve made along the way.

Hope to see you back here next week and bring some friends along with you!!

Linking this week with:
Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday
Communal Global

Yes, Virginia . . .They Celebrate the Season

We’ve been walkin’ in a winter wonderland and rockin’ around the Christmas tree since setting out on our Middle East and India adventure nearly two weeks ago.  And that is certainly not what I expected to be telling you when we headed to Abu Dhabi on the northern coast of the Saudi peninsula!

Mural - Abu Dhabi

Over coffee one morning in Agios Nikolaos, the Greek village we call home, my American expat friend Marti and I speculated on whether or not there would be much evidence of Christmas in the Middle East. . .a place where you ski sand dunes, not snowy hillsides. Probably some on the ship, we concluded, but little elsewhere.

In a Winter Wonderland

Were we ever off base! First, it is winter in the Middle East. While we tourists from Greece (it is in the 50F back there) are basking in temperatures hovering at the low 80’s, department stores are selling coats, sweaters and woolen scarves. It is cold here for the locals.

More than once we heard the refrain playing in the malls, “Oh the weather outside is frightful, but inside it’s so delightful, let it snow, let it snow, let is snow.” And the malls had snowflakes hanging right along side banners of their ruler, the Emir.

Snowflakes in an Abu Dhabi Mall

The Festive Season

And the decorations sure looks like Christmas but here it is called The Festive Season. It comes complete with gaily decorated evergreens (Christmas trees) and even gingerbread houses.

Tree trunk goes up in Emirates Palace Hotel - Abu Dhabi

One of the largest seasonal displays we saw was under construction at the opulent Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The place showcases the Arabian culture and puts you in mind of a palace when you enter. Opening in 2005 it cost 3 billion U.S. dollars to build.

Gingerbread house construction at the Emirates Palace Hotel

The Dubai Mall, one of more than 70 shopping centers in this sprawling city, was playing holiday music and had displays up for The Festive Season as well.

The most beautiful displays we happened upon were in The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, India. I could have spent a day photographing its many scenes and settings in its common areas.

Lobby Taj Mahal Hotel Mumbai

And it was so nice to see it gaily decorated! On a cruise stop three years ago we visited the hotel and there was a lovely – but somber -- memorial to those who’d been killed during the terrorist attack there in 2008. The lobby definitely felt festive this week.

Lobby of the Taj Mahal Hotel

Sailing into the Holidays

As our cruise comes to an end this week many of our fellow passengers are making plans to go home, hit the deck running and get the festivities and decorations underway.  It has been fun though enjoying those throughout the ship – no muss, no fuss for any of us!

Celebrity Constellation lobby

Festive colors, festive scene and Christmas music playing in the common areas of the ship.

Decorations on the Celebrity Constellation

We’ll be home in The Stone House on the Hill for Christmas and thankful that we had a chance to experience The Festive Season during the month of December.  Good wishes to you and yours ~ whatever your season and whatever your holiday, we hope it is magical.

May it be magical

Thanks for being with us ~ as always we appreciate your time spent here.  Next week we’ll have more tales from Arabia for you!

Linking:

Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday
Communal Global
king this week with:

Afternoon on the Arabian Sea

It is mid-afternoon on a December Wednesday.  The navigation map on our television tells us that we are beyond the mid-point in crossing the Arabian Sea; our ship, Celebrity Constellation is closer now to India than Oman.

Our deck and view of the Arabian Sea

If you are a regular here you know that we set out last week to stretch our comfort zones by taking a cruise that began in Abu Dhabi and will end 10 days from now in the same Emirate.  I often get so ‘taken’ with the places we visit that I drop you right into the location and then many of you ask how we even got here from our rural village in the Greek Peloponnese.  So, today, as the song lyrics say, “Let’s start at the very beginning. . .”

Getting There. . .

Our flight from Athens to Abu Dhabi

We’ve not – aside from a few cruise ports of call in the region a few years ago – traveled much in this area of the world. The Scout  had to figure out the airline we’d use as well as where we would stay until boarding the ship (we usually arrive a day early ‘just in case. . .’ and that also gives us time to explore the area a bit.)

Arriving in Abu Dhabi we took a bus to the gate 

We flew from Athens to Abu Dhabi, a 4 hour 20 minute flight, on Abu Dhabi’s flagship airline, Etihad. There’s a daily flight between the two airports. With a two hour time difference between the two cities, our early afternoon flight got us there in the evening.

The aircraft, an Airbus 320 had comfortable seating in the economy section.  The meal (no extra cost) was one of the best we’ve had on an airline in a long time. I chose the chicken – very tender and moist.

My meal - Etihad Airlines

Yes, that is white wine in my glass above – also free if charge.  And I sipped it while flying over Saudi Arabia (the idea of which still feels real exotic to me) and I chuckled at the fact that I was getting caught up on one of my favorite U.S. television shows, Criminal Minds, while doing so!

Movies and television shows were available on individual screens

Maybe this exotic adventure wasn’t going to be so exotic after all!

Arriving Abu Dhabi

Entering the Emirate was simple, there were no lines at immigration. They took a photo of us as part of the entry process – slick, smooth and easy. And yes, everyone speaks English!

We had received -- several weeks prior to our departure -- a letter from the cruise line and one from the travel agency where we had booked the cruise warning us about bringing drugs –  the prescription kind – into the UAE. They are strict and e prescription drugs have a protocol set out for review and approval. We were nervous that our over-the-counter vitamins and cholesterol drugs might raise eyebrows so I had them in original containers in the carryon bag and brought only the number of pills we will consume while traveling . . .and no one even mentioned drugs!!

Marriott downtown Abu Dhabi

We were each allowed to bring a bottle of alcohol into the country (in our checked bags) and that is the same amount allowed to be brought on board by the cruise line.  We had no problem bringing two bottles of wine. However, it was readily available at the many bars that were found inside our hotel, the downtown Marriott.

Our Junior Suite - bigger than The Stone House on the Hill

Those customer loyalty programs do pay off!  We’ve stayed loyal to the Marriott brand and have finally reached a level where the benefits can be startling, like being upgraded to a junior suite in Abu Dhabi (we could have entertained far more guests here than our home in Greece.)

A room with a view - Marriott Abu Dhabi

The morning after our arrival we opened our curtains to this view of the city - ceiling to floor windows that gave us a window on Abu Dhabi. But we were ready to explore further and had one day in which to do it! Next time I’ll show you some of the city’s magic. . .and believe me there is plenty of magic in this part of the world!

Grand Mosque - Abu Dhabi

Thanks for being with us today ~ as always we are thankful for the time your spending reading our blog! We’ll be back soon with more Middle East tales and hope you’ll join us.
We are linking up this week with:

hrough My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday
Communal Global
Best of Weekend

Setting Sail on the Arabian Sea

'Bizarre travel plans are dancing lessons from God.'

                                   --Kurt Vonnegut

If that is the case, then it is time to put on the dancing shoes!

We are going on a cruise next week. Admittedly, that in itself isn’t anything too out-of-the-ordinary but the routing may strike some of you as a bit bizarre: we are cruising in the Middle East.

We had booked a similar cruise back in 2016 but got lazy and switched to cruise closer to our Greek home. We flew to Rome and sailed to Athens. But this year it is time to stretch our comfort zones.  We'll fly from our gateway airport, Athens, on Etihad Airlines, (national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ) to. . .

Abu Dhabi

Just let that roll off your tongue: Ahh-Boo Daah-BEE. Reminiscent of the mid-century cartoon character Fred Flintstone’s call of Yabba-Dabba-Doo, just saying Abu Dhabi makes me smile!

Abu Dhabi, with a population of 1.8 million in 2016, is the capital and the second most populous city of the United Arab Emirates. It is capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the largest of the UAE seven emirates. This modern city can trace its history back to around 3000 B.C.

Celebrity Constellation will be our home at sea

In doing our pre-trip research we read that Abu Dhabi has a 'more distinct Arabian ambiance' than nearby Dubai.  We’ve given ourselves an extra day prior to the cruise to do some exploring on our own. I’ll let you know if we agree with the claims of more Arabian ambiance or not after we’ve had a chance to experience both.

We’ll board an old favorite ship while in Abu Dhabi, Celebrity's Constellation (or ‘Connie’ as many former cruisers like to call her.) She’s been refurbished since we last sailed on her in 2016, so in many ways it will be like being on a ship that is new to us.

Store display at the Dubai Airport

Dubai

When we set sail on the Persian Gulf  we’ll be heading for Dubai, the modern city that travelers who've been there tell us we’ll likely hate or love. There seems to be no in between for this ultra sleek neighbor only 93 land miles away from Abu Dhabi.

Dubai, with 3.14 million population this year,  is the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates.  It is the capital of the Emirate of Dubai.

We have booked a balcony room again as we don't want to miss any sights 

Up until a few weeks ago I have to admit the only thing that came to mind when I thought of ‘Persian Gulf’, was Operation Desert Shield, the war of the early 1990’s. Back then this part of the world was in such conflict that I didn't think we would ever -- in this lifetime -- travel here. So the idea of actually sailing on the Persian Gulf has me dancing a happy dance.

Sea days are one of our favorite parts of cruiseing

One of our favorite parts of cruising are those lazy days at sea. With the call of the sun, sea, and a good book we easily laze away our afternoons at poolside. Mornings will be spent in the ship’s gym as we are both missing our workout routines we had back in the States so it is high on our list of sea-day activities!

We’ll have three of those carefree days as we cross the Arabian Sea heading to . .

India

Fishing nets at Cochin, India

Our introduction to India was aboard a cruise ship four years ago. We are delighted to be revisiting two of the ports we visited then, Cochin and Mumbai, as well as adding Goa and Mangalore to the list on this cruise.  It will be a rapid-fire tour of the four as we have only one day in each port, but we’ve always considered cruising to be the appetizer of travel: we get a taste and if we like it we go back for a larger serving at a later date.

Holy man at a temple - Mumbai, India

We’ll have a couple more sea days to rest up from our travels in India then make a stop in

Oman

C

Covered from top to bottom and with bare feet I could enter the mosque

This time we’ll be heading to Muscat instead of Salalah as we did on an earlier cruise.  I have to tell you that when I talk of stretching one’s comfort zone, this is a place where we did just that!  It was hot – an intensity of heat that finally gave reality to the phrase white heat. It hurt it was so hot. And it was definitely a different culture and way of life. So much so, that we are eager to have another look at another city and see if we have the same reaction as last time.

Then we’ll sail back to Abu Dhabi and after a night on board the ship there, fly back to Greece just in the nick of time to celebrate Christmas here.

We are eager to expand our explorations of the world and this itinerary is an intoxicating blend of Arabian Nights, Lawrence of Arabia and Jewel in the Crown, don’t you think?

Again thanks for the time you spent with us today and we hope you’ll come back for more tales of travel. We’ll be back next week – hope you will as well! Until then, safe and happy travels to you and yours ~

Linking up this week with:
Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday
Communal Global
Best of Weekend

Greek Expat life ~ The Week of Thanks-giving

Thanksgiving Day comes by statute, once a year;

to the honest man, it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.

       --Edward Sandford Martin, American journalist/editor early 1900’s

The Stone House on the Hill - Peloponnese, Greece

Being American ex pats living in the Greek Peloponnese we are often asked how we – or if we - celebrate Thanksgiving. The American one that is; the one celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving 2016

This Thanksgiving will be our third in Greece. 

In the two previous years we’ve joined with other American ex pats for home-cooked meals with a lineup of tasty dishes similar to those served back in the States. 

Here, since we are hours ahead of the United States, we don’t start the holiday by flipping on the television to watch Macy’s Thanksgiving parade wind through New York City; the opening act for American-style football which provides the rest of the day’s entertainment. 

(For those who missed earlier posts about our lifestyle, we don’t have a television. Even if we did, football games, if we could get American feeds, would have a kickoff between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. our time.)

  

Without Thanksgiving television traditions our celebrations with fellow American ex pats here have been centered on comradery and conversation – either tales of past Thanksgivings or tales of ex pat life -- while feasting away on what is a regular weekday for our Greek neighbors and friends.

Autumn task of making olive twig bundles for the fireplace

Tuesday afternoon while I was busy with my autumn chore of making fire-starter bundles for our fireplace from twigs of olive branches, I was thinking of my friends in the States who’d likely be cooking, traveling or decorating at a frantic pace in preparation of Thanksgiving Thursday. I suspect there is quite a contrast between my activity level and theirs.

Then Wednesday morning instead of racing between kitchen and grocery store as I would have been doing in the US life, we went for a stroll through the old part of our nearby village, Kardamyli, and surrounding olive groves.  The most cooking I did was to start a pot of soup for the evening meal.

A view of ancient Kardamyli

Holidays specific to the U.S. such as our Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Thanksgiving call out for celebration as they are so ingrained in our habits and culture. I can almost hear my father asking, “It would be pretty peculiar not to celebrate it, wouldn’t it?”  

Ancient Kardamyli

Yet, when the rest of our New World is going about its regular and routine business, it does seem a bit. . . well, peculiar, using my dad’s word, to be going about a celebration started in America in 1621 by pilgrims who were giving thanks for the blessings of the harvest in their New World.

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving, the fourth Thursday in November

a national holiday back in 1863. 

While researching this post I found a number of countries that have their own celebrations of  Thanksgiving including Canada (second Monday of October), Germany, Japan, Korea and Liberia. The latter, Liberia, a tiny country on the West African coast, was settled by freed slaves 1820’s – 1865 and it is thought they brought the American custom of a Thanksgiving celebration with them to the new country they founded.  

Stathi, the owner, makes dinner at the Pigi Taverna a feast any night

When you think about it, we feast quite often in Greece. An ordinary dinner eaten at one of our local tavernas is usually a feast and when gathered with friends, it always seems somewhat a celebration.  It gives rise to the idea, as the opening quote in this post suggests, that  a day of thanks giving need not be limited to a single day around these parts -- nor do feasts and celebrations.

British and American ex pats celebrate Easter 2018

While the Greeks don’t have a specific day labeled as Thanksgiving, they do have a word that sums it up:

Thayer's Greek Lexicon:

eucharisteō

1) to be grateful, feel thankful

2) give thanks

An autumn sunset from The Stone House on the Hill

This year we are doing it differently. No planned ex pat gatherings. No home cooked meals. Frankly, we don’t know where or what we will eat on ‘Thanksgiving’ Thursday. The unknown destination  and undecided route are among the joys of 'living differently'. (We do know it is supposed to be sunny and 70F-degrees, however!)

If you are among those celebrating the American Thanksgiving we send good wishes to you for a happy holiday and hope you are surrounded by family and friends!

There is also no better time than Thanksgiving to give thanks to all of you who’ve taken the time to read our tales.  We are so pleased we’ve gotten to know so many of you and look forward to meeting even more of you as our travel paths cross.

Wishes for continued safe and happy travels to you all. See you back here next week!

Linking up with:

Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday
Communal Global
Best of Weekend

All Who Wander (Wonder) Are Not Lost. . .

'All who wander are not lost.'

          -- J. R. R. Tolkien 

Greek islands in the sun - roads to wander

And I believe all who wonder are not confused. They are likely – in both cases of wonder/wander – simply expats like us with enough time on their hands to indulge in such past times.

Wander – to move in a leisurely, casual way

Wonder – desire to be curious or to know something

The path to Mystras

We’ve been doing a bit of both this fall and in thinking about it, we’ve not been alone in pursuing wanders and wonders. Within our small circle of expat American friends here – all of boomer age -- we have a couple who celebrated a birthday by spending a week wandering the backroads of Tuscany on their own. Another duo is off on an Arctic Circle cruise and exploring Northern Europe. Yet another couple has left this week for Egypt.

‘Little by little, one travels far.'

        --- J.R.R. Tolkien

Like us, they recognize that this chosen lifestyle is a launch pad to new adventures on this side of the Atlantic.  Flights to new destinations in other countries take a matter of hours instead of days; the costs of such flights are affordable.

Wacky, windy roads in the Peloponnese

For closer to home trips we head out on the wacky, windy roads that make up the Peloponnese or board Greek ferries to explore the many islands that make up this new adopted country of ours.

Hopping a Greek ferry - a favorite wander

All of us retired boomers have the time to wander and wonder but actually giving ourselves permission to do it seems somehow tied to expat life.

Often times wonder and wander are what we discuss when ex pats gather for long-leisurely coffee klatches, a drink at sunset or meals together.

Wine and wonder-lust/wanderlust

It was over breakfast recently that a fellow expat chuckled as she said she’d spent the better part of a Saturday reading up on the Amendments to the American Constitution.  “I’d probably have never done that back in the States, but I did over here.”

Today I wandered away from writing this post to research J.R.R. Tolkien after I came across a few quotes of his to use in it.  I wondered why I hadn’t read more by him before. This Englishman, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, best known for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was not only a writer but poet and philosopher and a university professor.

Roads to wander in the Greek Peloponnese

'It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit.’

                      -- J. R. R. Tolkien

Don’t get me wrong, we expats still have plenty of daily chores to do and sometimes living in a foreign land makes for even more chores than had we continued our comfortable lives back home.  (Sometimes those chores make us  ‘wonder’ why we wanted to ‘live differently’ in the first place.)

A garbage stop is a routine chore around our village

Yet, there’s no one among the expats we know that hasn’t recognized the fact that someday the adventure will likely end or at least change: ages, health (mental and physical), and even Greek ex pat requirements may require us all to change our approach to ‘living differently’.  But until then, we’ll continue our wonders and wanders.

'All we have to decide is

what to do with the time given us.'

        -- J.R.R. Tolkien

That’s it for this week from The Stone House on the Hill.  For those back in the States we wish you a happy Thanksgiving week and to all of you, our thanks for the time you’ve spent with us.

We sincerely hope your future wonders and wanders take you to some delightful places. We’ll be back next week ~ hope you will be here as well!

Linking up this week with:
Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday
Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday – 
Best of Weekend