A Holiday Holibob

 'Tis the season in jolly ol' Greece. 

Downtown Athens goes all out at Christmas.

Christmas is just a countdown away and Greece's larger cities are decked out in their holiday finest. Being a country where 81- 90% of the population identifies as being Greek Orthodox, Christmas, like Easter, is a major event.

A December storm churns the water in our harbor.

Christmas comes during winter in the southern Greek Peloponnese, the place we've made our expat home. While the seasons' characteristics are different here from those in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, we definitely have four distinct seasons. 

Our Greek Christmas is being heralded in with a kaleidoscope of changing weather:  rain and windstorms, sunny days and downright cold nights in the low 40F, or 4.4C. So, we humans are also decked out for the season: sweaters, neck scarves and coats. 

Minimal decorations that first year in Greece!

We celebrated our first Christmas in Greece in 2014, within days of purchasing our Stone House on the Hill.  The village celebration was low-keyed. Decorations were minimal. And they were minimal in our rather empty house as well. 

Since that first Christmas here we have watched the holiday celebration and merchandizing pick up momentum primarily in the larger cities. Some big city store displays went up in November and rival 'the over the top' gaudiness of those in the United States.  

Christmas Agios Nikolaos 

Still 'the reason for the season' remains at the forefront of the holiday and many Christmas traditions are alive and well. In many villages, like our Agios Nikolaos, the decorations remain minimal. The photo above of the star at harborside was pretty much the extent of our municipal decorations a couple years ago - this year, even the star is missing. 

Kalamata our holibob destination

So, it was time, we decided last week, for a dose of big city Christmas and we set off for an overnight. . . 

 Holiday Holibob

Kalamata, the vibrant port city on Messinias Ba y

A holibob is a slang British term used to describe a short holiday or a getaway as we Americans would likely call it.  It perfectly described our overnight away from home in Kalamata. 

Kalamata is the second biggest city in the Peloponnese and getting bigger every day. We go there often for shopping, appointments and repairs. . .but we seldom take time to enjoy all the things that make it a popular tourist destination.

Kalamata's working waterfront lined with accommodations and eateries

Kalamata has recently been featured in numerous travel publications, blogs, vlogs, reels and writings since a conference of travel writers held last May drew 300 content creators to town and blew them away with its charms! Being a part of that gathering and seeing it through the eyes of visitors helped make it our holibob destination of choice.  

Waterfront gets decorated

One of the loveliest of Christmas decorating traditions in Greece is the lighted boat, the Christmas Boat, which pays tribute to the country's maritime heritage.  Kalamata proudly has one of the largest lighted boats on its bustling waterfront.

Kalamata's jewel in her Christmas crown

Just a few blocks inland, the towering Municipal Christmas tree is the centerpiece of the city's pedestrian-friendly shopping area.  The lighting of the Christmas tree took place a few nights before we were in town and drew hundreds of spectators. The ceremony's climax was an enormous silent fireworks display - done silently in consideration of children and animals. 

Decorated storefronts lined the streets of town

Storefronts still exist and line the streets of Kalamata. Retailers have turned the area into a winter wonderland. The pedestrian shopping area is lined with eateries and coffee shops, offering space heaters for sidewalk tables this time of year. Each place was so inviting that it was difficult to choose which one to visit.

A great spot for people-watching

  

Heaters were in use in the patios.

We ended up inside at one of our favorite lunch spots and found it transformed into a most vibrant cocktail bar in the evening. Luna Lounge is housed in one of Kalamata's heritage buildings that survived an earthquake (which destroyed much of the city) several decades ago. Local lore says it was once home to a popular Speakeasy. Alcoholic beverages are now legally sold there, and its popularity continues. The place was packed.

Luna Lounge, housed in a heritage building, once home to a Speakeasy.

Greek traditions don't have St. Nick, or Agios Nikolaos, being the giver of gifts.  Agios Nikolaos is honored on December 6th - as the patron saint of sailors and seamen.  Instead, it is Agios Vasilis, (St. Basil) who brings the gifts to good little boys and girls on New Year's Day.  

But we couldn't help but notice that a jolly fellow in a red suit had taken centerstage near the Christmas tree this year.  He was inviting me into Santa's House, when I snapped this photo:

Santa in his Kalamata Santa's House

Fully satiated with Christmas spirit we headed back home less than 24 hours after we'd arrived. We'd feasted, toasted and immersed ourselves in a big city Christmas.  It was great fun and a change of scenery, but as we sipped a cappuccino at harborside one morning after our return, we decided sometimes a holibob really serves to remind you just how spectacular home is - even without a lot of decorations. 

Agios Nikolaos on a December morning.

We thank you for the time spent with us today and send sincere wishes for holiday happiness to you and yours.  May you enjoy whatever holiday you are celebrating and if you aren't celebrating a holiday, then wishes for a happy day! Safe travels to you - hope you'll be back again and bring a friend or two with you!

Too Old to be Expats?

At almost 101, she is probably the oldest expat in the area.  

She is the expat I want to be 'when I grow up'.

I am not naming her because her name isn't as important to this tale as is her age.  She is simply living proof that quality time lived as an expat need not be age defined. 

Agios Nikolaos, our expat world

Just last week I saw her studiously bent over her latest needle work, chatting away with her longtime friends at a weekly crafter gathering in the village. A couple years ago, while seated next to her at a fundraiser she kept me entertained with her stories, . . . well, until the band started playing and she headed to the dance floor! 

Three birthday cakes, a party and many friends as I hit 70!

Although not as spry as she once was, I think of her as the poster child for the 'aging expat'.  And since becoming a septuagenarian last July, I now qualify as both 'aging' and 'expat'. 

So, finding someone 30 years my senior is gratifying as I ponder the question: Can one be too old to be an expat?

'It's only a number,' chided my just-turned-50 expat friend, as my tongue swelled in July when I attempted to say my age. Saying '70' in Greek (ev-do-MIN-ta) and English (s-s-seventy) continues to be difficult. When I can't wrap my head around something, I usually can't wrap my tongue around it either.

Coming of Age in Greece

Celebrating the purchase of our home with its former owners 

'Are we too old?' we asked ourselves as we debated the pros and cons of buying a home in Greece a decade ago.

Getting those first residency cards!

'Are we too old?' we asked ourselves again, a few years later, when we pondered becoming expats in Greece.

To think, that was back when we were mere 60-somethings!

When we decided to take the plunge, we reasoned that when we were 'too old' for the expat lifestyle, we would likely move back to the States. At the time we didn't think about how to define 'too old'. Instead, we set up 'age gauges'.

Our stairs would be an 'age gauge' we reasoned.

For instance, when we were no longer able to navigate the flight of 30-steps we climb between our Stone House on the Hill and our car, it would be time to pack up and move on. Thankfully, we still climb those stairs regularly, but now we talk about the logistics of a sloped sidewalk through the garden alternative when the 'time comes'.

Olive harvest equipment replaced us!

Olive harvest has been another 'age gauge'. When we couldn't actively participate any longer, we'd say, 'it just might be time to. . .,' never really completing the sentence. Well, thankfully our hired crew is so mechanized, that we no longer play much role in the hard part of harvest, so that gauge is out the window. 

In the blink of an eye, we are 70-somethings

We know that the unconventional lifestyle of an expat doesn't ward off the pesky signs of aging. We are now 70-somethings and despite the claim that 70 is the new 50, our bodies often dispute that after a walk home up the hill on which we live, or a day spent working in the garden or grove! 

We probably do sound like 'old people' when reminding friends who've been saying for a decade that they were coming to visit us in Greece -- that it might be time to schedule that trip. But seriously, time could be running out. Even living a Mediterranean lifestyle, the longevity factor in Greece is 80.2, roughly the same as that of the European Union. (And that is better than the US, where it is only 77.5 years).

The Elderly Expat

Expats of 'a certain age' set off on the sea

The expat and Mediterranean lifestyle combine to keep us far more physically and mentally active in our Greek world than we are in the States. Expats of 'a certain age' here are pursuing any number of activities, among them: gardening, swimming, biking, hiking, trekking, traveling, socializing, and participating in volunteer activities.  

Expat friends of 'a certain age' at lunch in the village

I like that phrase, 'a certain age', possibly inspired from a similar French phrase, that puts a person in a pleasant holding pattern of sorts, 'not still young but not yet old'. It, like Mae West's, 'You are never too old, to become younger', are far more agreeable to me than 'elderly'. The World Health Organization defines elderly persons as 60 or older. 

Spring hike on a kalderimi

If that is the case, then there are a lot of elderly American expats scattered about the world. Of the approximate 10 million American expats, (U.S. State Department statistics) about18 percent, or 1.8 million, of us are 61 years of age or older. 

The ability to live as an expat isn't defined by chronological age alone; we all know that health, mobility, and mental attitude have much to do with the quality and quantity of life regardless of where one lives.

Too Old or Not?

In researching this post, I came across a hodge-podge of thoughts on age, three of which I felt worthy of repeating:

How old is too old?

First, according to a survey by TD Ameritrade 73% of women and 59% of men felt that 70 IS the new 50, based on the fact that we are living healthier and longer lives. (It didn't list the ages of those surveyed though.)

Second, American writer, Anne Lamott, in an opinion piece for the Washington Post titled, "Living on Borrowed Time,' made me laugh: 'Getting older is almost like changing species, from cute middle-aged white-tailed deer, to yak. We are both grass eaters, that that's about the only similarity.'

Short, shorter. . .vanished?

But if was an article on aging by fellow septuagenarian Robert Reich, an American political economist and professor, that provided a new perspective on the question I've been pondering. He cited a study that said: after age 60 one loses a half-inch in height every five years.  And that gave this once-five-foot-tall writer, a whole new perspective on being an aging expat. If I live long enough, I just might vanish. Then I won't need to figure out if I am too old to continue being an expat!

That's it for this week from sunny, but chilly, Greece. 

So how about you?  Have you reached 'a certain age' that now influences travels or expat adventures? Share your thoughts via comments or email.

As always, thanks for the time you spent with us today - hope to see you back again. . .bring a friend with you!