Home for the Holidays

On a chilly mid-December evening, the brightly lit boat across the harbor was a clear reminder that the festive season had arrived.  I say 'festive season' -- not Christmas -- because the illuminated boat was erected to honor the real Saint Nikolaos - not Santa.  

Agios Nikolaos - patron saint of sailors

Saint Nikolaos is the revered patron saint of sailors in Greece. For that reason, villages traditionally display a decorated boat to honor his December 6th birthday. Many keep the boat on display throughout the month making it the community's holiday centerpiece.

'Tis the Season in Agios Nikolaos

The spectacular blue and white boat is new in our village this year. Provided by the Municipality, as our regional government is called, it is the first such grand decoration we've had in the decade that we've been here. It has unofficially become the symbol of this year's holiday season. 

A decade ago, manger scenes were the village decoration

During our first few Christmas seasons here, villages, including ours, displayed a manger scene, similar to the one above that I photographed several years ago in the village of Kambos. Over the years, the manger gave way to a decoration or two on a light pole; one year a star, another a small boat.

During our first few Christmases here, we found decorations, wrapping paper and ribbon to be scarce. Kalamata, our big city to the north, was the place to search for such items.  But the times are changing and now our local supermarket has devoted a good amount of space on both of its floors to Christmas items ranging from large artificial Christmas trees to themed salt and pepper shakers, toys and gifts. 

Shelves of decorations at our local supermarket

We know that along with Christmas items comes Santa. We think back again to the early years here when the village children awaited a visit from Agios Vasilis (Saint Basil) on New Year's Day as he was the one who brought a present to reward those good little boys and girls. Santa seems nowadays to have materialized as the season's lead character. The one pictured below maintained a Santa's house on the Main Square in Kalamata for weeks before Christmas.  Maybe if they are lucky - or very, very good - Greek children now get presents from both.

Songs being sung for Santa Claus in Kalamata

Thankfully -- to our way of thinking -- the glitz of Christmas hasn't yet overtaken the villages. Christmas Eve morning we spotted two groups of children, traveling minstrels they were, out singing Greek kalandas (carols) in the village. Hopefully they will return on the morning of New Year's Eve as well. While their efforts are usually off-tune, they spread good cheer and hope that maybe small coins or sweets will be offered for their melodies.

Singers at our door, a few years ago.

Aside from that brightly lit boat, there are few decorations - certainly nothing like the bright lights and displays of Athens, Thessaloniki and other large cities. There are decorations though and we've been lucky enough to spot a few as we run errands.  The one pictured below is near a small roadside shrine just outside the laundry in our neighboring village, Stoupa.

And one morning we came across the understated but seasonal decoration of oranges and pomegranates below hanging between two buildings in the village of Kardamyli. 

Good to eat and a great decoration as well

In Stoupa the Municipality has replaced the small lighted boat on a light post with a gigantic star that lights up at night overlooking its harbor.

Stoupa's star, is a backdrop for visitor's holiday photos

Here, we are Home for the Holidays

It is here; we are home for the holidays again this year.  And being home for the holidays takes on a slightly different twist when you are an expat living in a country not your own.  

Kalamata decked out for Christmas

Being in this new environment has gotten us out of the holiday routines we had perfected over the years.  Here we've blended new behaviors with some of the traditions we brought with us from our old world. 

Maybe one of the best things about holidays here is discovering how easy it is to enjoy them. We gather with friends on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas morning no longer worried that they will be busy with family commitments as was the case back in our old world. 

As cliche as it may sound, the expat friends have become an extended family of sorts.  

Our gatherings are unhurried affairs, stretching for hours.as there are no longer those self-imposed deadlines we attached to the holiday before. We are free to enjoy the time together. It makes for a very laid-back and relaxing experience.  

Christmas morning tradition, photo 2022 - not as warm this year

This year our expat friends from California hosted a happy hour at their home on a stormy Christmas Eve. It was such a relaxed affair that we ate, drank and made merry without regard to the passing of time or the storm raging outside.

By morning the weather had calmed enough we could attend another gathering of many of the same friends at the beach cafe near our home. This beach gathering just 'happens' each Christmas morning as there is no event organizer. We all show up at some point in late morning for coffee and conversation. It began so many years ago, that no one really remembers who started the tradition. 

Christmas dinner in the village

While back in the old world, the traditional cooking of and consuming prime rib with all the trimmings pretty much filled our Christmas Day. Here our developing tradition is to feast at one of our local eateries.  

Second Chrismas 2024

And here the day after Christmas is also a holiday, referred to as 'the second day of Christmas' unless you are a British expat and then it is Boxing Day.  A morning coffee in the village, a few minutes gazing at the ocean, a lazy afternoon and evening . . .home for the holidays, we certainly are!

Our holiday wishes to you and yours! We hope that whatever your season or celebration, that it is a good one.  And may your 2025 be happy, healthy and filled with travel, be it real or armchair!

Until next time, thanks for the time you spent with us today ~

 

  

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays                                                                                        Cause no matter how far away you roam                                                                                                  When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly face                                                                                      You can't beat home sweet home.

Going that Extra Mile

For decades the area of Greece where we live - the Peloponnese Mani --may have been one of its best kept secrets.  Primitive roads that led over the towering Taygetos Mountains deterred even the most determined travelers.

Taygetos Mountains a backdrop to the Mani

Long-time locals tell of the hours it took to navigate that harrowing route between Athens and Kalamata. 

The road to our slice of the Peloponnese

Nowadays those heading our way -- either driving rental cars or riding a bus -- travel on a modern four-lane divided highway from Athens to our Kalamata in about three hours. 

Long distance bus travel is popular here

We even have seasonal flights arriving at Kalamata's International Airport from Athens as well as a dozen or more European gateway cities.

Agios Nikolaos, Mani's gem of a fishing village

Yet even with the ease of getting here, we have accepted the reality that many of those who say and who've said for years that they will come visit 'soon', 'one of these days' or 'someday' will likely never make it to our bit of Grecian paradise.  

But some have been serious. They have gone the extra mile, both literally and figuratively, this last year to pay us and the area a visit. They've traveled thousands of miles to reach Greece and then made it a point to get to our village. I've told their stories in Facebook posts as the visits happened; today I wanted to introduce them to you:

Broken and Bruised They Came

The winners of this year's 'going above and beyond' effort to get here are Hanna and Hakan from Washington State. We met 'Dr. Hanna' (as we still call her) two decades ago when she operated an in-home veterinarian practice in Kirkland and cared for our Fur Kids. We've stayed in touch via Facebook and she and her husband were among those who said 'someday' and meant it.   

Love these two and their 'will travel' attitude

They planned to be here the last week of October, right after a bike (the pedal kind) tour in Albania. Four days before their scheduled arrival Hanna contacted me saying they'd crashed their bikes and were being treated in a hospital for breaks and bruises. No, she assured me, they didn't want to cancel the visit here, they just needed to delay their arrival by a day.  

Doctors Melina and Hanna - angels at Hades

With one in a cast and the other in a sling, we changed plans for outings but got in several good visits and toured the area. I'd long hoped that our Dr. Hanna and our current veterinarian, Dr. Melina, would get a chance to meet during that visit. I've often described these two professionals as being 'angels on earth'. I had my hope fulfilled as evidenced by the photo above! 

From Mexico to Mani

We've known our friend Dita since we met in a small fishing village called Bucerias, Mexico, just north of Puerto Vallarta, in the 1990's. We were all homeowners in that small village. . .now, oh so many decades ago.

A toast in Nafplio to a long friendship - and her visit

Our friendship has lasted through all the changes that come with the passing of time. Mexico became a memory for us all. She is another who said 'someday' about Greece and meant it.

Last spring she and a girlfriend took time out from exploring Portugal and Spain to fly to Athens, then travel to the Mani.  We did a road trip with them through our area of the Peloponnese (not realizing at the time that our curving, climbing, roads were not among their favorite things). They were great sports though. Our time together passed too quickly, but Dita says she will return - and we hope she does! 

Facebook Friends come to Visit

Back sometime before COVID turned the world and travel upside down, Suzi, who lives in Australia, and I were planning to meet during a future trip of hers to Greece. She and I had met on some Greek focused Facebook pages and quickly became FB friends.  

From Australia they came and we are so pleased they did!

Then COVID shut down Greece in what we thought a pretty severe manner. It was nothing compared to the shutdown of Australia.  But still we communicated and promised each other that one day we would meet. (I suspect we each wondered if we were kidding ourselves.)

But this fall it happened - we enveloped each other in bear hugs in the big parking lot of Agios Nikolaos and took up the conversation as though we'd seen each other a week before.  I know there are many out there who don't see a value to Facebook, but I am ever so thankful for it as I have some pretty amazing friends now as result of meeting on that social media platform!

From Australia and Canada - new friends!

Suzi and her husband, Norbert, are among them!  We had lunch, we met for drinks, we dined together and laughed together during the time they were here. Their time in the area overlapped with that of our Canadian friends, Mark and Angie (another friendship that came about thanks to this blog and continued via Facebook).  The two couples met over dinner in the village with us and it was if we'd all known each other for years. The best part is that everyone is returning next year!

Church in Milea, a village tucked into the hills near us

It wasn't until after Philanthi, who lives in America's southeast, and I became Facebook friends a couple years ago, that The Scout and I were to meet her dad, Nikos, who lives in Milea, the village just a few miles from us. 

Philanthi and I pose with our husbands

Although Philanthi visits here regularly, I doubt if we would ever have met had we not connected on one of the Facebook pages devoted to life in Greece. We commented on those pages, then personal messages led to our Facebook friendship. 

During a visit to see her dad, she and her husband, The Scout and I finally met this fall.  Again, a greeting, a hug and we started chattering as if we'd known each other for years - thanks to social media, I guess we have!

A hug from Nikos always makes my day!

As for her dad, Nikos: it turns out we all frequented the same restaurant for years. We officially met the next time we were all at that restaurant thanks to Philanthi cluing us all in about each other. He is a delightful nonagenarian, who'd lived in the U.S for some time before returning to live in his ancestral village a few miles away. 

 I should add that Nikos is a Facebook friend of mine now as well!

Agios Nikolaos at night

My Facebook friend George and I have brought to life the phrase 'small world'. He and his wife live in Eastern Washington State - a hundred miles or so from where The Scout and I have planted our American roots.  It is unlikely we would ever have met there.

As this small world story goes, George and his wife are coworkers of a cousin of mine. Apparently one day while on the topic of Greece, my name came up. . . that led to the blog, Facebook and a social media friendship. 

George wrote that they were coming to explore Greece, as they ponder the idea of someday living here. During that visit this fall we finally met face-to-face. George, his wife and his dad made a trip to the Mani as part of their trip to Greece.  

Sunday with George, his wife and his dad

Again, as with Philanthi, and Suzi, we began with introductions and hugs in the village parking lot, then launched into non-stop chatter until they had to return to Kalamata.

All these friends, having gone the extra mile, are among our year's highlights. We thank them for the effort they made to get here and for the joy, laughter and conversation they brought with them. Hopefully, their stories have inspired those of you still thinking about it, to take the leap in the coming year. 

Wherever you go, we wish you safe travels and opportunities to make new discoveries and friends.  Until the next time, thanks for being with us ~