Month: June 2021

We have not decided yet where in Greece we want to live. We have a wish list, and a plan to visit some regions in the course of this year. We, would like to have made our final choice made by the end of 2021.

We would like to have the sea (Els) and mountains (Bart) nearby. Fortunately, this is not a difficult combination in Greece.

No big city, that is clear. If you would choose a big city around the Mediterranean, for us Athens is not the place to go. The uniqueness of Greece does not lie there. Thessaloniki is a lot more pleasant, I (Bart) am a fan, but it is situated a lot further north and therefore colder in winter.

On the internet you can find detailed climate info of the different regions, which we have already studied extensively. If we say that climate is a reason to move, then we want to select well on that.

It will not be an island either. I (Bart) will need an international airport nearby to be able to travel occasionally for work. The only airports that really qualify for that are Athens and Thessaloniki. That also makes Crete difficult. You have charter flights in Crete from April to October, but in the winter you have to go to Athens before you can fly on.

And there are other things to look at. Many of the tourist coastal towns in Greece are deserted during the winter. In some places, literally no one lives: everything closes down on 1 November, shutters are boarded up, shops and restaurants close for 5-6 months. If you look for a place to live, it is important to choose a place where there is also life in winter. We also want to be somewhere with a town or city nearby with some facilities. A hospital three quarters of an hour away is different from, say, a two and a half hour drive, even if the latter is as idyllic as the former. It is also good to have people around for Els when Bart is away on business.

So the shortlist at the moment:

– The Mani on the Peloponnese. On the map it is the middle one of the three fingers that stick out at the bottom of the peninsula. The region between Kardamyli and Agios Nikolaos. We stayed here last year in November for about 4-5 days, and we liked it very much. Between 2,500m high mountains and the sea, southern, a super climate. With some tourism and expats, but no high-rise buildings or mass tourism, and a charming architectural style that is maintained in the region.

– Also on the Peloponnese, Messinia, the region between Koroni and Pylos in the south-west. On the map the left one of the three fingers at the bottom of the peninsula.

– The island of Evia. Closer to Athens, connected to the mainland by a bridge in Chalkida and ferries in the south and north. That is what we want to explore on our next trip.

Last week we were in Messinia to explore the area, next we will go to Kardamyli, in the Mani, for another week to compare. But we already know: choosing a region will be a luxury problem. There is no lack of beautiful places!

In the wild-idea-phase (which especially Bart suffers from) there is no lack of destinations: back to Sri Lanka? New Zealand? Fiji? Els is more down-to-earth and wants to stay close enough to allow for easy contact with the children and other people back home. We agreed a few years ago that our destination must be within Europe, that’s the limit.

Because we are looking for a better climate, we have to go South, towards the Mediterranean Sea. Greece is a little less known in Belgium, except for the islands. But the Greek mainland is unique. It is very varied: most of it is mountainous, and Greece also has 13,000 km of coastline. This gives an endless variety of microclimates and landscapes. Almost 11 million people live in Greece (about the same as in Belgium) on a surface area of 130,000 km² (4.3 x Belgium). But about half of the population lives in and around Athens, and another 800,000 around Thessaloniki in the north. The rest of the country is sparsely populated. This makes for a unique country in terms of nature and landscape. Often breathtakingly beautiful, a different landscape behind every corner, some almost deserted regions. Here you can drive around for years to visit beautiful places.

There are also beautiful Greek towns, but unfortunately that is not the standard. Greece is not Italy where you can visit town after town and walk between Roman, medieval and 19th century palaces over and over again. The heritage in Greece is much less well preserved, cities are often dirty and full of uninspiring concrete buildings. You can’t have it all.

What they do have in Greece is a good feeling for beautiful locations. Ancient Greek temples but also more recent buildings are often located in places with the best views. The villages have a relaxed Mediterranean atmosphere. A taverna with a terrace by the sea, local wine, vegetables, and fresh fish or meat, where the menu does not matter but the cook comes to discuss what he has that day. Honest, fresh, tasty cuisine.

Of course, life is much more than climate and beautiful surroundings. We are social beings and need other people. In that respect, too, we like Greece. We experience the Greeks as very friendly, helpful and hospitable. This certainly has something to do with the Greek traditional value “filoxenia”, literally translated as “friend of the stranger”. Filoxenia is translated as “hospitality”, but it is more than a custom or obligation to do things selflessly, it is a genuinely warm attitude from which helpfulness comes.

I also like the Greek philosophical reflections and discussions that are part of life, even though sometimes there are more words than deeds. For sure something is correct about the cliché of the Greek as a bon vivant. Greeks are also collectively allergic to rules. This is a country of anarchists, who, wherever possible, circumvent the rules or make their own. It causes some chaos and is the cause of many things not working, but at the same time it has its charm. We are not blind to the difficulties, and we will certainly be regularly frustrated as West-Europeans by things that do not advance well. We see the two sides of the coin, but we trust the equilibrium will be OK.