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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat
    Buckaroo Banzai's Avatar
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    My big fat Greek adventure

    Last Sunday we left Thailand in search of greener pastures and summer fan. Greece because I was born there , though I left very young and never reaaly lived there, but because of it I am entitled to Greek citizenship, and could buy (I was told we will see) into the Greek national helth system wich is supposed to be very good.
    So I solve the Imigration hussles problem, and the health insurance issues.
    We just arived here last Sunday afternoon, so we realy did not have time to do anything other than visit a couple of friends.
    We rented a small car for three months (Nissan March, Automatic, they call it Micra here) it was very inexpensive to rent 420 euros a month, but I am not crazy about the car, I will give it a few days to see how I like it and if I dont I will exchange ir fpr a Pugeot 208 or a Suzuki swift.
    ith the war in Ukrain fuel is very expensive here , about $8.50 a galon ($2.27 a litter) ,
    It cost me 100 euroes to fill up the car!!
    Everything else is relatively inexpensive. House rental for about $600 p/m outside Athens.

    Now I have to watch my weight because the food is heavenly.
    Last nights meal , 5 soulaki sticks a 3 servings of Greek fries 15 euros.
    My big fat Greek adventure-suvlaki-potatoes-jpg

    And nice Red sweet wine 7 euro a bottle .
    My big fat Greek adventure-fish-jpg

    A bit cold here now, We came early because my one year extension in Thailand was expiring and I did not want to renew it since we were coming here for Easter later anyway, so we came now.
    Picture from terace of place we are staying at, the white car is the rental. We are 5 min from the sea, but you cant see it now, because it's hazzy , I am told that they are having an issue with dust from Africa this week,
    My big fat Greek adventure-view-jpg

    Anyway we are getting ready to drive to the Peloponnese, to visit my btother who has a sumer home at Aigion, a two hour drive , and if we have time we will visit Kalavryta and take a ride on the mountain scenic railroad. Will post from there.
    My big fat Greek adventure-kalavryta-jpg
    The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up.

  2. #2
    CCBW Stumpy's Avatar
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    Good Luck with transition BB. New scenery is always nice

  3. #3
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    Endaxi! All the best, BB, it must be an amazing feeling to spend time in your birthplace.

  4. #4
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai View Post
    nice Red sweet wine
    ...I've never had a palatable Greek wine...though the tomatoes look lovely...

  5. #5
    In Uranus
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    Keep up with this thread, BB! Looking forward to your adventure!

  6. #6
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    Buckaroo Banzai's Avatar
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    Thank you all
    So we just made it to Peloponnesusm ans spesificaly Aigion which is not to far from Corinth.
    We are at a working olive grove Farm, with lemon and orange trees on the side.
    My big fat Greek adventure-lemons-jpg

    My big fat Greek adventure-aigion1-jpg

    My big fat Greek adventure-aigion-2-jpg

  7. #7
    Custom Title Changer
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    Absolutely beautiful! I'm looking forward to more! Thanks BB!

  8. #8
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    Apart from enduring military exercises on the mainland I have enjoyed the islands for holidays. I agree with your opinion on food and drink. Very satisfying, but the weight gain was something else.

    Enjoy and do keep up the travel reports.

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat
    Buckaroo Banzai's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    Endaxi! All the best, BB, it must be an amazing feeling to spend time in your birthplace.
    Yea indeed it is nicce! at least for a while. we will see.
    I speak pretty good Greek , that if I don't open my mouth too much, I can pass as a local, so it is nice to be able to talk to people again. One of my main frustration with Thailand was my inability to communicate at any meaningful level.
    And most everyone speaks at least some English , so not too bad for the wife also.
    I was born in Greece but left at a very young age , so I did not have much of a chance to experience Greece other than sort vacations, then just as I retired and had all the time in the world covid hit and put a kink in all our plans. So no it's a bit of discovery time for me, and a chance to reconnect with the couture.
    And ther is so much to see
    With 0ver 200 Greek islands, we can go to a different island every months and it will take us 18 years to see them all, then there is the mainland which has just as much to see, and close proximity to other European countries. It's exciting.
    Let's hope the situation with Russia is resolved soon, Gas here is over $8 a gallon. and it's beginning to reflect itself not only in driving, but in the price of everything else.
    But this is a glorious time of the year to be here. Not many get to experience as everyone comes here after May when it is warm enough to enjoy the sea. It is lush green and all the fruit, and ornamental trees are beginning to flower, fields are covered with chamomile tea flowers, free for the picking (will post a picture when I have a chance to take one later today)
    The place smells like heaven. .
    7 am here now and everyone is sleeping, after a lifetime of waking up 4:30 am to go to work , I can't adjust to retire life and sleep past 5 am .
    Grrr .
    I am sure many of you have the same issue.
    so I take this time to read the headlines on Google news. See what's new in my FB groups, and on TD. I have given up on the other forum as it has become too vanila.
    As soon as everyone wakes up, and we have breakfast, we will go out exploring.
    I will post what I find

  10. #10
    CCBW Stumpy's Avatar
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    Funny BB. The pics look like any ol country road anywhere. . I look forward to more pics of the area.

    As for getting up early, I always liked it, retired or not. Growing up on a farm you are up and moving before sun up. I could never sleep in past 7. That would be like burning a good part of a morning.

    Cheers.

  11. #11
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    Looking forward to more- cheers BB. How long are you planning to stay in Hellas?

  12. #12
    Making people dance. :-)
    Edmond's Avatar
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    Lovely.

    Gotta remember to research retirement in the Med when I've finally packed the kid off to Uni.

    Quote Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai View Post
    Nissan March, Automatic, they call it Micra here) it was very inexpensive to rent 420 euros a month, but I am not crazy about the car,
    Spent half a day in one with a cute real estate agent a few years ago. It was an awful, cheap, plasticy little toy Noddy car. Awful.


    Armstrong owns one.

  13. #13
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond View Post
    Gotta remember to research retirement in the Med when I've finally packed the kid off to Uni.
    After the Eastern seaboard and innumerable other locations...

  14. #14
    Thailand Expat armstrong's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond View Post
    Lovely.

    Gotta remember to research retirement in the Med when I've finally packed the kid off to Uni.



    Spent half a day in one with a cute real estate agent a few years ago. It was an awful, cheap, plasticy little toy Noddy car. Awful.


    Armstrong owns one.
    I'm 5'7". Normal sized for me

  15. #15
    Making people dance. :-)
    Edmond's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond View Post
    research retirement in the Med
    Quote Originally Posted by cyrille View Post
    After the Eastern seaboard and innumerable other locations
    Researching different locations in which to spend one's golden years..... the gall of it!

  16. #16
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
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    Posting endless brainfarts that you never follow up, and what would you be 'retiring' from anyway ... the comedy.

  17. #17
    Making people dance. :-)
    Edmond's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond View Post
    Researching different locations in which to spend one's golden years
    Quote Originally Posted by cyrille View Post
    you never follow up
    Though not far off, I'm not an ancient decrepit yet.

  18. #18
    Thailand Expat

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    Quote Originally Posted by cyrille View Post
    Posting endless brainfarts that you never follow up, and what would you be 'retiring' from anyway ... the comedy.
    A wasted comment as you both lack humour.

  19. #19
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Cool. A guy I watch almost daily for Ukraine war updates is from Athens and he walks around Athens during his videos. There seems to be a lot of graffiti in his part of the city.


  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    Cool. A guy I watch almost daily for Ukraine war updates is from Athens and he walks around Athens during his videos. There seems to be a lot of graffiti in his part of the city.

    He is ideally placed to misinform you then.

    Post on topic or bugger off dipstick.

    I hope BB can find time to update his travel thread. Sorry for the interruption.

  21. #21
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Switch View Post
    you both lack humour.
    You're dripping with the stuff, but it's all unintentional.

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Switch View Post
    Apart from enduring military exercises on the mainland I have enjoyed the islands for holidays. I agree with your opinion on food and drink. Very satisfying, but the weight gain was something else.

    Enjoy and do keep up the travel reports.
    I can think of worst places to be while in the armed forces. LOL

    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Looking forward to more- cheers BB. How long are you planning to stay in Hellas?
    It all hinges on if I am able to buy into the national health system, as I was told I can, but I will believe it when I see it.
    I can't live here long term without insurance, and private insurance is not an option because of the pre-existing conditions issues.
    So if I cant , we will stay here three months, If I can get insurance, we will stay six months and then we will go to the US and liquidate some property. No way I can maintain homes in three different countries and continents. Then we will do summers in Greece and winters in Thailand.

    Quote Originally Posted by Stumpy View Post
    As for getting up early, I always liked it, retired or not. Growing up on a farm you are up and moving before sun up. I could never sleep in past 7. That would be like burning a good part of a morning.

    Cheers.
    I know how you feel, best part of the day. Nice and quite and no one around to bug you



    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond View Post
    Spent half a day in one with a cute real estate agent a few years ago. It was an awful, cheap, plasticy little toy Noddy car. Awful.
    Just a stop gap solution , until we decide if we are going to make staying in Greece a long term thing. Once I know my Greek passport is approved, and I am able to secure medical insurance, we will buy a better car. but with gas prices being what they are , small city streets, and tight parking, a small car is a good choice here. Suzuki swift mild hybrid, is a nice car and priced right, I also like the Peugeot 208, the Renault Clio. and Dacia makes good cars I have been told that are reasonably prices. The Duster SUV, though not a small car looks interesting.


    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    There seems to be a lot of graffiti in his part of the city.
    I had a conversation about that, it seems to be the thing in a lot of European countries now days, they consider it art. I consider it an eyesore. Good news is that once you get out of Athens I have not seen any. Personaly I would be very pised if I painted my wall a nice color, and some Malakas came and did his " Art" on it .

  23. #23
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    Yesterday, we drove to Nafpaktos about an hour away. It was the site of a deciding naval battle against the Ottomans for Greek independence around 1821 and the location of an old for than harbor.
    To get there we crossed the Rio-Antirio bridge considered one of the world's longest multi-span cable-stayed bridges in the world and an interesting technological challenge because of the seismic nature of the location an the winds present at times. there are many documentaries done about it , below is a link to one if interested.

    My big fat Greek adventure-rio-antirio-jpg

    Finding parking near the harbor was a challenge, that's where what I sed concerning small car at another response came handy and we managed.
    I will post better pictures when I have a chance to download them from my wife's phone.
    My big fat Greek adventure-water-fountain-nafpactos-jpg

    My big fat Greek adventure-nafpactos-boats-jpg

    My big fat Greek adventure-nafpactos-port-jpg


    My big fat Greek adventure-castle-2-jpg
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails My big fat Greek adventure-castle-nafpactos-jpg  
    Last edited by Buckaroo Banzai; 07-04-2022 at 12:39 PM.

  24. #24
    Making people dance. :-)
    Edmond's Avatar
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    How lovely.

  25. #25
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai View Post
    Yesterday, we drove to Nafpaktos about an hour away. It was the site of a deciding naval battle against the Ottomans for Greek independence around 1821 and the location of an old for than harbor.
    To get there we crossed the Rio-Antirio bridge considered one of the world's longest multi-span cable-stayed bridges in the world and an interesting technological challenge because of the seismic nature of the location an the winds present at times. there are many documentaries done about it , below is a link to one if interested.


    Finding parking near the harbor was a challenge, that's where what I sed concerning small car at another response came handy and we managed.
    I will post better pictures when I have a chance to download them from my wife's phone.


    My big fat Greek adventure-nafpactos-port-jpg

    The finest outdoor eating.

    What's the weather like, has Spring hit properly?

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