It was a project that would take its toll in various ways, emotionally, physically and financially over the years. We’ve watched the exchange rates, carefully noting when they went up or down. And then, when economic uncertainties hit Greece and the worldwide financial crash hit, we wondered how long we could afford to keep flying to Greece and paying for the renovations. There is no doubt that Ogden Nash got it right when he wrote that ‘It takes a heap o’ livin’ in a house t’ make it home. It takes a heap o’ payin’ too’.

While the dream of a house on an Aegean island, with sunshine, warm seas and rural peace, is something many busy, driven, city folk long for, it’s not easily achieved. Land in Greece always belongs to someone. Even if you spot a ruined house on an empty block you’ll very soon find it belongs to absent landlords who are planning to return sometime soon.

It was Takis’ perseverance over a very long period that enabled us to buy the house. We spent two years exploring our options and then six more years (while renovating) before we managed to fully own his great-grandfather’s house. And then it took even longer to renovate. However, all this time the house has continued to be a magnet for us and has made the effort worthwhile.

It’s been not only a big adventure, it’s been a love story - one with a house at its centre. On Lemnos we’ve lived and laughed, cried and sweated a most marvellous romantic dream-house adventure. Have we allowed the house to become our master? This wouldn’t be surprising, for as Emerson says, ‘A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life; he is to furnish, watch, show it, and keep it in repair, the rest of his days’. And dealing with the needs of our house we’ve found, with so many others, this kind of old house renovation project is addictive.

However, it’s not a simple thing to uproot oneself each year and take on a project such as this on the other side of the world. Travel does not get easier, mice still find holes to enter an old house, and in addition we’ve found that the house is big enough for many guests, sometimes too many! But, when I grumble about these difficulties, my friends are quick to remind me about the romance, ‘You’re on a Greek island, for God’s sake!’ they’ll say, throwing up their hands in frustration. ‘What have you got to complain about?’

I think what we’ve most enjoyed has been the fact that we have been thrown back onto our own resources. There are only a few shops nearby and it’s hard to get what you want when you want it. This is a challenge Takis enjoys, for not being able to go to a large Australian tradesman’s centre, he has to find ways of fixing things himself. As for me, I like working at a slower, more organic pace. One has time to notice the scent of lemon and nutmeg when baking a homemade cake, and to become more aware of garden scents when making bags of lavender seeds.

Of course, no one can have missed the fact that this decade has been a tumultuous one for Greece, with enormous immigration and fiscal problems. Has the economic drama affected us? Of course it has. We’ve always been aware there were problems with the way the Greek economy was run. But like many Greeks, up until the crisis hit the newsstands in 2008 we’d thought, ‘It’s just the way things are in Greece’. Now we’ve had to face the fact that, as sojourners with a property in Greece, everything we possessed in the country has lost at least half its value.

There’s a saying in Lemnos that one cries twice when coming to the island. This saying may have originated from the time when the island was a designated place of exile, and folk would cry when they landed on the island, going there reluctantly, but often they would cry again when they left, as by then they’d fallen in love with the island and its people. It’s a saying I’ve also adopted, for there have many been times when I’ve come to the island grudgingly, and many times when on leaving I’ve walked around my Greek garden very unwilling to depart.

But, after each questioning period, we’ll always decide that we’ll keep coming - at least for a few more years. For while riots and street marches occur in the capital cities, on the whole these troubles have not greatly affected our island. Here life appears to continue much as it did when we arrived. The town still doesn’t have municipal sewerage, the bells still wake us at seven on Sunday mornings, and while a few shops have closed on the Agora, others have opened.

The time will eventually come when we have to leave permanently and there will be so many things we’ll dearly miss, especially those sounds that are completely lost in a big city: the music of cockerels calling early each morning, the chatter of young children walking home from school, and even those street sellers who blare out descriptions of their wares as they drive past each day in summer.

By Dr Julia Catton

neoskosmos.com

 

The first Periptero in Greece appeared at the end of the 19th Century, as a form of financial assistance to the war-wounded. At first, the only products sold in a kiosk were tobacco and newspapers. In the 50’s and the 60’s, kiosks also had telephones and as most Greek households didn’t have land-lines, they became very popular.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek City Times

Even though many people have made donations following the devastating wildfire in Mati that claimed the lives of at least 102 people last July, Antetokounmpo's really stands out.

On the occasion of the May 26 election the mayor of Pikermi-Rafina, Vangelis Bournous announced that the Milwaukee Bucks superstar has decided to finance the construction of a basketball court at a theme park of some 3,000 m2; the park will be established near Ble Limanaki and include numerous pioneering environmental activities!

The “Odontotos” railway in Greece, one of the few surviving cog railways in Europe, travels across the country and over and through its spectacular mountains.

People in many mountainous countries in Europe and beyond are used to cog, or “rack,” railways, trains which have been technically altered by the addition of cogs, or teeth, to be able to safely climb mountains.

Although Greece’s railway network is not massive, as it only connects its largest cities, the local train service between the towns of Diakopto and Kalavryta in Achaea, Peloponnese has its own, unique history and beauty.

Traditionally known in Greece as ”Odontotos,” which means ”the one with the teeth,” it once served as the main means of transportation for those who lived in the mountainous villages of the northwestern Peloponnese.

Now, the Odontotos serves as a popular tourist attraction, and tens of thousands of people every year go there to enjoy the beautiful landscape while they sit in comfort on this historic train.

The modern route runs for a total of 22 kilometers (14 miles) from the town of Diakopto through the famous gorge of Vouraikos and the old monastery of Mega Spilaeon, all the way up to the historic town of Kalavryta.

To read this article in  full, please visit: greekreporter.com