Moving to Greece was the best thing we have ever did. After living in the Med - Spain and Cyprus as expats, we finally decided we want to spend the rest of our lives in Greece, so we relocated to Greece. We are now living as expats in the beautiful Lefkada Island, Greece. We still travel in the Med for business. But Greece feels more like home than anything else.
Growing old in Greece... Being as close to this laid back lifestyle as possible... Being as close to the Ionian Islands as possible... Eating Greek food and fresh veggies... And finally sharing other people's stories on life as expats in Greece. Just launched a series of ex-pats living in Greece interviews.
Hi! We retired to Crete. It’s wonderful. I like to write and record music, and also for pocket money I maintain eight swimming pools. It’s a great life to retire to. Cretan diet, light and sunshine, no crime, and the loveliest people. I’ll never live in the UK again.
What a lovely lady and an outstanding interview . We can learn so much from other cultures . Slowing down , living more simply , being in community with others , not sweating to small stuff and being grateful is what Greeks do as a culture . I’d love this life and I applaud those that are brave enough to seek this fullness of life in Greece . Thank you for this insightful and well presented video .
Most commenters here overlooked the obvious: this lovely lady has plenty of means to live her dream in a Greek island, unlike the majority of native Greeks who cannot afford to vacation in their own beautiful islands. Her castle second stone house was built on the backs of poor Albanian immigrants who worked for very little. Their very existence in a small island such as Leykatha strained the local resources as they took away wages from the Greek economy even in a micro scale. This lovely lady could hire a local islander to teach her Greek and therefore contribute some to the island’s economy. Compare your financial means to this lady’s and then decide if “you should do it”.
Your point? The Albanians were under Maoism for 50 yrs so of course they came out poor. The Greeks vote for PASOK and ND since 1981, one more corrupt than other, guy who opened the borders letting the Albanians in is still politically active & well. So, is that lady to blame for all of our sins?
My point is that Albanians should have stayed in Albany and Greeks should wake up and protect their Greek sovereignty! It is irrelevant who in government opened the gates to Albanians and other immigrants. The Greek people voted them in power.” If you want an effective government vote the garbage out. Never accused the lovely English woman of having to do anything with Albanians seeking asylum in Greece and thus taking jobs from Greeks! Perhaps if she thought of contributing to the local economy of Lefkatha island she could have hired a Greek crew of masons to build her castle home.
@@PenelopeRigatos First, Greek stone masons have become a rarity nowadays, whereas Albanians are more availiable due to the fact of Albania (not Albany) having frozen in time for over 50 yrs. 2nd, you're assuming hiring the workers was in her choice and discetion. Don't. 3rd, since she's living there, then she does contribute to the local economy. Finally, I have the sense you live in the US yourself.
@@geogeo2299 it’s a shame Greek stone masons became a rarity; I suppose everyone wants to get a university degree nowadays Not sure what you mean by Albany having frozen in time for over 50 years; I’m not keen in following Albanian history. If the lady had a house built to her specs, she had control of the work and workers. I’m sure she contributes to local economy, after all she must eat; however during her 22 years of residence she could work up the motivation to learn more Greek than σιγά σιγά by hiring a local Greek teacher and that was no more, or less my point. I don’t see how relevant is in this discussion where I live? I did not ask, or am curious to know where you live. Since you seem to take issue with everything I commented on, let’s put an amiable end to this dialogue; it is not going anywhere.
@@PenelopeRigatos Well I have to tell you for the 2nd time, it's Albania, not Albany. Albany is a city in the state of New York, Albania is a country in the Balkans. This shouldn't be so hard to process. The issue with you is quite obvious. You criticize someone of not contributing 100% to the Greek economy while yourself do not contribute at all. You criticize her for not learning Greek, well I highly doubt you speak any of it yourself. Again, when she built her house she was still w/ her husband, so it's possible that it was him in charge of that task rather than her. I sincerely hope that all your arguments /questions are answered by now and I won't be having to labour back to this conversation.
When the Normans occupied Britain, all the old aristocracy got into 50 ships and came and found asylum in the Byzantine Empire, where the emperor of Constantinople2 behaved very friendly and gave them estates and a place in the Crimea, then Greek territory, to build their city.
It's very unusualy that you call the island "Lefkas", I mean don't get me wrong it's still perfectly legitimate Greek, it's just old Greek, nowadays everyone says "Lefkada" (with that very soft "da" in the end which kinda sounds like "tha"). Do locals still call it "Lefkas"?
He may be speaking English but his mannerisms and cadence of his speech- the slight way he jerks his shoulders, tilts his head, blinks his eyes are absolutely pure greek. What a great interview!
Well, I can ensure you that foreigners never become Greeks. Arabs in France do not become French, Chinese in Germany won't become Germans. I am a foreigner in Greece too, but although I am here for nearly 40 years I've not become a Greek. Of course there is some influence by the foreign country you are living in, but basic things will never change, unless you're moving somewhere in a very young age. The more differences there are between two countries the more difficult becomes assimilation. Now, Greece and its people were quite different 50 years ago. Nowadays differences inside Europe are getting smaller and smaller day by day. One example is traffic. 50 years ago, a driver who was violating the traffic rules shoutet at me: "Edo einai Ellada, malak....!" I've never heard this again so far. 50 years ago you didn't see Greeks going for a walk with a dog, nowadays I can see many. I am sure there are much more such examples, which show how Greece has changed. Not always for the better, but then not always for the worse. Gia sou!
Nonsensical. He never really embraced the Greek culture, he just went there on a whim and sort of a push by friends, and likes not having as many people around.
Very nice interview. I'm a 68 year old Brit and Swiss having lived in Switzerland for over 34 years. I was born in Cyprus and am currently learning Greek as my 5th European language. I am very tempted by the climate, landscape, sea, mentality and food of Greece or Cyprus. Most of my loved ones live a flight away, so it would only add another hour or so to the flights necessary. My only concern is that I live alone and would prefer to make such a move with a partner, if I had one. I don't want to move to a new country again without knowing anyone at my age. All the best, Rob in Switzerland
this story so relates to us .After years of holidays in Greece we now finally want to call it home. With retirement only 18 months away i am checking out as much as i can ,some of which sounds very daunting ! You video has filled me with hope enthusiasm and so much happiness of the next chapter in our lives xxx
I must say that I am totally in awe of this cool lady. She is so open about telling details of her life's journey that many people would not feel comfortable telling to strangers. I feel that I have gained knowledge that can benefit me in life because of her generosity of spirit in sharing life's lessons with others. Thank you dear lady for enriching my life. May the lord grant you many years
Dear Sir/Madam, I am INDRANIL DAS, from KOLKATA, INDIA, had been a software engineer of a MNC for last 20 years , under age of 48, wanted to re-locate here - Antikythera, greece . Can you be so kind that can share the LINK to apply for the same. OR , Please suggest the syeps to achieve this. FYI- I am a family member of a small family with men, women and a chidrmen. Thanks for help.
