Postscript

The trailer for the movie ‘Mamma Mia’, much of which was filmed on location on Skopelos during the final month of our stay, is now here:

The Last Post

Yesterday, November 11th, was the one-year anniversary of our arrival on Skopelos. Those of you who have been following our adventures have some idea of the ride we’ve had.

Our belongings arrived last week, briefly delayed because US customs decided to X-ray our container, but obviously didn’t think the three mysterious big square metal cans, carefully wrapped in several layers of plastic and wedged to sit upright in sealed and taped plastic tubs, worthy of further investigation. We were relieved. Twelve gallons of virgin Skopelos olive oil should last us a good while.

Our belongings finally arrive

We’ve been opening boxes and setting up our house out here. It’s very different to Skopelos, and with the coincident anniversary, this seems a good time to close this blog down. We are emotionally and spiritually richer from having lived our Aegean Dream, but there are deep hurts also, especially for the wonderful friends we left behind. We miss both Skopelos and our friends very much and wish the outcome could have been different. But we’ve started work on the novel of our story, and are serious about finishing it.

This blog was never made public: only a few dozen of you ever had the URL (address). In the 15 or so months since we started we’ve racked up 104 posts, 334 comments, and about 7,850 page views. Thanks, everybody!

We also want to once again take this opportunity to thank all our dear friends and family who were there for us when we really needed them, and whose support and generosity made a very difficult situation manageable. You know who you are, and we won’t forget it.

But since no story ever really ends, we’re starting a new blog in tune with our new home and the lifestyle here: our thinking is to make it quite different to Aegeandream, with more frequent, shorter, quirkier entries. Video and text, things that strike us as funny or interesting, links, photos, video clips, and general Americana. That blog is up and running now, and it’s titled Way Out West. Click on the link and be sure to bookmark it. We’ll have fun with this one!

Love always

Linda & Dario

Free Halloween Story at Shimmer magazine

My friend Vylar has a wonderful little Halloween story up at SHIMMER magazine – it’s short, and great fun; take a break and read it.  Just click on ‘Something Wicked This Way Plumbs’. It’s a freebie, but of course you can subscribe to the magazine if you want to.

Settling In

My last post brought the following insightful comment from our faithful reader Mary Robinette Kowal: “It is really shocking how American everything looks in these posts. I’m so used to your posts about life in Greece that these are truly jarring. I hope your transition is smooth.” 

That got me thinking a good deal.  Was our transition smooth?  Should I be more disoriented than I am?  Was I reporting facts rather than feelings, something we did a fair amount of on our blog entries during our roughest days in Greece (ya don’t want to bum your readers out).  Well, the transition was surreal.  The waking-dream effect of the week-long jetlag probably helped soften the shock of return; the pleasure of seeing friends and overcoming the problems of shipping, Linda’s illegal residency status, and the like, ditto.  Besides which, Linda and I are both very adaptable.

But the appearance of things? I thought about the pictures I’d posted from Willits, and why: and though the scenery does look very, ah,  un-Greek, those pictures — the red barn, the little town park, even the Willits arch with obligatory flag — show what to me are true, enduring, and even beautiful aspects of the west, an America that isn’t that far from the land that was settled a century and a half ago.  It may not be the historic, ancient land we left, but there’s still beauty and power aplenty in the land here.  And given I’m primarily a visual artist, the aesthetic of my surroundings is very important to me.

That said, we have both felt deep pangs of nostalgia for Skopelos.  We miss our friends there.  I miss walking every day and not being dependent on a car.  I miss the harbour, and the cafes and bars, and my daily walk up past the cemetery, past the stinky goat pens, through the olive groves and out to the high sea views up above Glyfoneri beach before looping back down to the ring road and home.  I’m sad that I won’t get to pick horta greens again, or play chess with Tasos over a beer in his shop, or hop on the ferry to visit Brigitte on the island next door,  or drink a little too much tsipouro by the woodstove at Gorgones on a freezing winter night, or swim in some of the clearest water in the whole world.

Life’s a bitch, then you die.

Onward.

The first ten days in our new apartment have been very reminiscent of those early weeks in Skopelos, camping on an air mattress with a few borrowed pots and pans for the kitchen.  You want space?  We’ve got it.  No echo here though, because we’re carpeted, so the somewhat eccentric behaviour we confessed to on this very same blog a year ago has not recurred. 

Actually we’ve been too busy to spend evenings standing in the corners of echoey rooms singing to one another after playing endless games of Canasta.  Linda has had lots to do at her new job, learning a whole new accounting system and getting up to speed on the business and the people.   I thought I’d have some down time until our belongings arrived.  When I contacted Warmboard, however, I found they’d  got unexpectedly busy in the design department.  Work, for goodness’s sake:  Joy!! 

But although Linda had the foresight to bring the software with us, our desktop is still somewhere on the high seas and my old laptop won’t run AutoCAD.  Panic, dismay!!  Spent a day scrambling to rent a loaded laptop and eventually found one in Ukiah, twenty miles away.  Of course, when I got it home I found that AutoCAD 2006 wouldn’t run on Windows Vista.  So back to Ukiah to swap it for a laptop running XP, and this time it loaded and ran perfectly.  A few sessions with the ever-patient Rob at Warmboard walking me through the customizations, and I was able to jump straight back in to some much-needed work.

So the last week has gone quickly.  We love our new apartment — it’s small, but extremely neat and clean, and unusually tasteful for a rental.  We have a guest bedroom and a garage with fully finished walls, so I’ll have room for a small workshop as well as a clean, dry space to store the overflow of belongings, which are due to arrive in Oakland this coming Saturday.  It’ll be nice to sleep on our bed again, and to have our books out of boxes. 

Now if only I could shake this sense of deja vu.

Dario

Willits 101

Welcome, folks, to Willits 101! (European readers: in the US college system, a primer or starter course in a subject is always designated ‘101′, e.g., Math 101, History 101, etc.).  And while California’s famous highway 101, which runs the length of the Golden State, goes straight through the town and is called Main St. for a mile or so, this also happens to be the 101st post in our blog — an appropriate coincidence for a new beginning, wouldn’t you say?

The Willits arch on Main St.

 

North Main St.

 

Willits Community Park

 

Early morning mist (locally termed ‘fog’) covers the town

We’ve had a hell of a week. Linda started her new job on Monday morning and seems to be enjoying it a good deal, though she comes home a little glazed over from the intense learning curve of a whole bunch of new protocols.  She is now accounting supervisor at Metal FX, a manufacturing company which, among others things, makes the Warmboard product.

Coming home is the wrong term though, as she’s actually been returning every evening to the Willits Super 8 motel, since our new home wasn’t ready to move into until yesterday.  A week in a motel — even a nice one — is trying, and we’re SO GLAD to be moved in! Of course we are once again camping, just as we were during our first week in Greece; our belongings are currently in a container probably nearing the Panama canal, and not expected for another fortnight or so.

Morning fields

As American as apple pie — the archetypal red barn

Willits itself is a nice town: small (pop 5,300), beatifully located among stunning rolling hills and forests, in the heart of Mendocino county.  Far enough north that the eucalyptus and palms have given way to giant redwoods and spreading oaks, the surrounding countryside is green, rugged, and quintessentially American. More what you’d associate with neighbouring Oregon than California; hot summers and cold, wet winters are the norm here, and we’ve seen some good rains this first week.

The population of Willits is mostly an interesting mix of young and old hippies living side-by-side with pickup-driving, deer-hunting good ole boys. Marijuana growing is something of a local tradition and the city– in direct opposition to Federal law — allows residents to grow up to 25 pot plants on their property! For personal medical use, of course.

All you need is love

Dario

Next: Our new house, and what I’m working on

 

Back to the Future

Well here we are back in California. Wow. A few mornings ago, I experienced my first attack of acute longing for Skopelos. Thought of all our friends there, and wondered if and when we’d see any of them again.

On the positive side, our re-entry to the American reality has been eased by the astonishing kindness and generosity shown to us by our friends here. We had no less than five or six of offers of places to stay and cars to borrow while we got ourselves organized and prepared to go to Willits. So with the use of Juliette and Tim’s Subaru (thanks SO much!), we were ready to rock.

And — damn! — but rock we did. Within three days of arriving we’d bought cellphones and service, bought a car, obtained insurance, and rented a house. Mind you, we hadn’t actually SEEN either the car or the house before we signed on the dotted line, but both transactions involved friends, so everything worked out okay. We actually got a fantastic deal on the car — a 2002 VW Passat Wagon with only 32k miles on the clock — so huge thanks to David who found it for us, and to April for driving us around at high speed so we could get everything tied up before the bank closed!

One thing we hadn’t expected was that Charles, one of my oldest friends from the UK, would be visiting the Bay Area while we were passing through; he was actually visiting Barbara, Linda’s sister (they’ve been email pals for several months) and stayed at her house; Linda and I spent some days there, and further time with our dear friends Scott and Gretchen — thanks so much to you all for the hospitality!

Our second weekend back was blessed with such delightful weather that we actually got to go out wakeboarding.

Splashing the Boat

Charles had never done stupid things on the water before, but under Scott’s tutelage did actually get up out of the water the first time and ski along holding onto the boom — way to go, Charles!

We didn’t tell him how COLD the water was!

 

 

Charles gets the feel of the board

As a reward for his courage, he got to drive the boat back — doesn’t he look happy!

The following day, we went out for a long hike along the disused road that winds from Martinez along the west side of the Carquinez strait to Crockett. Amzing views, and a nice preview of how fast nature will reclaim territory after we’re all gone.

Hiking on the Old Crockett Road

Dario

In our next episode: Willits, and back to reality!

Farewell to Greece

Well, our belongings are finally on their way. My journey to Thessaloniki with Tasos went well, and we had as much fun as anyone traveling all night on a ferry and loading a couple of tons of boxes into a steel container can. The highlight of our adventure came when, after we’d just disembarked at Thessaloniki and were driving around at 4:00 a.m. wondering what the hell to do until 8 a.m. , Tasos had the brilliant idea of spending a few hours at the Platinum Club, a fairly tasteful strip club and pole dancing joint. Don’t ask.

Thank you Tasos for being such a terrific friend, and for helping us get everything back home! We’ll miss you.

Our last week in Greece was truly bittersweet. Two of our dearest friends from California, Lois and Richard, arrived on the 19th. We’d been looking forward to their arrival for months, and their visit lifted our spirits during our final week.

Lois and Richard arrive in Skopelos

They arrived on a gorgeous day, but the weather was forecast to break the next day. So we settled them in the cottage adjoining ours and took off to our favourite beach, Milia, in the tiny rented Fiat and spent all afternoon playing in the water. In the evening we had dinner at the little waterside taverna in Agnondas.

Richard with Linda and Lois — no wonder he’s smiling!

The weather did indeed turn blustery the next day, but we made the most of it, starting at the old Venetian castle at the harbour mouth and walking the entire village in a wide, jinking ellipse, up stairs and cobbles, along the narrowest lanes, and back down to the harbour in the late afternoon.

That evening we were all invited out to dinner by the Balalas family to share their soon-to-be son in law, Stathis’s, name day: on the Greek calendar, September 20th is dedicated to St. Stathis, and in Greece one’s saint’s day is considered more important than a birthday. So after aperitifs and sugary dainties at the Balalas’s home, we adjourned to Angelo’s taverna at the end of the harbour.

Dinner on St. Stathis’s day (Spyros’s sisters at left)

The meal consisted of plate after plate of mouth-watering lamb cooked in at least three different ways, accompanied by the usual variety of side dishes. We were dining outdoors under a fairly rigid plastic canopy, and toward the end of the meal the weather broke in a dramatic thunderstorm.

Summer on Skopelos is finally over.

The farewells were hard. I’m starting to think that it might be better sometimes just to tell people you’re leaving, fudge the date, and then melt quietly away. Brigitte; Ilias and Sonia; the Balalas family; Nora; Keri; Tasos; Nitza and Dimitri; Sue; Barbara and Ken: too many goodbyes, too many friends whom one may well never see again. Still, Tami and George live in Reno, NV, for brief periods, which should make it possible to get together once in a while.

The rest of the week in Skopelos went by fast. We showed our friends a few of our favourite places, ate and drank well, and did a lot of celebrity-spotting; the filming of the Mamma Mia movie was in its final days and Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, and Pierce Brosnan seemed to be everywhere. Our last night in Skopelos saw us at the table next to the Brosnan family!

The four of us were due to leave for Athens on the 7:15 Flying Dolphin on Monday, but strong winds canceled that option, so we didn’t get to leave the island till afternoon. When we ran into Mr. Brosnan and family on the same Flying Cat, we began to wonder if they were stalking us…

We took advantage of our day in Athens to take a bus tour to the temple of Poseidon at Sounion, on the southernmost tip of Attica. A breathtaking drive along a coast lined with upscale resorts where the wealthy Athenians play and there you are, on a rocky headland surmounted by one of the most stunning ruins of antiquity, overlooking the gulf of Corinth on three sides. The location is dramatic, and one can’t imagine NOT building a temple to Poseidon in a place like this.

Approaching Sounion along the coast

At the Temple of Poseidon on our last day in Greece

A final, fabulous dinner with Lois and Richard, and next morning it was all over. Athens airport at eleven a.m.: the brave defenders of the Greek border at passport control give Linda a minor grilling for overstaying her permit. Linda speaks to them in Greek and shows them her talismanic, cat-ate-my-homework, get-out-of-jail-free letter from the mayor of Skopelos himself. After a brief exchange during which it becomes apparent that neither of these uniformed children will assume responsibility for so critical a decision as to whether to fine or detain a potentially dangerous American subversive, they call their superior and read him the letter. A moment later, the rubber stamp comes down on Linda’s passport with a satisfying thump, and we are on our way. Our adventure is over ten and a half months after it began, and another adventure is just starting. Watch this space.

Dario
(ps – our internet connectivity is going to be very spotty over the next two or so weeks, but by mid-October we hope to be regularly online again and showing you the latest from Willits, California)

The New New Plan

The Artemis Ranch

Linda Relaxes on the Artemis Terrace with the Million-Dollar View

After a week of well-earned rest and our friend Brigitte’s wonderful hospitality at the Artemis spread in Alonissos, our time in Greece is coming to an end.  Richard and Lois arrive on Tuesday the 19^th, and after five days in Skopelos we travel with them to Athens for a final day and night on the town.  They will then fly back to New York, and Linda and I to London for 48 hours to visit my family.  After which we board the big bird to the Golden State, returning on September 28^th, just two weeks from today and almost eleven months after we left.  As Chuck Berry famously put it in ‘Promised Land’,  

Swing low chariot, come down easy,

Taxi to the terminal zone,

Spread your engines and cool your wings,

Let me make it to the telephone. 

And after that? Well, we intend for one thing to continue with this blog!  The story isn’t done yet, though we’ve begun the book – seriously!  Second, though our original plan was to head to New Mexico, a freak chance brought Linda a job offer in Northern California (actually her second job offer since news got out that we’re returning!), and she has accepted.  So we’re returning to the Golden State, though not to Santa Cruz county or the Bay Area.  We will instead be moving to the small town of Willits in Mendocino county.  About 2.5 – 3 hours drive north of San Francisco, Willits is located in the heart of the redwoods, a gorgeously scenic area about 30 miles inland from Fort Bragg on the coast, not far north of the wine country.  We both always loved this area, and are excited at the prospect of living there, and of once again having dear friends just a few hours’ drive away.  

Stick with us, friends, and watch for more adventure to follow! 

Dario

In The Between

Status: we’ve moved out of our house and are living a few days in the Milos (old mill tower) on our roof while we pack up the workshop.  All our belongings from the house are packed and loaded in Tassos’s truck ready to be delivered to shippers in Thessaloniki on September 17th. 

As you may remember, we were despairing becauseour shippers in the US could absolutely not find anyone in Greece willing to do the Greek end of the shipping paperwork; at the eleventh hour, Tassos stepped in, made a few phonecalls to friends in Thessaloniki, and got us not only someone to handle the paperwork but also a container direct from Thessaloniki at a great price.  The US end will be handled by our shippers in Oakland, who went half out of their minds trying to deal with the bastards at the Greek end.  (Thanks so much for your efforts, Isaac!)

As soon as we’re fully packed and loaded (probably Friday), we’re going to Alonissos, the neighbouring island, to relax a few days with our friend Brigitte before I head up to Thessaloniki with Tassos to load the container.  Then back to Skopelos to meet our friends Lois and Richard for a few final days.

We’ll post more pictures soon: in the meantime, forgive spotty email and blog replies, as we’re relying on the Internet cafe.  Thanks so much to all of you for your thoughts, wishes, and absolutely awesome support. 

Dario

The Top Five!

Linda Speaks

As promised, the Top Five reasons we are leaving Greece:

5. Dario Still Doesn’t Have Residency!

So! If you are an EU Citizen, supposedly you are entitled to residency in any of the other EU countries. Dario did all his paperwork, which included an identification number, six photographs, paying into the Greek retirement system, lung x-ray, several trips to the police station, stamped translation with several copies of his passport, copies of his birth certificate, copies of our lease showing he has a place to live, and several trips to the KEP office. After assurances from everyone that everything was all AOK and Dario just needed to stop by the police station and pick up his residency card, it seems the Greeks have changed to a new type of card, which of course is not available in Skopelos yet. So, after nine months DARIO, AN EU CITIZEN DOESN’T EVEN HAVE RESIDENCY…..and of course, the officials have no idea when the new residency cards will be available. Oh, and heaven forbid if we had wanted to buy a car……you can’t do that without a residency card!

4. It’s Not Just Us!

When we first arrived at our island paradise, we assumed our modest grasp of the Greek language, being new to the system and having a lot to learn was the majority of our problem. We have since realized that Greece is simply crazy. We found some interesting statistics……(yeah….found them a little late I know….) Out of 175 countries, Greece ranked 109th overall for its ease of doing business - right between Nigeria and Malawi. How Greece made it into the EU I will never know. Just for fun, here is a sampling of the difficulties friends and acquaintances have had:

• We know an American couple who have been trying to get their residency for 5 years. Oh, BTW…..her father was GREEK!
• We have a dear friend, an EU citizen, who has lived here over 20 years….I can’t even begin to tell her stories. Suffice to say I have never met a braver, stronger woman.
• We know a native Skopelitan who waited for over five months to have an electrical connection made. Meanwhile, his daughter didn’t get paid by her employer for over three months. Come to find out…..this is pretty standard. The Greeks don’t pay until you force them to.
• We know a British woman who spent 20,000 Euros to get access to her property. Of course she was assured, in writing, that access wasn’t a problem when she bought it. Doesn’t matter.
• We have a Greek friend, who received a permit to open and run a bar. His neighbor didn’t approve and filed a complaint every night. This friend eventually had over 200+ tickets because of the feuding neighbor and eventually paid someone to go down to the local jail every night to deal with the citation. His question? Why did you give me a permit for a bar if you won’t let me have it open?
• We know another American woman who managed to get a one-year, renewable residency permit. She received it the day before it expired. It only cost 6,000 Euros.
• We know a Greek man, who had the same name as another Greek man who did not complete his mandatory military service. Never mind that the officials realized the mistake shortly after arresting him, he had to wait for a military trial. He spent 3 months in a Greek jail.

3. I need a job.

2. We really miss our family and friends.

And…..the number 1 reason we are coming home…..

1. THE TOILET STILL LEAKS!!!