… and So the Adventure Begins

Greece – April 2022

  • Athens Dreaming

    FEBRUARY 27, 2022: I had never considered Greece as a place I would like to visit — especially not with the idea of perhaps calling it home for retirement. But when an article, written by Lynn Roulo of International Living came across my desk, with a title of “Retire to Greece On $1,000 a Month”, it became an interesting possibility. And the more I explored Greece online and through Lynn’s newsletters, the more excited I became. Traveling, following two devastating divorces, had once again become possible, and what better destination than an amazing country that many of my friends would like to visit.

  • Athens from the Air

    This may be my first view of Athens from the air preparing to land at Athens’ Airport

    MARCH 18: When I get to Greece, I don’t know what I am going to do other than what I have done all my life — go with the flow. The problem is that, the more I read, the more I realize that it may take a lifetime to explore everything that Greece has to offer. And I’m only there for three weeks! I have made several contacts and will take their suggestions, as I depend on Paris Dimidis of Dimidis Tours to help me get from place-to-place and arrange for accommodations when I’m not staying in Lynn’s AirBnB. NOTE: I am not a travel writer and do not get compensated for any links I put in this blog. They are simply links to people who have provided incredibly kind services to me — and whom I believe will become friends.

  • Divine Order

    How do you confirm that a COVID test kid is accurate for Airline travel since you’re not allowed to open it until being viewed by a proctor?

    APRIL 2: I have been experiencing some undifferentiated anxiety this past week. Nothing that I could put my finger on. Today, two things happened to assure me that Divine Order is at work and I am being taken care of.

    1. A friend and I went to lunch. There was no parking space in the small parking lot. She let me out and prepared to go look for a place to park. Before she got out of the parking area, a car backed out of the first place beside the door, I was able to hold the space and she pulled into it easily. Friends know that spaces always open up for me. I was just having doubts.
    2. I pre-bought two COVID testing kits for home use with an online eMed person to confirm accuracy. One was for now before leaving the U.S. One for before I leave Greece. I opened the first box in front of the proctor — it was missing a component! I opened the second box. It was fine. I took the test and was, of course, negative. What if I had opened the good box first and found out, just as I was about to leave Greece, that the second box was defective. As it is, the box is to be replaced. I don’t know if I will get it in time. But I am prepared in case I need to get tested in Greece. DIVINE ORDER!!!!

  • Settling In

    APRIL 6: This post will be just a description of my trip getting here and CRASHING. LOL After two layovers totaling 6 hours of the entire trip, I was exhausted when I got to the airport in Athens — only to have my checked bag not show up on the carousel.

    I waited until all bags had been claimed until going to the Baggage Claim booth. The man was nice, checked my boarding passes, and said that the bag had been checked. I nicely told him that I had been waiting and it wasn’t there, but that I would go back and look again. I don’t know if he saw that I am a nice woman, or how exhausted I was, but he followed me and saw for himself that there were no bags in sight. Then, miracle of miracles, he walked behind the carousel and found the bag, out-of-sight, where it had fallen off.

    Even though I had been delayed quite some time my driver, Dimos, was waiting for me. I may not ever have been so glad to see anyone in my life! He allowed me to sit up front and pointed out what I was seeing as we drove to my air BnB apartment where Lynn was waiting for me and provided a slice of quiche and cookies for my first repast — which I was too tired to eat (something that almost never happens).

    The apartment is small, but clean with all that a person needs to eat, sleep, and pray. LOL And it has wifi.

    I had plans for what I was going to do when I first arrived. What I actually did was sleep and, between naps, eat.

    It is 7:48 a.m. as I write this, but my laptop does not seem to have gotten the signal as it says 6:48 p.m.

    I am sure that I will have some photos to post tonight.

    Love you all of you.

    Sharon

  • Negatives vs Positives

    Skoubri Seafood Restaurant

    APRIL 7: If anyone ever wants to come to Greece, I will be able to tell you everything that you need to know! I am so frustrated at this moment that I am near tears — and you know that’s not me.

    Walking this morning I did fine for a couple of blocks — until my cell phone’s GPS stopped working. A nice Greek man helped me find the bakery I had been headed to for breakfast, but I didn’t go across the street for coffee (which was probably a mistake).

    Lynn, my contact here, came over at noon and took me for a walk, explaining landmarks, which I have already forgotten. But we did go to a store that put a hotspot SIM card in my phone. I replaced it with an international SIM card that I bought before coming over to see if it would work for calling local numbers. It didn’t, so I put the hotspot card back in — and was locked out of my phone completely! Finally, I remembered that the hotspot business had replaced my AT&T SIM card. I put it back in and am operational — except that I only have GPS when I am in a wifi location. But Lynn showed me that most businesses have a wifi signal that I can pick up on. Just to be sure, though, I will pull up a map of were I’m going and draw myself detailed directions before leaving the apartment!

    In addition, the power converter kit that I bought in the U.S. wasn’t working here. I was getting paranoid about not having a charged cell phone OR laptop. We got that worked out at a local store that sold me a small component for 3 euros that works.

    So, one-by-one, things are being worked out. The only thing lacking is having a local phone number in order to be able to call businesses or taxis. Most of them probably have WhatsApp, and so do I, so I just need to fine a WhatsApp directory! LOL And, that said, I just talked with one friend in Lee’s Summit who installed WhatsApp and sent an email to another friend. It’s pretty neat to be able to call anywhere in the world free.

    On a positive note:

    I found a wonderful seafood restaurant a 2 minute walk from the apartment (see photo). AND, I have an appointment to get my hair shampooed and styled Saturday. Frankly, right now, I look like something a cat wouldn’t drag in — and my hair styling brush is electric and won’t work right now. Ah well, no time to be vain!