It Started With an Ouzo Read online

  IT STARTED WITH AN OUZO

  By

  STAVROS ALLANOPOLIS

  International Best Selling Author

  © STUART ALLAN 2013

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  About The Kindle Book Format

  This book was originally designed to be produced as a paperback with photos inserted. The Kindle Book formatting sometimes changes the layout because every reader adjusts their point size of print to suit. Often, in the Kindle Book format, not each page appears as originally written. So, please allow for the ‘gaps’ as they occur!

  WARNING!

  If you have already read ‘Watching The Olives Grow’ written by Stavros Allanopolis, please be aware that some pieces from that book are repeated in this book. They contain the original ‘background and positioning’ information for any reader who has not read about the ‘adventures’ of Stavros Allanopolis, and how he moved from the United Kingdom and went to live permanently in Greece.

  So, for those readers who have already read ‘Watching The Olives Grow’ the Author suggests you skip the PROLGUE and start at the chapter headed SEPTEMBER 2006 – HOOKED! Also, later on in the book, you may want to skip the pages that describe how the ‘Dream’ house became known as Meerkat Manor as you will have already read about it.

  Notwithstanding, “Hello! Welcome, and thank you for deciding to read my book.”

  Photo: Stavros Allanoplis

  UPDATED – NOVEMBER 2013

  Stavros Allanopolis is the pseudonym of Stuart Allan. This is the first of three books that he has written about the ‘adventures’ that he and his wife Valerie have experienced living their lives in The Mani Region which is situated in the South Western mainland of Greece. They moved there from the United Kingdom to live permanently in Greece in April 2008.

  This book, ‘‘It Started With An Ouzo’’, is the first of three and it describes their ‘adventures’ from the moment they decided to move ‘lock, stock and barrel’ from the United Kingdom and to go and live permanently in Greece. He records their ‘adventures’ as they happened in the first 20 months of living in Greece; from September 2006 until December 2009.

  His second book, ‘Watching The Olives Grow’ is also available in Kindle format at Amazon throughout the world. It is the ‘second chapter’ of their ‘‘adventures’’ and covers the 12 months from December 2009 until December 2010. Search Kindle Books and click on Stavros Allanopolis for further information.

  His third book, ‘To Cut A Long Story Short’ will be available in Kindle format at Amazon throughout the world in 2014. This book is all about their continuing ‘adventures’ from December 2010 and up until November 2013. There are plenty of tales of real Greek life!

  If this is your first acquaintance with Stavros Allanopolis, please read on ….. Enjoy the ‘adventures’ experienced in the first 20 months. Then decide if you want to find out what happened over the following 12 months of 2009 / 10 (‘Watching The Olives Grow’) and finally the 35 months that are the feature of ‘To Cut A Long Story Short’ which looks set to be the ‘final chapter.’

  PROLOGUE

  For those readers who have not read ‘Watching The Olives Grow’ (also available in Kindle Books), you should know that before we met, Valerie and I had spent holidays and time exploring cities, towns and villages in Asia, South and North America and Europe.

  Before we met, between us, Valerie and I had visited The Middle East, South and North America and many countries in Europe. Since 1998, we have travelled extensively in Europe and North America sharing a variety of holiday ‘adventures’s. Our travel ‘pattern’ tended to consist of a two or three week ‘‘adventures’’ as our main holiday in North America and then a one week ‘chill out’ break, and a sprinkling of weekend City Breaks in Europe in between. The Countries, States and Cities we have visited to date include:

  Mexico: Cancun and the Mayan Peninsula down to the Belize border

  West Coast North America: California from the Mexican border all the way up the Pacific Highway to San Francisco, across to Yosemite National Park and the Mojave Desert and from San Francisco to Las Vegas and The Grand Canyon. Also from San Diego across to Sedona, Scottsdale and Phoenix

  East Coast North America: Massachusetts and New York State from Boston to Cape Cod and New York New York City. Also Colorado and Denver and Florida and the Florida Keys

  Canada: Montreal

  Egypt: Sharm El Shek

  France: Paris, Monaco, Lille and Colmar

  Spain: Seville, Madrid and Barcelona

  Italy: Bologna, Venice, Florence, Rome and the whole of Tuscany from Milan to Siena and through the hills and vineyards of Tuscany to Luca and the coast at Pisa

  Cyprus: Aya Napa

  Portugal: Lisbon and Madeira (Honeymoon)

  Holland: Amsterdam

  Brussels: Bruges

  Greece: Athens, Corfu, Kefalonia, Ithaki, Lefkas and the Peloponnese Peninsula

  During the eight years between 1998 and 2006, there have only ever been two places where we had said to ourselves “one day, we could live here.” These two places are San Francisco in California and Agios Nikolaos in the The Mani region, Greece.

  San Francisco would have been chosen to live and work and eventually retire, and Agios Nikolaos would have been chosen to live semi-retirement before full retirement age.

  In September 2006, we chose to leave the UK and live in semi-retirement and a life of ‘‘adventures’’ in Agios Nikolaos; a small fishing village in a remote part of the Peloponnese Peninsula in South Western mainland Greece in a region known as The Mani.

  This book records our ‘adventures’ to date; the highs and lows and the emotional experiences of both. It started just as the Global Recession was having an impact. A real ‘Roller Coaster’ of a ride whilst trying to sell in the UK and buy in Greece.

  SEPTEMBER 2006 – HOOKED!

  This is a story about a ‘Dream’ coming true, and ‘It Started With An Ouzo’. We sat down at one of the little tables outside the Fishermen’s Bar in Agios Nikolaos, which is a small fishing village located on the Peloponnese Peninsula in the region known as The Mani in South Western mainland Greece. The bar is right at the edge of the slipway entrance overlooking the harbour. The table is spindly, round and barely big enough for one person, yet alone two people looking to order an Ouzo. It afforded a view of the fishermen unloading their boats and putting their catch out for sale on the marble slab of the table right beneath us. As we looked at the catch being laid out on the slab, we observed that there were not many fish and most were quite small. Never the less, the catch generated a lot of animated discussion and haggling over the price.

  Nikos, the bar owner broke off from the throng of men gathered around the slab and headed over towards us.

  “Parecello? (Please, what do you want)?”

  We ordered our drinks.

  “Theo Ouzo (Two Ouzos), Eferesto (Thanks).”

  It was our last day of the holiday and we had just come to the end of a one week ‘chill out’ break. We had lazed away the days; reading, sunbathing, eating and drinking, and an occasional walk along the coastal path between Stoupa (where we were staying) and Agios Nikolaos. The break had been just what we needed; to get away from work and the dull weather in the UK.

  We had once again enjoyed the laid back atmosphere that permeated this and the other small villages in the region.

  We had been to Greece many times before but, this region, The Mani, was our favourite destination. This was the third time we had spent a holiday here in 18 months. Throughout the week, everywhere we walked, the locals welcomed us with big smiles and cheery waves; the ‘Maniots’ are such friendly people.

  We were staying in a studio a
partment in nearby Stoupa, which is one of the larger villages in the area, but we preferred Agios Nikolaos. With the small, natural, horseshoe-shaped harbour at its heart, Agios Nikolaos is a complete world away from the UK because it is so peaceful and quiet. The passing of time seemingly has no relevance or importance to day to day living.

  We spent most of the week there either sitting at one of the cafes on the edge of the harbour reading our books and ‘people watching,’ or sunbathing on the terrace of a local taverna just around the corner from the harbour entrance. The owner provides sun beds and parasols free of charge in return for buying drinks from his bar, and has built steps down over the rocks into the sea to facilitate swimming in the crystal clear, turquoise water.

  Whilst we waited for the drinks to arrive, we looked around us. Located right on the corner of the harbour, and on the main street, this was the not only the local Fishermen’s Bar and the centre of the village, but it also happened to be the coach stop!

  We were waiting for the coach to take us to Kalamata, and from there to take a taxi to the airport and catch our flight back to the UK.

  As we sat there in the sunshine, we looked at the little harbour right in front of us, and we listened to the gentle ‘hubbub’ of the local people going about their everyday work; no hurry, no rush.

  Although they all had their work to do, they all had plenty of time to stop and talk to each other.

  After a while, I remember saying, “You know, I think that I could live here. What do you think?”

  Photo: Fish For Sale.

  Photo: Boats Moored In The Harbour.

  A few minutes went by and then Valerie took her eyes off the throng of men gathered around the display of fish on the slab and turned and looked straight at me and said, “I do too.”

  That was the moment!

  Our new life had been conceived; a ‘Dream,’ but how long would it be before we arrived into this new environment and a whole new way of life?

  As we sat there, we talked about the pros and cons of packing up and leaving the UK and living in Greece; more to the point, this remote part of Greece, four hours drive West of Athens. Many people ‘dream’ about it (a complete change in life and living), but few actually ‘do’ it.

  Were we to be one of the few who did? Just then, as we watched the fishermen at work on their boats, and with their catch set out on the slab, we didn’t know the answer to that question, but we did know that as far as the ‘adventures’ was concerned, ‘It Started With An Ouzo’!

  Once the catch is unloaded, and laid out on the slab for sale, the fishing boats are moored in the harbour and gently rock up and down in the morning sunshine. The surrounding area is such a rugged yet beautiful countryside; a mix of the sea, the olive groves and the mountains as far as the eye can see

  The village nestles below the Taygetos Mountain Range. In most places, the level ground stretches back less than one kilometre before the slopes of the mountains emerge and climb steeply to form the Taygetos Mountain range, which at its highest is 5,000 metres high. The air is so pure and ‘fresh and clear’ that sometimes you can hear people speaking and the sounds of people working with their machinery from miles away.

  But, would we be brave enough to make a move? Could we be one of the ‘few,’ and would we have the courage of our convictions that we could make it on our own, even though we didn’t speak the language, other than the basics to secure food and drinks in the bars and Tavernas?

  Curiously, even with that basic level of the language, we sometimes received something other than what we thought we had ordered or expected to receive!

  Even before we landed back in the UK, we knew we were hooked on the idea!

  Once we arrived home, we commenced the usual ritual of unpacking, putting the dirty clothes in the washing machine, checking the post and emails and getting clothes out for the following day’s return to work; back to the daily grind in ‘gloomy’ UK.

  The following day, we reluctantly returned to our work routines and in the evening, when we returned home from our workplaces, we just looked at each other said, “How was it for you?”

  After a brief exchange of our day’s activities, we realised that nothing had changed whilst we had been away; the weather, the overcrowded trains and the mundane routine of work; depressing!

  Already, after just one day back from Greece, we felt ‘trapped’ and somehow unable to ‘breathe.’

  As had become increasingly the ‘norm,’ our trains had been late in both directions, plus it was bloody well raining. Welcome back to the UK! We sat in contemplative silence sipping our wine; both feeling quite glum!

  Pouring my second glass of wine, I looked at Valerie and I said,

  “Let’s do it!”

  Almost without hesitation, except to take another sip of wine, Valerie replied,

  “Ok, I agree. Yes, let’s go!”

  There followed a moment of two of complete silence as we both continued to sip our wine and contemplate the enormity of this decision, then our moods brightened somewhat at the prospect of going back to Agios Nikolaos.

  The decision was made; we had hope and a brighter future to look forward to. It was to be a life-changing decision and the ‘countdown’ had begun, and ‘It Started With An Ouzo’!

  RESEARCHING THE ‘EXIT THE UK PLAN’

  Over the next weekend, we sat down and developed what we came to call our ‘Exit the UK’ plan. We decided that, from a purely financial point of view, we could afford to implement the plan within 18 months, and this also coincided with the year of my 60th birthday and Valerie’s 50th birthday; a year to remember.

  Over the previous years, we had seen the popular TV travel programmes and read many articles about so many people deciding to live abroad. It seemed that many couples and families decided to move abroad on impulse; often after a happy holiday. Subsequently, some were to discover that it was not the place or life that they imagined it would be on a permanent basis, usually because they didn’t research the move properly. We knew that we had to be sure that we were doing the right thing, and doing it properly, so in the plan we allowed for some further visits to The Mani region to thoroughly research the area and the way of life before making the final commitment to leave the UK. If we were to go, it was going to be one way travel only with plan no return.

  We drew up a list of things to research, and over the year, we made three more visits. In total we spent five weeks thoroughly researching the ‘ins and outs’ of living permanently in Greece, and in particular The Mani region around Agios Nikolaos.

  According to the plan, we devoted these visits to research specific items on the checklist. We even did a winter recce in order to make sure what it was like living in The Mani in the winter months. We made that visit during February and discovered just how Greeks celebrate Valentine’s Day. It turned out to be the same as any other ‘celebration’ which is spent eating, drinking, singing and dancing and drinking some more, from late in the evening until the early hours of the morning!

  Some key items on the list were: Which village to live in? Whether to rent or to buy a ready built house or whether to have a house purpose built? What to buy in the UK to export with us? What to buy in Greece once we had arrived?

  In deciding the ‘Where to live?’ item on the list, we walked around all the villages in the region surrounding Agios Nikolaos several times. We looked at all the pros and cons of each location. Some villages had absolutely stunning views up to the mountains and others incredible views down from the mountains towards the sea and out across the Messinian Gulf. It seemed that the whole region is one of such natural beauty that we felt that we would be happy living almost anywhere!

  Eventually, we decided to live on the outskirts of Agios Nikolaos itself where we originally conceived our plan live in Greece. We decided to look for something that was within easy walking distance of the village itself and the beaches nearby. Why? Well, we concluded that whilst it would be great to live up in one of the mo
untain villages a car is essential. However, if one day we found that we may not be able to drive, or might not even have a car, we would then be dependent on the neighbours for lifts into the main village shops and / or the daily coach down the mountain, and that was usually at 6am and without a return until 6pm. In some villages we discovered that the coach was sometimes only once or twice per week!

  Once we understood the legal process for moving to Greece and owning property, we had to decide whether to buy an existing property or to have one built. We had discovered that there were a lot of properties for sale, but none that we liked.

  Most of them were large houses with little or no land, and we wanted something smaller in size and with some land.

  We discovered that having a house purpose built can be quite a hassle, and generate a lot of stress, when you don’t know a language and cannot communicate properly with the builders.

  Also, and in all likelihood, it would take us beyond the two year timescale of the plan if we had a house built from scratch. Therefore our aim became to buy an existing property; a small, single storey property with some land and one that was habitable, but may be in need of modernisation.

  I considered myself to be enough of a handyman to manage most building tasks, but we decided on a single storey property as I didn’t fancy having to use large ladders to get to upper levels when I was too old for heights. Also I did not want to have to pay others to do any maintenance tasks required that I could do myself!

  After we had decided which village to live in, and what to buy, we then made the decision to rent a property for a year whilst we found exactly what we wanted to live in.

  We felt that this way, we would have enough time to find the right house for us to buy, and this decision to rent was also aimed at reducing a pressure point in the timetable.