Not there yet…,

So there are just over five weeks to go before I travel to Greece on a one way ticket. September the eleventh is not the most auspicious date to have picked perhaps. In the spare bedroom are two suitcases into which I will put the worldly things that I want to take with me to my new home. The new house is furnished but I am expecting to have to buy a few things once I get there. The longest I have ever been abroad is five weeks, just before a Christmas in Singapore many years ago. There I was able to expense nearly everything that I had buy, food, beer etc. 

The island that I am relocating to is called Serifos, in the Cyclades. I have a prospective house in the town of Hora which is atop of a mountain, I need to sign the contract on that house, and I am a little nervous that I haven’t done so yet. I have some other paperwork to take, because once in Greece I need to arrange to meet a policeman on the island of Syros to apply for a five year permit to stay in there. I am a little nervous about that too! I need the rental agreement among other things to make a successful application! This is the view of Hora from the roof of the property!

I have written before about my trips to Greek islands, where I decided on which one to live. This blog will be all about living there, once my five weeks are up. I have some dog sitting and cat feeding to do before I go, and the small matter of a party in the local village hall and recreation ground on September 1st. 

I have visited Serifos twice now, the second visit I was there for nearly three weeks in June. I lived in the lower part of Hora and got to know many of the locals while I stayed there. I did cooking in the place I rented and got a good idea about what food stuffs you can buy over there. Bizarrely in Livadi ( the port) there is a Thai restaurant, I really must give that a go, before I closes for the winter. 

Years ago people would have to carry books and cd’s with them when they moved. Of course a lot of these are available online, which is super helpful. I am going to take a little display which cycles through videos and photos of dogs that I have known here in Twyford and in  Greece. I do plan to take up new hobbies or at least try them, like astronomy, given the light pollution is so low on the island, as I have a nice flat roof I can access. I am also going to see if I can grow a few cash crops before the winter sets in!

My main focus will be to settle in and make a big effort to learn the language. I am taking a camera that should help me take better photos and it has a really good zoom which will be useful too. I am particularly interested in seeing what plants appear over the calendar year, I missed Spring on Serifos as I was on other islands, so I am looking forward to that. I also want to look into the festivals that I have found out that still exist on the island and observe them. 

I have created a Serifos Facebook group, which I am going to start to post too, I hope once it starts seeing posts, people will join it, to share the enjoyment of living on the island. I want to do the walks I did when I was there last time and document them so others can walk them. I have also noted that some Google map entries are incorrect and some places don’t have any photos, or they could be better. 

It does not seem there are known Brits who live on the island, but I was told there are other nationalities who do. I hope to look them up. All in all, I want it to be fun and enjoyable!