Coping with those VIPs – your kids!

So…you’ve decided to follow your dreams – or that great job offer – and move to Greece! And if you have children, the good news is that they generally adjust far quicker to a move than most adults.

The younger the child, the easier it is for them to adapt. It is generally acknowledged that children up to the age of seven are able to absorb what goes on around them very easily and language is usually something that they can pick up without too much effort. That is not to say that older children will not be able to cope, merely that it may require more effort on their part.

The essential thing is that you are enthusiastic about the move and that you include them in the preparations. If they think that you as a family are undertaking a huge adventure together, this will go a long way to making the move seem like something to look forward to rather than to dread.

Discuss the move with them and talk about what they can expect to find on arrival. Highlight the advantages of the move and point out that family and friends will be keen to visit them in their new home, where it will be up to them to show them around their new country …

Leaving friends behind is never easy but today, with the Internet, Facebook and emails, it is a whole lot easier. Just make very sure incidentally that when you decide to rent or to buy a property that you have access to the Internet.

A few points that are worth remembering:

- Encourage children to learn about Greece in advance. Perhaps get an atlas and have a look at a map, read them a book about the country or you could perhaps take them to a Greek restaurant
- Take photos of their new home and area if they have not yet seen it yet so that it looks familiar on arrival
- I am a digital online photo album addict. Give your child a cheap digital camera and tell them to make an album of their journey from the UK to their new home…This comes with a warning – it’s addictive!
- Greek lessons before you leave the UK will mean that they will have a good idea as to what is going on once they attend school
- Arrange to visit new schools and meet teachers before the first day of school. When my daughter was young, her new school always appointed a ‘mentor’ for each new child – someone in the class who had been at the school for a while and could show her the ropes. You may suggest this…?
- Provide children of all ages with a notebook that they can write down all their friend’s email addresses and contact details to take with them. You may find that the computer, with all these vital details, gets damaged in the move
- There is nothing as comforting as a pet for younger children. Failing that, a favourite toy at hand at all times!

For older children it may be a little bit more difficult. Apart from just the language, there are the social aspects. Teenagers need backup from their peers and have usually formed a close group of friends from whom they get this. Leaving their friends and changing schools will be challenging – I can vouch for this personally as I did it many times and can still remember the feeling of isolation. BUT – given time - it all settles down and, with your support and over time, they will adjust and be happy.

I hope that has given you a few ideas. Remember, kids really do adjust very quickly – I know that the only problem my Swedish friend now residing in the States has is to make sure his five year old kids remember their mother tongue!

Happy week to you and we’ll chat soon,

Carol.

The Overseas Guides Company
http://www.Greecebuyingguide.com

National Parks in Greece

As you no doubt know, walking in Greece is one of the most enjoyable things you can do – I will be doing this on Corfu and hopefully Crete on my next visit and have a couple of wonderful books on the subject to review too so watch this space!

Some of the loveliest parts of Greece are those dedicated to the preservation of the flora and fauna. These areas would provide endless interest during holidays or indeed if you chose to live nearby. Less than 1 in 40 of Greece's islands is occupied, which in many cases means that nature has been left undisturbed and many rare animals and birds have too. Thousands of migratory birds use the islands as a stop-over point annually. They lie between Africa and Northern Europe and a huge variety of birds can be seen – a veritable bird-watchers paradise.

Incidentally – a quick tip here: get yourself a bird identification book in Athens if you are passing through. It may not always be possible to get your hands on one in smaller towns.

Here are just a few of the national parks:

Prespa Lakes:
This is in the northwest mainland and includes the two lakes of Mikri and Megalo. Statistics show that over 260 species of birds have been recorded here, including pelicans, storks and herons. The park also has brown bears, grey wolves, lynx and otto. I must say that it is one of my life’s ambitions to see wolves – perhaps I will include this in my next visit.

Pindos National Park:
This park is near the Pindos Mountains in North West Greece. Eagles, brown bears, wolves, wild cat, boar and red squirrels have been spotted here.

Vikos Gorge:
This is part of the Vikos-Aoos National Park in North West Greece. Here the concentration is mainly on flora, with maple, cherry and elm trees plus a huge variety of flowers and butterflies. The recommended time to visit is between April and November – any later and you risk snow.

Mount Parnassus:
Much of this mountain is part of a national park and has a wonderful variety of both flora and fauna. Birds abound and birdwatchers are in their element here.

Dadia Forest:
A stunning 36 out of 38 of Europe's predatory bird species have been observed here, including vultures, eagles and owls. The park is quite near the Turkish border.

Mount Olympus National Park:
Flowers such as orchids, tulips, violets and lilies and the many accompanying butterflies abound here. Also you may see deer and wild boar plus wild cats and squirrels.

Samaria Gorge:
I have driven alongside this gorge in Crete and can testify to it being a lovely spot. Along the 16 km walk you can see endless bird life, fauna and flora. Walks are arranged and include walks for most ages.

These are just a few of the many natural glories of Greece that you may want to check out next time you visit Greece. Enjoy!

Incidentally, I want to pass on an urgent warning: I recently spoke to a very annoyed and disillusioned GBG reader who has bought land in Greece. His purchase was a disaster as the land is not big enough to build on, although he was assured by his lawyer that it was. His advice: ALWAYS have a GPS survey done and get the borders of your property agreed to - and signed off by all your neighbours – BEFORE you sign anything or put down deposits.

We always recommend that you get yourself an independent lawyer, which this buyer did…but…the lawyer didn’t physically go out and actually measure the land. Pleas bear this in mind if you are going to be buying land won’t you?

All the best in the next week…

Carol

The Overseas Guides Company
http://www.Greecebuyingguide.com

A trip down memory lane…

A few days ago I found my memory wandering back to a trip I took to Crete, some years ago now.

I had a particular interest in visiting a lovely small town called Tzermiado - it is on the plateau of Lassithi, surrounded by windmills. A friend and I stayed a night in a delightful pension there and had a wonderful time, making the acquaintance of the restaurant owner where we had supper.

I had been talking to him about John Pendlebury, the British fighter who had stayed behind to lead the resistance after the British pulled out of Crete during the Second World War. “Blebbery!” the young owner exclaimed – that was the name the Greeks had called him. Off he raced home to collect an old calendar that I just had to have (it had an old wartime photo of Pendlebury) leaving us in charge of the restaurant…only in Greece! I have the calendar still, all these years later…

We also took an absolutely unforgettable drive between Moni-Preveli/ Plakias/ and Frangokastello. Sheep milled about in the road, heads bending with the weight of the bells around their necks that tinkled as they walked.

We saw endless vistas of calm sea below, broken only by the wake of an occasional boat. Olive trees grow right down to the road, with black nets tied under them to gather the falling fruit. It was 25 degrees in early May and we didn't see another tourist all day.

Legend has it that at a certain time of the year ghosts walk the beach of Frangokastello. We had lunch on a painted, upturned wheel right on the sandy beach - but sadly no ghost sightings that day...!

The road from Vouvas is eye-popping: you look down on the road curling beneath you like a snake. As we spun by we noticed that lovely white villages have signs out with rooms to rent - note to self - come back and stay there!

We saw lots of lovely little churches with red Byzantine-looking cupolas, not the usual Greek blue domes - a hangover from when the Turks ruled. To view a really lovely Byzantine church close up we drove down a green, green narrow little lane with just two faint tyre tracks, lined with poppies and blue thistles. So narrow was it that we had to push the car mirror flat against the side of the car to get through to the church.

Cypress trees dotted the landscape like exclamation marks and the air was heavy with the smell of sage and rosemary. There were oleander trees in bloom everywhere, outlined against the blue, blue sea below...We caught glimpses of goats, perched on high mountain crags, gazing down at us from dizzy heights and eagles soared way above our heads. Once we rounded a corner and found three large exclamation marks painted in the middle of the road...someone with a wicked sense of humour!

These are the things one never forgets – are you planning a trip to Crete this summer? I am, and I am like a child again, virtually counting sleeps!

Best wishes with your travel plans – do let me know where and when you are planning to go…

Carol

The Overseas Guides Company
http://www.Greecebuyingguide.com

A very important member of the British family - your pet!

It occurred to me that you might need to know about the relocation of that most important member of the British family - your pet!

The standard requirements for bringing a pet into Greece are that your pet must be micro chipped and registered, and must have had a rabies vaccination within the last 12 months, more than 30 days prior to travel.

Throughout the EU there are standard rules for the issuing of a PET passport and animals travelling within the EU are required to have one. More information on the passport scheme and travelling with pets is available on the DEFRA Website.

You are able to bring your dog or cat from EU and non-EU listed counties into or back into the UK without quarantine provided it complies with the stringent rules as laid out on the above website. These include anti-rabies, blood sampling and anti-worm/anti-tick hygiene requirements.

The pet must be micro-chipped, vaccinated against rabies and blood tested. They can be brought back into the UK only after six months have elapsed after a satisfactory blood test. A number of airlines, including British Midland, Olympic Airways, Finnair and Lufthansa plus a number of ferry lines are currently authorised to bring non-quarantined animals into the UK.
It would be wise to find out the location of a local vet (ktiniatros) and obtain an emergency telephone number as soon as you arrive in Greece with your pet.

Just remember that travelling with an animal in Greece, unless in your own vehicle, presents problems. No matter how well behaved the animal is, taxi drivers are loath to transport it and buses and trains refuse to do so. If you do finally manage to find a taxi, expect to pay a heavy surcharge and be prepared for the fact that your pet may have to travel in the boot of the car.

Never, ever let your animals stray. Unfortunately poisoning of animals is a fairly common occurrence in Greece. People are not inclined to overlook or forgive roaming or barking dogs or wailing cats...Dogs and cats may eat something coated in poison, or get poison on their paws and lick it off. If you suspect your pet has eaten poison contact your vet immediately. Intravenous drugs to counteract the effects must be given as quickly as possible.

Keep those tails wagging...!

Carol Dunning
The Overseas Guides Company
Have you been to the main website yet? http://www.greecebuyingguide.com/

Importing a car into Greece

So…you are mad enough or brave enough to want to drive in Greece? I’m joking…many people do and love it. However, there seems to be no other subject in terms of moving to Greece that receives so many contradictory reports and arouses so much irritation than that of importing your own car into Greece on a permanent basis.

Stories seem to veer from the utterly problem free to those where owners have had to pay excessive sums of money to buy that beloved car its permanent residence status alongside them!

There have been a number changes in the regulations in Greece over the past few years, mainly to conform with EU rulings, so it is strongly recommended that you consult the nearest Greek Consulate for full information prior to your departure for Greece.

From what I have been told by numerous people who have moved to Greece, it can be both an expensive and a complicated process and you really do need to have all the facts at your fingertips before rather than after the event. What I have also been told is that it can be something of a ‘moveable feast’, with local authorities making up the rules as they go along – having the facts at your fingertips will mean that you know your rights and thus help you to take control of the situation.

One of the irritants is that Greece evidently charges a ‘registration tax’ on vehicles imported for longer than six months although officially there is no import tax within the EU. This can be high, even on older second hand models. It is calculated on a percentage of the value of a new car, based on its make, model, age and mileage and it appears to be open to interpretation by the customs officer in charge.

There have been many complaints about this charge; ‘a rose by any other name’ as the saying goes - there are those that claim that this is in effect nothing less than an import tax.

I have to tell you a funny story here. On a website that I looked at (that shall remain nameless), while discussing this very subject of registration tax, they – in what I must assume to be a genuine spelling error – refer to this as a ‘Greed’ registration tax as opposed to a Greek one! Say no more…

What does become evident is that a great amount of patience may be needed, that the process can be very time consuming and that different interpretations of the law seem to apply depending on where you have this done. Frankly, this may just be one of those times that seeking local help with all the paperwork and the bureaucracy may be a good way to go – I believe the forms to be filled in, all in Greek of course, are enough to make your hair curl.

What many people seem to do is to keep their UK car for the first 6 months and, once they are completely sure they are going to make the move to Greece permanent, they buy a car there. Remember that in Greece the driver sits on the left hand side of the car …’when in Rome’ and all that…it may be easier for you to have a car designed for the Greek roads. Of course it may be that you have a precious old vintage car that you would rather die than sell…

So next week I am going to discuss the process…

Until then, best wishes, take care and have fun!

Carol
http://www.GreeceBuyingGuide.com

Non-Resident Status in the UK

Hey there – how are you? I am off to an outdoors Blues concert tonight…very brave of me I might add! The last one I attended saw me sitting like a ghostly wraith in the pouring rain, in a waterproof poncho thoughtfully provided by concert hosts. It was most enjoyable but did I ever get the mother and father of all colds! Wish me luck tonight…

A question I am often asked these days by people who are moving abroad is this: exactly when are you considered to be a UK resident, or to turn this question on its head, when are you considered a non-resident? This has become one of the most controversial and worrisome aspects of emigration recently, largely due to the tax implications that accompany it.

Evidently, according to a recent Court of Appeal decision in the long drawn out Gaines Cooper saga, it is no longer enough to conform to the rules as laid down by HM Revenue & Customs. These laid down that, to prove non-residency, you needed only to show that you didn’t spend more than 90 days a year on average in Britain over four years.

Now the taxman is allowed to scrutinise in more detail whether non-residents have made what they consider to be enough of a break from the UK.

So…how do you make sure that you qualify for non-resident status?

In most EU countries an individual is not considered a resident unless 183 days are spent there each year. In the UK, it is 90 days on a rolling four-year average, although you can spend up to 183 days in any given year. Things like visiting offspring or grandchildren in the UK will count toward your 90-day limit. Incidentally there are dispensations if you are visiting someone because of an emergency. If a member of your family is terminally ill for example, you may be able to stay for more than the average 90 days over four years. However, you would not be able to stay for more than 183 days in any given year without risking your status.

But this is no longer the only criterion; continuing connections with the country will now be taken into account, and this can be a very grey area.

Keeping a house or a car in the UK, maintaining membership of a private club, or even regularly attending social events such as Royal Ascot or Wimbledon can now be used against you in terms of proving your non-resident status. Needless to say, this new vigilance has largely been brought about in an effort to check up on those seeking to avoid the new 50% tax rate imposed on the super-rich.

Individuals must prove an intention to leave the UK permanently or indefinitely. Recent Court decisions on residence tend to be in favour of HMRC and there is no doubt that they are actively pursuing cases where, in its view, the taxpayer has not done enough to demonstrate that they have ceased to be UK resident.

What does this mean to you? Well, the bottom line is that you need to sever as many ties with the UK as possible. It is no longer sufficient just to stay abroad for the obligatory period and tally up days spent in the UK. You have to be able to demonstrate a complete break with the country.
To do this you may want to consider adopting the following measures:

Property in the UK:

• Sell your UK property or let it out for at least 12 months - do not leave it unoccupied
• If you are letting the property, ask a UK agent to deal with the property on your behalf
• Pay all property bills before you depart the UK
• Notify your house insurers that you are emigrating and adjust the insurance accordingly
• Notify your mortgage lender that you are emigrating
• Notify your local council that you no longer reside at the property
  

Business matters in the UK:

• Consider resigning from any UK company directorships or company secretarial positions
• Consider disposing of your UK business interests altogether
  

Other UK matters:

• Notify your UK doctor and dentist that you have left the UK
• Cancel your UK sporting and social club memberships
• You would be wise to appoint an attorney in the UK who is empowered to deal with your UK affairs
  

Taxes

• Send the completed form P85 to HMRC, declaring that you are a non-resident
• You would be well advised not to return to the UK for an entire tax year if possible to emphasise the break in residence
• Do not return to the UK for more than 90 days a year in subsequent tax years, remembering to factor in travel days in this number
  

Finances

• Cancel all UK credit cards and reduce balances in your UK bank accounts
• Pay all UK accounts and close them. Demand evidence that they are closed in the form of a letter of acknowledgement
• Consider transferring pension arrangements overseas.
  

Cars

• Sell your car and cancel your car insurance and subscriptions to motoring organisations
  

In your new country of residence - once you have moved abroad:

• Establish employment or business links in the new country if you are planning to work there
• Obtain a residence permit where necessary
• Contact the local tax authorities to inform them that you have become a resident
• Purchase or rent on a long lease a property locally and buy a car there
• Register with a doctor and dentist in your new country of residence and open a local bank account
• Establish social and cultural connections in your new homeland. Perhaps join clubs, register children at schools etc.
• Have a will drawn up in your new country of residence
  

What you need to do is make sure that you have effectively cut off ties with the UK in terms of living here. The overall pattern of your life must reflect your declared non-resident status and the fact that you have left the UK for the foreseeable future.

Carol
http://www.GreeceBuyingGuide.com

Know Your Credit Card...

Hello there.

I am so excited to have discovered the Canary Wharf free concerts here in London! Every Thursday evening throughout the summer they have something new: last week I saw a real blast from the past: Georgie Fame – yeah yeah! It was great – a clear, lovely evening, music and a few munchies – what could be better?

Enough about me…You are thinking of moving or buying property abroad, and I have no doubt that for those inspection trips etc you have a credit card. If you are like me, a credit card is a credit card…For years I had only one of these pesky little devils, but these days it pays to know the perfect card to pick. They have very different pros and cons and it could cost you a lot of money if you are using the wrong one.

You need to make sure that you are not making new purchases on cards charging expensive rates, paying huge APRs on old debts and missing out on benefits such as cashback.

Right – firstly, what’s APR?

APR stands for Annual Percentage Rate and, under the Consumer Act 1974, it is required to be published for all regulated loans so consumers can quickly and easily compare products.
This means that when advertising any form of credit, the lender should ensure that the APR is more prominent than any other rate.

APR was introduced because the interest rate a lender charges for credit will not accurately reflect the cost to the borrower. For instance, on top of the interest rate, there are other costs to consider such as administration costs, acceptance fees, broker fees and so on. It would be next to impossible for consumers to compare all these costs for every loan. Because an APR takes in all of these extra costs, it will always be higher than the lender’s actual interest rate, but in effect it calculates all the costs for you.

It is important to bear in mind however that unless the loan is fixed, there is no guarantee that the APR won’t change during the duration of the loan. For example, if the Bank of England raises its interest rates, the APR on your credit card will also go up. On the other hand, you will benefit if the Bank cuts its rates.

Remember that any form of credit on today’s market will come with its own set of restrictions, fees, charges and penalties. As a general rule, if you keep up with repayments and settle the loan in the agreed term these will not be a factor. However, if you miss repayments, want to settle early, or deviate in any way from the original agreement it could end up being very expensive.

The 0% balance transfer card is one of the most useful credit cards out there - this card comes with a 0% balance transfer offer that lasts for a set period – sometimes up to 16 months. This means that for 16 months you will pay no interest but chip away at your debt. However, once your 0% period passes, interest is charged on the whole balance…The thing to remember here is that using one card for both paying off old debts and making new purchases is not usually a good idea.

Some credit cards come with 0% on new purchases. Here you need to pay the entire balance off before a certain date. If you don't, your credit card provider will apply a standard APR to your outstanding debt and this could mean sometimes up to 17%!

Then there is the long term, low rate credit card. These are a great option for someone with debts they are unable to clear within a short space of time. The advantage of these cards is that they offer borrowers an affordable interest rate for much longer than the average 0% card - in some cases, for as long as it takes an individual to clear their debt in full.

For instance, one of the banks are offering a long term, low rate credit card that comes with an interest rate of 6.8% APR, and if you transfer a balance to it within 60 days of opening your account your debt will remain at this low rate until every penny of it has been paid off.

Finally there is the Cashback Credit Card. These cards allow you to earn back a proportion of what you spend, potentially netting you a lot of money each year, depending on how much you spend. The most important thing to bear in mind when using a Cashback Card is that you must repay whatever you spend on it in full every month or you could end up not only not making money but paying very high interest rates. With these cards be aware that there is often a figure which you must spend annually to ‘qualify’ for your cashback option.

I hope this has been some help, if only to make you aware that there are choices out here and you need to ask about them before just accepting any credit card offered to you by your bank or financial institution.

Bye for now – I’ll chat next week!

Summer smiles,

Carol
http://www.greecebuyingguide.com/

Is Greece Encouraging Tourism?

Hello again.

Have you seen the Grace Kelly exhibition at the V & A recently? I haven’t, but I did go along to a talk by her friend and biographer Donald Spoto. He gave a fascinating insight into the real person behind the iconic image – it was so interesting. There’s always something to do in London isn’t there?

Thinking about my blog for this week, I popped on to Internet, just in case there was something I thought we all really should know about in Greece. There I was struck by the absurdity of it all. In bold headlines, on a news-driven site was the following:
“A new advertising campaign supporting Greek tourism has been created…The three different spots of the campaign first appeared on television on July 20th. There are lyrics about Greece from famous poets such as Odysseus Elytis, Yannis Ritsos and Lorentzos Mavilis. The campaign was presented in a press conference in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on July 26th.”

So they are trying to encourage tourism. And right next to that, in smaller print, was: “Queues at petrol stations”; this as consumers feared petrol shortages as a result of truck owners’ strikes. Then there was “Delays and cancellations of flights”; all about domestic and international flights in and out of Greece facing serious delays because of an air traffic controllers’ 24 hour strike – this despite it being declared illegal by the courts. Those involved said that they are seeking higher wages and the recruitment of more staff and that they will continue with their strike actions. Then there was mention of the dockside workers strikes too…

Now, I am by no means an expert on these matters, but here’s a rather naive question. If people stop visiting Greece altogether, after being endlessly irritated and inconvenienced by disrupted itineraries while on holiday in Greece, will these workers have jobs AT ALL? I mean, the Acropolis was closed recently because the ticket office was on strike…go figure. The Greek Association of Tourism and Travel Agents (HATTA) warned that continuing strikes “would be the nail in the coffin of what is left of the Greek tourism sector this year.” I hope someone is listening out there and that some consideration is given to that money generator, the tourist – i.e. you and me!

I hastily point out that I am talking about a country I really love, one that I would adore to live in and, in fact, have made it my job to encourage people both to work and to buy property in. But…get real. Times are hard, and we all need to get our heads down and work hard to get out of this recession. Is this the right way to go about it? Personally, I think not.

However, I have to say that I am thinking of going over to Greece soon. I will go with a flexible attitude and I will definitely get rebated hotel/B & B prices. I believe Athens is not nearly as crowded as usual and that tours to places on the mainland like Delphi and Sunion are not nearly as fully booked as they usually are this time of the year so that at least is a plus.

Also, if you are planning to view properties I would suggest things have played right into your hands. At this time of the year it is often impossible to get an appointment with an estate agent – I suggest that you may just get lucky this summer! Also it will give you a good idea of accessibility during the hard times – always a good idea. You can suss out how your area has been affected by the recent strikes and upheavals – something that it may be wise to bear in mind for the future.

Do let me know if you plan to go - and if so where. Or if you have been already, how did you find things?

All for this week – talk soon!!

Carol.

Why Still Holiday in Greece?

Hello – how are you? This is a happy week for me as my daughter is in town. She lives in Dubai and is here to complete a course module for her studies. She arrived in London hoping to escape the heat in Dubai, only to be met with uncharacteristically hot weather here! I did warn her in advance – but do kids ever listen to their mothers? Thank heavens it’s cooling down a little now, for both our sakes!

Are you off to Greece this summer? A number of people have asked me whether I think it’s a good idea to go, given the strikes that seem to have become a regular occurrence…

Frankly, my answer is yes. For a start, there are far fewer tourists in town – it reminds me of when there was a Gadafi-related problem years ago and there was barely a tourist in the whole country. I am sure they were sorely missed by local hotel and restaurant owners but it certainly made visiting the Acropolis bliss! Tourism numbers have definitely dropped so queues are shorter and doing all the wonderful touristy things are just so much easier.

Then there is the Greek government’s offer to compensate tourists affected by industrial action. They have committed to pay up to €70 (£58) a day to cover costs incurred because of strikes, a sign of just how seriously they are taking the threat to the tourist industry.

And for good reason: tourism accounts for one in five jobs in Greece and nearly 20% of its GDP. The Brits are second only to the Germans here and are being especially courted, with the tourism ministry going so far as to create a Greek beach on the bank of the river Thames recently! They used 350 tons of real Greek sand to build a real Greek beach beside the River Thames in June at London’s South Bank’s riverside walkway by Gabriel’s Wharf, along with Greek food and entertainment. There’s no doubt in my mind that everything that can be done to help tourists will be done.

My suggestion is to perhaps stick to mainland Greece instead of the islands: ferries and local flights are particularly badly affected when there are strikes. You may want to try the Peloponnese for example - there are some wonderful seaside resorts along the coast. I personally love Monemvassia, not for beaches but for pure historical charm. And another of my wonderful discoveries is Xylokastro, right on the Corinthian Bay in the Peloponnese, on the way from Athens or Corinth to Patras.

I stayed at Le Convivial Luxury Suites & Spa – it’s near both the sea and the mountains, an hour’s drive from Athens (I took a bus) and within a short distance of some of the most important archaeological sites in Greece. In fact, the hotel’s clientele is often made up of academics, archaeologists and historians who use it as a jumping-off point for ancient sites in the region, including Epidavros, Nemea, Mycenae, ancient Corinth, ancient Olympia and Delphi. Plus Xylokastro has a wonderful small town atmosphere and a lovely beach – the photos show the spa in the hotel and the views from a local restaurant… what more could you want? You can travel either by hired car or by bus, as I did.

And if you are thinking of buying a property in Greece, property experts are looking at a projected drop of 30% in the prices for the next two years. Some sources go as far as to say that property deals decreased by 60% and brokers are not expecting the market situation to improve before the second half of 2012. This means that prices will be down. It also means that you will really need to concentrate on accessibility – always important but never more so than now. I write a monthly Greece Buying Guide newsletter and I am dedicating my end July/ early August one to transport within Greece – you may like to look at it. Just go to: http://www.greecebuyingguide.com/greece_news.htm around about 29th July.

Chat next week – ’bye for now!

Carol.