Our house and Surrounds

We live up in the hills with the remains of the temple to Poseidon on the hills opposite and the sea down below if only we could see it.

Looking down to Vagionia Bay.  All this area in ancient times was covered in buildings straggling down to the sheltered harbour from the Temple complex on the top of the hill dedicated to the God of the Sea, Poseidon.  On the road leading down to Vagionia Bay the archealogical society will allow you to build on the left hand side of the road but on the right hand side you cannot (supposedly) even dig a hole.  One of those 'weird or what' situations you often find here.  Greece is covered in ruins.  Every step you take is over some hidden ancient rock.  Land here has been farmed by many generations of  modern Greeks.  Now when young people need this family land to build a small house they cannot because of some incomprehensible law.

This is our house, with three different roof levels, all built at different times.  It looks quite isolated here but there are four houses relatively close by, though only one is permanently occupied.

What looks like a piece of an ancient Greek column in our green winter garden.  It is in fact a piece of plaster garden decoration which I retrieved from the rubbish.  Wish there had been more.

A typical farmer's house further down the road.  This is used by the family when picking olives and working on the land, or having a big family get together.  The bougainvillia has run wild and is full of colour in the summertime.

The view from Vaso's front yard.  She is slighlty higher than us and gets a panoramic view of Vagionia Bay, the lights of Piraeus and the coast of Athens at night.

Two houses on the hill above us.  These were half built over 20 years ago and have never been lived in.   They were built by a then councillor and bigwig who went ahead without planning permission.  Someone 'ratted' on him and he's been in court ever since and is not allowed to even step foot in the houses.

He must have a wonderful view up there of the mainland opposite and the village of Methana under the volcano plus at night the lights of Athens, the port of Piraeus and the island of Aegina would be incredible, if he ever got to live up there.

This gives you a better idea of where exactly those houses are, just visible on the hill to the rear of the photo.

A hedge of rosemary just down the road from us.

Where we used to live down in the old town above the harbour.  Our old house (family compound where our daughter now lives) is one of the white houses with blue shutters half way up the hill.  Houses built right next to each other and often attached with the houses on the higher level watching what's going on down on the lower levels.  No privacy here.