The Greek Village I Loved So Much I Almost Bought a House There

We followed the real estate agent up to the top floor of an apartment building in a Greek seaside village we had never heard of until that afternoon. He told us it had an unobstructed sea view, was move-in ready, and in our price range. We figured something had to be wrong with this place.

But there it was. The view we had been hoping for all along. The sea, right there in front of us, so close it felt unreal. Mehmet and I exchanged a silent, wide-eyed “oh my god” while the agent wasn’t looking.

Suddenly, practicality and reason went out the window. We had not heard of this town two hours earlier, and here we were, ready to buy an apartment there.

A few months earlier, this would have sounded insane.

In early 2024, when I knew my job was coming to an end, and along with it, our Dutch residence permits, I began to research every possible way to remain in Europe.

I loved my life here. I had built an amazing circle of friends and community, plus after experiencing affordable healthcare, and 4+ weeks of paid vacation, it’s hard to convince yourself to give those things up.

But we also didn’t want our ability to stay in Europe to depend on another company, who could, on a whim, decide we were no longer needed. So we started looking at Golden Visa programs.

If you’re unfamiliar, the basic idea is that you invest a certain amount of money in a country, often through real estate, and in exchange, you receive a residence permit. In some cases, after several years, that can eventually lead to citizenship.

Quite a few countries have them, each with its own specific requirements. We read every subreddit we could find, consulted with lawyers, and talked to our accountant. We compared timelines, minimum investments, residency rules, and tax implications.

Eventually, Greece started to look like the best fit.

At the time, it had one of the lower financial barriers to entry, and given that we were about to enter an unknown amount of time without traditional jobs, that was important. Spending a huge chunk of savings on a house while also not knowing when we would earn money again felt more than mildly scary.

You know what else was scary? We had never even been to Greece when we decided to do this. We admired it from afar, sure. We had always wanted to go, but it just hadn’t happened yet. Which meant we had no idea which part of the country we would actually want to live in.

If you know me, you know that I struggle to make decisions without first assessing all of the available information. I do not casually “go with my gut.” I need spreadsheets, a decision chart, and the type of over-thinking that can only take place at 2am, and then feels crazy by the time your alarm goes off in the morning.

And so, we began watching endless YouTube videos, asking friends, and consulting with our Greek lawyer about different cities and islands. We were researching weather patterns, distance to international airports, and trying to imagine where we could actually settle that wouldn’t just feel like an extended vacation.​

After a lot of research, we narrowed it down to two options: Crete and Halkidiki. We booked flights, scheduled viewings, and were off to find our new home.

Our trip started in Crete, which seemed perfect on paper. The island is large, with varied landscapes, multiple cities to choose from, two international airports, and a comfortable climate year-round.

We visited a number of properties, but something just wasn’t clicking for us. The island was beautiful, the food was great, we met some wonderful people, but it just wasn’t feeling like the right place to call “home.”

After about a week, we moved on to Halkidiki, a region outside of Thessaloniki on Greece’s mainland.

At this point, we were second-guessing ourselves, wondering if this whole idea was crazy, but viewing apartments was proving to be a good way to explore different areas, so we stuck with it, even if just for the plot.

One viewing would lead to meeting an agent, who would mention another listing in a nearby town, which would lead us to a place we hadn’t heard of before, where we would end up having lunch, walking around, and exploring places that were unknown to us just hours before.

And that’s how we discovered Siviri.

We were looking at an almost perfect property in the beautiful town of Neos Marmaras, when the agent mentioned another listing they had, right on the beach, with an unobstructed view, that was in our price range, and it just happened to be about an hour away, in a town called Siviri.

We weren’t sure at first. The town seemed very small, and the property seemed suspiciously spectacular for the price. But we looked anyway, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

We made a hasty decision to cut our time in Neos Marmaras short and booked the remaining nights of our trip in Siviri in order to get a taste of what the area is really like.​

We quickly headed off to judge the town by the aspect we deem most important, its food. After a brief stroll (you can walk the town end to end in about 10 minutes), we landed on a spot that seemed lively, and was continuously putting out more and more tables instead of turning people away.

We ordered fried zucchini, which had become one of our go-to dishes in Greece.

While we’d had this dish nearly every night during our two-week trip, somehow this one was even better than all of the others! Perfectly battered, lightly fried, crisp but not greasy, and perfectly salted, omg, I would be happy eating only an entire plate of this for dinner.​

Then came the mains, mussels in tomato sauce for me, and a slow cooked plate of lamb for Mehmet. I dug in, and honestly couldn’t believe how delicious the mussels were. And what had they done to that sauce to make it so good? I started to tell Mehmet how good it was, but before I could, he was handing me a piece of his lamb, insisting that I had to try it.​

I’m so glad he did, because the lamb was incredible too. So tender, also served with some type of magically delicious tomato sauce, and delicious, soft potatoes.

This was the type of meal and moment that you don’t want to come to an end. We decided to order some wine and sit and enjoy the setting for a while.

When the waiter brought over the wine, he casually let us know it was on the house. We insisted that wasn’t necessary, but it was no use. Then came the desserts. A complimentary dessert is common in Greece, but this was well beyond the typical piece of cake or baklava you normally get. We had ice cream, watermelon, and a few different baked goods I couldn’t name. I was honestly floored.​

We later learned that this restaurant that we just happened to pick, because it looked lively and friendly, is basically an institution in Siviri. It’s a local favorite, and the owner is well-known for his generosity and hospitality. And if there’s a way to make me fall in love with a place, it’s going to be through a spot like this.

The next day, we tried to remain level-headed and not let ourselves be convinced that one great meal was enough to base such a major decision on.​

The agent had started texting us, asking how we felt about the apartment and letting us know there was another couple viewing it later that day. We didn’t know if this was a genuine warning or a sales tactic, but either way, it worked. We immediately began texting our lawyer to ask how quickly a deal could happen if we decided to move forward.

We wandered out for breakfast. Surely not every meal could be as good as last night’s dinner. Without much thought, we picked a seafront hotel restaurant with a nice patio.

The friendliness we experienced the night before was present again. Our waiter was so nice. Not in the American I’m working for tips and secretly hate you kind of way, but in a way that truly felt genuine. He told us they don’t have a lot of American visitors in Siviri, so he was curious why we were there and how we discovered it.

First came the coffees. Now, I’ve rarely met a freddo cappuccino I didn’t like, but something about these was extra special. Strong coffees, chilled to be enjoyable in the sun, and balanced with just a tad of sugar.

Next came the food. We weren’t expecting much; it was only breakfast after all, but it was so plentiful, and everything on our plates was so fresh and amazing. After we finished, our waiter brought us out a plate of loukoumades, essentially balls of fried dough in a sweet syrup. These are probably more calories than you’re supposed to eat in a day, but so delicious you won’t care. And, he insisted they were on the house.​

This town was really starting to seem almost too good to be true, so we decided to reach out to some of our most international friends to see if anyone happened to know anything about this small seafront village, which turned into another show of true Greek hospitality.

A friend of ours had a friend who was from the region, so he put us in touch. That friend had a friend who actually lived in Siviri, so he put us in touch with her. A few hours later, we were having seaside drinks with a lovely woman who gave us the honest truth: this town really is as good as it seems.

We had one more day before flying back home, so we texted the realtor to secure one last viewing of the apartment before we left. Maybe it wouldn’t look as good the second time. Maybe the view would seem less impressive. Maybe the flaws would become obvious.

The second viewing only solidified our initial feelings; this was exactly what we had been looking for. The town, the apartment, the feeling. We boarded our flight back home, readying ourselves to make one of the biggest decisions of our lives.​

Plot twist, as you probably already know, we ended up in France, not Greece. When we arrived back home, we spent about a week debating what to do. We wanted that apartment. I really cannot overstate how much we wanted it.

But France was the safer option. The visa requirements were lower. We would not have to buy a house in order to get residency. And knowing we were about to enter an unspecified period without “real” jobs, handing over such a large chunk of our savings so quickly felt terrifying.

Greece also felt so much further away than France. Our friends are mostly concentrated in London and Amsterdam. It’s easy enough to meet up with them from here, but from Greece, that becomes a whole lot more difficult. We can’t just plan a spontaneous weekend in Paris and be there in a day from Greece.

Funnily enough, we were also worried about the language and bureaucracy. Learning Greek seemed way more overwhelming than French; we didn’t know if we’d be able to figure out how to get anything done. Ironically, I don’t think “getting things done” could possibly be more difficult than it is in France.

Ultimately, we chose France, the “safer” option. It was the responsible decision. I am still not entirely sure it was the right one.

I read recently that we tend to romanticize the versions of ourselves that we didn’t become. The chances we didn’t take, the paths we didn’t follow. And whenever I’m struggling to conjugate an irregular verb in my head, pleading with the prefecture, or cursing the ugly tiles in my bathroom, I definitely wonder about the version of us that would have chosen Greece over France.

Maybe that version of us is happier. Maybe not.

Maybe that version of us is struggling with a totally different set of problems and romanticizing the life we now have in France. Probably.

But Siviri still holds a very significant place in my heart, and I hope that our story with it isn’t completely over.

Whenever we’re driving through Greece, we make a stop in Siviri. We go back to the same restaurant and eat the fried zucchini. We have breakfast at the same hotel, and last time the waiter even remembered us, making it feel more like home.

Greece has had a hold on us since our first trip there, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where we do end up someday. Until then, I’ll be periodically checking real estate websites, waiting for my apartment to become available again.

• June Field Notes - Local intel from the French Riviera, what I’m up to, honest restaurant reviews & more

• How I Plan a Month Long Road Trip from France to Turkey

• What It’s Really Like to Take the 1-Star Ferry Between Italy and Greece