Houses in Nature

We have enjoyed many wonderful holidays in Greece, almost every summer since high school! As time passed, we started to imagine and immerse ourselves more and more in a Greek life: the sunshine, the olive groves, the sea, hills and cicadas, the heat, the sweltering summers, the tranquility, nature, long warm evenings, a 9-month summer, the sun, the sun, the sun. So after much (maybe too much) fantasising, we decided simply… to do it!

It was a long process – psychologically, physically and mentally. First, the decision to leave behind everything we had: our beloved house, good jobs, a good current situation, a secure future, not to mention the wrench of moving far away from family, and dear friends. It was difficult. Very difficult. But the dream prevailed.

So it was that in the (now distant) spring of 2014 we decided to sell everything and bring ourselves closer to this new life. It took us two years of preparation, of every kind, before finally we could depart. At the end of February 2016 our adventure began… the three of us left Aesch, bidding farewell to everything and everyone (this was particularly hard!), and on board our trusty camper we set off to travel 2000km to the South. Destination: Crete!!

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Καλημέρα! We are the Didones (now a family of four!): Claudia, Marco and our daughters Sofia and Lucia. We were born in Lugano, in Switzerland, in 1977, and met each other in high school at 16 years old. And…. well, here we are, continuing our discovery of new passions and the many interests we share (one of which is Greece!).

In 1996, after high school, we started our university studies in Zurich. A wonderful city, where we graduated, married and changed from a couple to a family. It was Zurich where Sofia was born, where we became teachers, and where we began to dream! We left a wonderful country and city, our dear family and our fantastic friends… And now, after almost two years, our dream has been realised: the four apartments we imagined are now built, furnished and ready for guests!!! Where? Right in the middle of a beautiful olive grove, on a hill with a stupendous view of the sea – exactly what we wished for!

For the rest… well, your guess is as good as ours 😉 We have met lots of people here and made friends, take part in many activities locally and feel part of the small community of Kissamos. Sofia has adjusted perfectly; she speaks Greek with an easy fluency, and loves everything about Crete – the sea, her nursery school, the music and the dancing, her friends, the Cretan delicacies, our two cats and also…. her new sister Lucia, who is now a year old and already has the stature of the well-fed Greek babies. At least we are keeping up appearances!!

So, here we are, in our slice of paradise. Where it seems there are no rules, where one minute everything seems easy, the next impossible and the next no-one seems to know anything! One thing is always for sure: in the end everything works out, in it’s own way, only a little different!

We feel different

We feel Crete

WeCrete

Claudia, Marco, Sofia and Lucia