GAZETTE

Published by My Big Fat Funny Life

Volume I, Number 010 July 19, 2026

A weekly-ish dispatch from Greece, with questionable authority and excellent coffee.

Showcase Story

You Don’t End Up in Epirus

This week’s showcase

You Don’t End Up in Epirus

You choose it—and somewhere between Zagori, Tzoumerka, and Ioannina, it starts feeling less like Greece and more like Alaska.

There’s a version of Greece most people know. White houses. Blue domes. Aperol spritzes with a view. And then there’s Epirus. No one accidentally ends up in Epirus. You go there on…

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Trending This Week

Two Years After Ditching Florida

Reader favorite

Two Years After Ditching Florida

Or maybe we didn’t ditch anything. Maybe we just knew it was time.

On June 18th, it will be two years since Karen and I left Florida, the United States, and the life we had…

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Coming Up Tuesday, July 21

The Passport Stamp Was the Souvenir

The Passport Stamp Was the Souvenir

A love letter to passport stamps, grumpy customs officers, and a world that was not yet completely flat.

Why would Europe make this easy?

There is the European Union.

There is Schengen.

There are countries inside the EU and inside Schengen.

There are countries inside the EU but outside Schengen.

There are countries outside the EU but inside Schengen.

There are countries that sound like they should be in both, countries that feel like they are in neither, and countries where you need a lawyer, a map, and a glass of wine before you understand what line you just crossed.

You made it this far. You may as well do the right thing.

Free, of course. No forms, no stamps, no appointment at KEP.
(If Substack flashes the paid menu first, choose None and carry on.)

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The Kafeneio Spoke

A collection from this week’s table.

“I worked in big tech for many years in the US, and when people asked me why my dream was to move to a tiny village in the middle of Crete, I would explain that the world is going crazy but Greece is a little slower to go crazy and hopefully Crete a little more slow. I am finding this to be true. And I think a lot of it comes down to trust: nobody trusts the systems here but everyone trusts that some people will help them if they need it. I think this is more important than ever…”

— WHO For: The System Is Down Have Some Gavros

“My wife and I generally eat heartily but not to excess. A Greek friend invited us to dinner several years ago; her apartment is nearly a walkable mile across town from ours. The sheer quantity of food she prepared for the five of us was staggering--twice as many people could have filled themselves, with enough leftovers for five more. After the appetizers--two, as I recall, plus a salad--we ate appropriately sized portions of what we assumed was the main course, only to discover that this had simply been another appetizer! We then managed to consume a goodly amount of the…”

— Steven K For: Greeks and the Sacred Right to Offer You Food Immediately

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About what I should be writing about.

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