We Don’t Visit Greece, We Live In Greece!

Featuring

Anthea Sylbert and Richard Romanus

Costume Designer

Actor

---

Having spent the last forty years in Hollywood in the movie and television business on both sides of the camera, we decided to retire. When we first arrived in Skiathos we were on our way to no place in particular and had planned to stay only six months. It was the week they were changing from the drachma to the euro and all we had was dollars and nobody would accept them because the exchange rates hadn’t been established. In Richard’s book, ACT III, he mentions the moment in the second chapter:

“Climbing down the steps of the police station, I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief. Where had we landed where without hesitation, without questioning, without exception, people opened their hearts and wallets to complete strangers?”

And we’ve never left.

We’ve been to the capital, all over the Peloponnesus, there's so much to see, Thessalonica - excellent shopping, breathless Meteori, Metsovo, which Richard used as the setting for his novel Chrysalis, and Richard has been to Mt. Athos and is returning again.

A story that we treasure most is when we stopped in Selegoudi, a small village below Sparta, which is Anthea’s ancestral home. After first thinking it deserted, two dozen relatives appeared and a large table was set for a feast, with each carrying another food or wine. During World War II and the ensuing Civil War, Anthea’s father sent a large box every week to the village containing clothes, canned goods, and toys and candies. Towards the end of the meal, an old man sitting next to Anthea leaned in and whispered “I was married in one of your father’s suits.”