Are You Thinking of Dying in Greece? Don't.

Don't... for any number of reasons, most obvious being that we want you here, with us, beside us, in our lives...

Here is another, less obvious reason:don;t die because you are in Greece.

It is very  bureaucratic nightmare to die in Greece; what's more and perhaps worse for your friends & family, you can only be decently buried if you are Christian and cremation is out of the question. Also, death & ceremony are very expensive, costing upward of Euro 5k for a service, ceremony and...
then, you have the 40 days and, to be sure, a three years burial.

Eh???

Yup, three years is all you get. At the end of which, your loved one is EXHUMED and the remains thrown away, unless you pay further for something to be done... such as store the remains in a small container that you have to buy.

Yup, death is good business -- but obviously not for you OR your family. Apart from the emotional strain...


Unfortunately, the above is not a scene from an episode of the successful erstwhile series of skeletal ilk*; it is, as the wonderful Father Iakovos** once said, "a gruesome view of what reality is..."
Having been there I can testify to that - as can many others.

So, be smart. Die elsewhere.
How about in France? You can die in perfect dignity; people you never even met pay their respect; no-one is hurried out and the personnel are gentle. And, of course, you may even opt to rest at Pere Lachaise, with Jim Morrison and many others.

But whatever you do, you deserve to rest in peace, we all do.
So steer away from Greece of today.


*  "Bones"
**Father ("Pateras") Iakovos is an Orthodox priest and spiritual guide. In the tradition of orthodox priests, he is wise, uninhibited, and unusually clear-sighted. Father Iakovos and others like him show us what decent people are like and are a joy to be with.