This was in 2007 and the country I left was Greece.

Believe it or not, pre-2008-crash, every house in Greece that was sold had cash pass under the table.

That said, wasn't there some ancient wise man that said something about the more mistakes you make the more wise you are?

I see houses sell with ancient fixtures.  

Ancient electric box that needs complete rewire?

Also forgot to mention, I have a vacation condo in greece as well worth $300k give or take and she was open to that property + cash as well bc she actually lives in paris and that would be a very close vacation home for her. 

Just as a heads up, I chatted with him last night and he is flying on Saturday to Greece for about 11 days!

Other interests include ancient history, biking, tennis, chocolate (dark), and travel.

The initial setup is the problem, don't know if they had them where you grew up, but this was the standard in Athens, Greece in poured-concrete apartment buildings so I was familiar with them.

Epictetus, the ancient Greek philosopher, noted that grounded optimism often leads to the greatest satisfaction in life.