What did it take to uproot Liz, from her career job in London and make her settle down in a small coastal village on a Greek island with few of the creature comforts of home?

The answer is easy” says Liz, a member of the Club’s Web Team. “It was the incredible unspoilt beauty of the countryside, the friendly and open nature of the people and a simpler, more natural way of life.

Liz was a newspaper journalist before gaining a Combined Arts degree and becoming Press & Publicity manager for a large London dance and ballet theatre. In 1986, however, she had her first Greek holiday on the island of Lesvos with a friend.

It was a classic case of love at first sight,” she says “It felt like coming home and when I returned to London I felt so strongly that I was in the wrong place that I actually gave up my job to go back there for a year.

In the end, she stayed for 28 years, got married, had two daughters, and started a trekking business with her Greek husband. During that time, she also taught dance and creative movement at local primary schools, coached teenagers for international English exams and wrote articles as well as English textbooks published in both Greece and Germany.

In 2015, having amicably separated from her husband and learning from skin doctors that she should no longer be in the Greek sunshine, she decided the time was right for a move back to city life in northern Europe – this time to Berlin where she has a close friend. She joined the BIWC soon after arriving.

It was so good to find a community of women of all ages who spoke English and had experience of different cultures. When I arrived at my first Meet & Greet those present were very friendly and welcoming which was wonderful.” she said.

Going to Club events and chatting afterwards over coffee with other members has helped me learn more about the city and made it so much easier to feel connected. I would recommend the Club to any newcomer in Berlin.

Liz also enjoys doing private teaching and editing work as well as participating in dance and movement sessions, art workshops, weekend gardening at her friend’s house in nearby Oberhavel and visiting her daughters – one in southern Germany and the other in Greece.