So what’s Greece like, in general?

The question is, especially in light of the current climate: what is Greece all about and what is the general impression that I have of it after spending some time there? Is it worth it?

There are a few aspects to be taken into account. Following the path of my journey, Athens is a place where you can admire both the wonders of ancient history and the bad taste of modern “architecture”, at the same time. It’s a large city, with all the problems of cities of its size, ranging from traffic to crime and high cost of life.

The islands are much different, with beautiful coastline and clear waters, a variety of sands, some volcanic and some more traditional. There are also rocky places that are really good. The land can also be interesting, with places that despite the low summer rainfall can be quite green due to the humidity brought by the sea. Some islands are very fascinating and historically interesting, some others are not.

In terms of value for money, alas, Greece scores quite badly: services could be better and prices are generally high and people are often lured to “tourist traps”, where services and goods are sold at extortionate prices. Some examples are the Athens airport coffee places, where a small latte costs €4 and a bottle of Coke costs €3.80! London Heathrow is a bargain if compared to that. Then if you have to take a taxi there is always some overpricing involved, making black cab taxi rides in London a good deal in comparison. The list goes on. In Paros, I have been charged €48 in a rather basic restaurant for one octopus salad, consisting of two tentacles only, a 200 grams whole fish (not fillet, to make it clear, so including all the parts that are normally discarded) for my almost two years old child, two small 250 ml bottles of water, and four slices of bread. When I asked for clarification, I was told that the fish is valued at – seat down before you read this – €60/Kg. Basically the price of lobster. Once I had to rent a car and they offered me a rather small car for €45 per day. The car was rather old, not serviced (according to the dashboard display), not washed, half flat tyres that I had to inflate at a petrol station. Ah, in all fairness they gave me a free “upgrade” and had the honour of driving a Micra instead of some smaller model and I was asked if in view of this I would be interested in keeping the car for longer. What a joke.

A shared transfer to the port in Santorini that was quoted €7 per person, cost me €20. When I asked why, I was told that it was because there were three of us (one of us 22 months old). So when he charged two Americans €20 I asked why he overcharged them, no answer, the money was pocketed.

Ultimately, we left Greece without buying neither a souvenir nor a bottle of oil. It’s not for the money, it’s about what you feel when you are treated this way and see yourself as a target for the next rip-off.

All of the above happens mostly within cash transactions, nobody seems to be happy to accept credit cards. When I arrived in Paros a lady offered me a seemingly good deal to rent a car, drove us and our baggage to her office, then when I intended to pay by card added €20 to the transaction, saying that the price agreed was for cash – this wasn’t mentioned at any time before. After a brief discussion I asked them to drive us back to the port, she refused and sent us back on foot. Shame.

Overall, I can see what are part of the reasons why Greece is where it is today: an overinflated economy that hasn’t developed the quality of service that its prices command. Perhaps at the moment can overcome its bad situation due to the unrest in Egypt and Libya, but I have a strong feeling that as things will gradually improve across the Mediterranean, people will choose new routes.

The country looks to me as being going at full speed to its crashing point. A point that will cause a lot of pain and a split in the society with a minority of people and well invested business able to attract tourism at premium, a rather small middle class, an a very large low class that will struggle to find work and provide for their children.

There are chances that I may be wrong, but I heard others having a similar opinion on the subject so watch this space because I am really curious to see how it will end up. My bet is that Greece will default, leave the euro, devalue about 50%, and restart from scratch.

Holiday in Greece

So, back from this much needed holiday, I can now draft some thoughts about this trip.

As we left Athens behind, with its marvels and ruins – the latter meant in all the meanings of this word – it all seemed to get better. We took a short flight to Santorini and landed in the island’s small airport, where we were met by our transfer bus within a few minutes from arrival. The drive to the hotel put our stomachs to test as the driver was more skilled in blowing the horn than in using the brakes. However, I observed that this is how people drive in Greece and you just have get on with it (or drive the car yourself as we eventually did).

The hotel where we stayed was very nice. Quite basic for a four-star in terms of room furniture, old TV set (though those who know us well enough also know that we wouldn’t turn it on even if it had a cinema screen), and so forth, but it can really pride itself for its quality of service. We were truly happy and satisfied, we spent a few days between the pool and the beach, in the early morning and late afternoon, breaking off during the baking hours to explore the island and its beauty. Santorini definitely deserves a visit. If you go, you can’t miss Oia (pronounced “Ia”): there are just a few other places like that in Europe – and perhaps, in the world. I am referring to Positano, Bruges, Mont St Michel, and so forth. I could add Füssen to the list, though in Füssen the castle is the real attraction, rather than the village.

The bottom line is that Santorini is beautiful and unique.

At the end of our stay we packed our bags and made our way to the port, where we boarded a turbine powered catamaran ferry that hauled us to Paros.

Paros is no match to Santorini in terms of architectural and historical interest, and our observation is that it is more a tourist industry place that offers more under the natural beauty perspective.

We booked ourselves in a five-star not far from the port but a bit off the beaten track. That means, in Greek road system and transports terms, that if you have no car you are stuck in the hotel – something we were not prepared to compromise on. So car it was: we got ourselves four wheels and headed toward the hotel. This hotel was the opposite of the resort we stayed in Santorini: a lovely and beautiful place, but with a rather poor service.

During our stay in Paros we drove around the island, visited a few secluded beaches, seen some of the villages. The clear waters, the scent of the Mediterranean nature, the blue sky, the peace of early September, are what we have enjoyed most.

 

Sadly, these two weeks have now come to an end but we also feel good about being back home. We really enjoyed our holiday and our current mission is to plan the next one.

Weekend in Athens

I started this article last week but I am able to publish it only now. There will be some more writing following this, and it will all be regarding our 2001 summer holiday to Greece.

The first stop of our trip was Athens. How could you go to Greece without stopping, at least for a day, to admire the remains of one of the civilisation that shaped so much of nowadays life?

We made our plans to include a full day in Athens in mind. It was the right decision, the Acropolis is a breathtaking experience, whether you are into history and historical monuments or not. The magnificence of the Parthenon, in spite of the cranes and the restoration works, is at par with the Coliseum in Rome.

Athens, however, didn’t impress us. In our opinion it’s no match with what I perceive as being European standard and it’s very expensive for what it offers. We went out in the evening and were shocked by the conditions of the pedestrian area and the amount of people sleeping on the roadside in the centre of town.

The worst of all was an episode that we have witnessed, in the middle of the day, near our hotel, in one of the main roads that leads to Syntagma and the heart of the city. When I heard someone screaming maybe 100 metres away to my left and turned to see what was happening, a puzzled woman was standing in the middle of the road and next to her there was a young girl, perhaps 20 years old, on the ground. Further up the road a red traffic light was holding the cars. The next thing I saw was a guy running in our direction and at first I thought he was running together with the girl when she accidentally fell but I then noticed that he was running with a handbag. He then dashed down an alley next to the trolley bus stop were we were standing waiting for our bus and disappeared. In my reconstruction the guy mugged the older lady, the girl tried to do something about it so he just pushed her to the ground and then ran away. The other half dozen people observing the scene next to us were unmoved.

I suppose the bottom line question is: would I go back? And my answer is: I am not sure.