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.
