There are two types of content that start right about now about Greece, and both make me want to stick a fork in my eyes.
One, the utopic content, in which Greece is all about blue seas, white houses, pink flowers, and souvlaki on the beach.
They were annoying anyway, but now they also have AI-generated texts (”It’s not just the sea, the sun and the food, it’s also the great friends you make along the way, the blah blah and the blah blah”). Cue toasting at sunset and AI-generated Greek yiayiades who smile with all the wisdom of their age, really looking forward to sharing it with any tourist who drops by and smiles nicely.
Like this commercial - which, to be fair, is at least trying to sell you ferry tickets, and it’s made by a Greek company, not by some Instagram page or influencer that wants to sell you their manifestation guide or retreat or something - , but that also adds a summer-turned-forever-love story to the mix.
The second type is the catastrophic one. Something happens in one part of Greece, and then all the forums fill with people anxiously (and obsessively) asking, “Is it still safe for me to go on this vacation?” about some random place on the other side of the country, hundreds of kilometers away.
In this category, this year we have THE FISH.
Or, if you’re reading Greek news with Google Translate on, a HIPPOPOTAMUS on the loose. Or a seahorse. Maybe both - maybe they were working together. This would make a fun Disney cartoon.
It’s a kind of Revenge of the Nerds version of Jaws, with a funny-looking fish that is, indeed, a major problem for fishermen (and it has been for years), and that occasionally, very rarely, might bite a human.
They are bad for the environment and the local fauna. They are poisonous if eaten. Their expansion is the result of climate change. The Orthodox Church is even asking the Lord to rid us of them and the Cretan fishermen get 5.33 euros/kilo as a bounty to hunt them.
But the panic they’ve caused is unjustified. Their bite is not toxic. And attacks are very rare. In fact, marine conservationists explain that the attacks happened when the fish ended up in shallow waters, and people tried to touch them or feed them.
So, are you in actual danger because of this fish when you’re swimming in the sea?
The answer is NO. Unless you’re a fish reading this, in which case, if you can actually read this, run, Nemo, RUN! (Also, drop a comment. I’d have a few questions about life in the sea.)
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But, if you’re still worried that they might ruin your vacation, here is a map with every recorded appearance this fish has ever made, from 2005 to 2021. Just in case the prayers don’t work.
No more photocopies of IDs and credit cards in tourist accommodations, so if someone still asks you, just say no.
Greece is sending an astronaut to space.
The residents of the Pedion tou Areos area launched a citizens’ signature initiative with the aim of reopening the sports area and restoring its infrastructure.
For the first time in approximately 220 years, the west facade of the Parthenon is rendered in its most complete possible form.
A planned new summer music and theatre festival in the Zappeion Gardens in central Athens has been cancelled hours before its launch after critics complained that the temporary venue built to host events clashed with its surroundings. This, apparently “raised eyebrows”.
I'm just not entirely sure which part was supposed to have raised them. My corner of the internet was full of people complaining less about how the venue looked and more about what this kind of event does to a place like Zappeio. It's the same debate that's been going on around Pedion tou Areos, where many Athenians feel fairs, festivals and parties are slowly eating away at one of the city's few large public parks. So I'd say the eyebrows had been raised long before the stage went up.
The urban myth of fires started in order to make space for wind turbines: true or false?
Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) has intensified audits of parental cash gifts, donations and transfers made through joint bank accounts, seeking cases in which what appears to be an ordinary transaction may conceal an “informal gift”.
And, my personal favourite: an ambulance transporting a seriously ill patient from the island of Thassos to a hospital on the mainland was charged a €39 ferry fare. Which is the reason why, from now on, I’ll carry some cash in my pockets every time I go on an island, in case the POS doesn’t work on the boat that takes me to the hospital.
A “new study” by the State Budget Office apparently indicates that Greece’s housing crisis is primarily driven by “millions” of vacant properties rather than short-term rentals. We are given no link to this “study”. Nothing about methodology. No nuances in the explanation for a phenomenon that is extremely complex, in fact (yes, empty houses are a part of the problem, but just one part).
Just: “Airbnb is not the problem, you guys!”
This is not news, it’s PR for Airbnb dressed as news.
***
What is PosoKanei, the new supermarket price comparison app, and how can citizens use it? (if you want to test it, you can find it here).
The idea is that, through it, you can view and compare prices across different supermarket chains. It was announced with much fanfare by the government as some sort of miraculous tool that would help consumers fight rising prices, as if rising prices were an electromagnetic storm (or something) we simply HAVE to weather, and one in which the government itself (and the companies making money off people’s basic needs) bears no responsibility.
Instead, the responsibility is shifted, once again, onto the shoulders of ordinary people, who are told that checking an app to save fifty cents by going to a different supermarket is somehow worth the extra time and effort. It’s just another condescending way of saying: you can’t make more money, so you’ll just have to spend less. And if you’re not willing to put in the work to do that, well, that’s your fault, not ours.
A cultural walk through Volos. It’s honestly one of my favourite cities in Greece
Here’s an idea for a hot weekend in the city: Athens’ Criminology Museum
Wine, painting, dinner. Five pop-up events “popping up” in the city
Also, if ever in doubt about what is happening in the city, you can test out this app, called Mood, which might help you sort out through all of the events that are taking place in Athens (last year, they apparently recorded over 11,000 music events only).
In July, see a few great movies in the open air cinema on the rooftop of EMST.
+ a song that I’ve become obsessed with while I was away on my birthday and that makes and excellent road trip soundtrack:
That’s it. Have a great weekend and do write back. Even if it’s just to complain.
Ioana
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