Monday 20 February 2012

Hold Your Horses...

This is a bit of a rant, OK. Sorry, but I think the following is quite important...

It makes me mad, it really does. Didn't we all learn geography at school? Here we are in a country which has more surface area of sea and islands than it does land and yet still, when a street riot or disturbance takes place in one or two places, like Athens or Thessalonika, we here get communications from the UK from people who seem to have the impression that the whole country is burning, or in melt-down.

Please guys, whoever you are, hold your horses and get your facts straight. Yes, there are serious economic problems here that are causing a degree of social unrest, but I also know of people who either live in or travel to Athens regularly and never see any of it. Normal life goes on, however difficult to make ends meet many may be finding it.

Get out your map of Greece and pay attention to the fact that there are hundreds and hundreds of islands here. I live on one of them. Yes, for sure the locals in the kafeneons of a morning are wringing their hands and furrowing their brows about it all, but a country slowly burning to a cinder? I don't think so. I know that there are many people in this country who are making potential visitors nervous because of their behaviour on a few city streets, but that's all it amounts to. Even in the area of downtown Athens these disturbances are very localised, however bad they may look on TV.


So, if you're in two minds about coming to Greece for a holiday, please don't be. Yes, OK, it's not as cheap to eat out here as it used to be, it's not so cheap to fill up you hire car with fuel. But the same old culture, climate, cuisine, clear blue sea, music and dancing is here as it always was. I've had occasion to say all that before, but in view of what I'm hearing, it bears repeating. Greece really needs the tourist right now. These brainless thugs who are getting their fifteen minutes of glory on the TV news aren't worried about what impression they're creating, but I'll tell you what; I'd still rather be amongst that lot than those who rioted in the UK last year.


Here's a way to illustrate why your summer holiday here in Greece will still be as lovely as it ever was (barring the odd strike I'll concede): Driving home in the dark late on Monday night from a friend's home in Kalathos, I was struck by a couple of things that one would never see these days in the UK. 

ONE: On the forecourt of the local filling station in Kalathos, which was be-darkened, as it was closed for the night, was an illuminated canned drink and choccy snack machine. You know the type, a huge glass window in the front with all those coily things stuffed with bars of chocolate and the like, plus a few cans of cola etc. It was so bright that I could see it clearly from the other side of the road as I drove past. Now correct me if I'm wrong here, but would such a machine last five minutes in such an exposed place on any road in the UK after dark without getting its glass smashed and all the fare inside half-inched?


TWO: Just a little further on a junction up the road is the Flevaris supermarket, next to which is (as is common here in Greece, of course) a cafe, called Zucchero. Outside the cafe, which was also closed up for the night, was a nice selection of tables and chairs, those dark raffia-type ones which adorn a lot of cafes these days. They were in fact newly installed only last year, when the cafe experienced a make-over. Now would you take odds on that furniture, were it in the UK, not having walked long since and now be adorning some back garden patio on a scruffy housing estate not too far away?


I rest my case. In fact, with views like this one below to still be enjoyed, whatever the economic woes the country's experiencing, if I were in the UK I'd be paying my deposit even now!


Above: Kiotari, looking toward the Pefkos/Lindos headland, February 17th 2012



19 comments:

  1. A shame you can only big Greece up by doing the UK down.

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    1. my thoughts exactly as i read this from my home of 59 years in the UK....but also a massive fan of greece and the beautiful islands...

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    2. It's not my intention of course to do the UK down, but to get some sense of perspective. And, frankly, facts is facts after all. There's a lot wrong with this country of course, but I was addressing a particular issue. No intention to offend, but - as I said, it was a bit of as rant born of people thinking (and they really do) that this country's burning end to end!

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  2. Your comments may be true John but don't slag off the country of your birth and its people. One of the major reasons Greece is in such a state is due to so called repectable Greek business people and professionals shifting money round in envelopes and paper bags instead of putting it through the books and paying tax. It's the normal Greek working class that are paying the price for the people who are depriving your beautiful country of the revenue needed to pay the countries debts. I'll be back to Rhodes again soon though regardless.

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    1. Wholeheartedly agree with that. I wasn't of course commenting on that particular issue, merely on the fact that quite a few seem to think that the whole of Greece is on fire! Some time ago in fact I placed a link to the Channel 4 show "Go Greek for a Week" on my "News and Stuff" page. Anyone who saw that show will know I am objective about this country's "warts" too.
      So don't be too hard on me and try to understand that my intention, as stated above, was to restore some sense of perspective.

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  3. Fact is, what John said about 'the country of his birth' happens to be largely true..................sad or offensive tho' some may find it. And it saddens me.
    Vicki

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  4. Victoria Anstee - Marooned on a Greek Island :)21 February 2012 at 07:40

    Bravo John....I agree with this blog wholeheartedly, I am continuously receiving emails and phonecalls from friends and family 'back home' asking if we are safe - and I have to stifle my giggles every time - and constantly tell them to look at a map!! And its true -I would never blatently leave a window open or not lock my car or leave garden furniture out in the UK - but do it without a second thought here! Bars leave their tables and chairs out 24/7 for 6 months in the summer - it wouldnt even occur to someone to steal them - its all about respect - something certain areas of the UK are lacking in! as an example....we drove into our village square one evening to meet some friends which went from a cup of coffee to a full scale feast (as does happen alot here!) We decided to walk off all the calories we had consumed and pick the car up in the morning. After a leisurely lie in we strolled back into the village and lo and behold there was the car......with the windows still open....and the KEYS INSIDE.....and the STEREO FACEOFF still attached.....would that have happened in the UK?? I think not!

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  5. I have always felt safe and relaxed in Rhodes but please...... Don't encourage people to leave windows and doors open or unlocked. I wonder if any of the ex pats will come on here and tell people about all the burglaries while people are asleep in their villas. Rhodes is a fabulous place to have your holidays but come on... Don't knock the UK whilst painting Rhodes to be trouble free.

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    1. That's very balanced Rob. of course, nowhere is perfect. The fact still is though, thankfully, that Rhodes is a much safer place to live than the UK. It's sad but, by and large, true. I always tell my guests on the excursions that we're not crime free here, but their risk of being mugged while strolling around Rhodes town is extremely small. The situation's changing year on year, but we're still along way behind the US and the UK in the personal crime stakes.

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    2. I hope my comment wasnt taken out of context.....just trying to point out how safe and secure we feel living here in comparison to the Uk.

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  6. Rob.Yes there were a FEW burglaries here on Rhodes. Not committed by locals.
    We always leave windows & doors open.In summer we dont use our aircon
    I would ask tourists not though to follow our example
    Tourists in any country make for an easy target

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  7. I seem to have opened quite a can of worms here. Why do people have to get so defensive? Is it a sense of insecurity, maybe? I dunno. There's no need for a war of words between British ex-pats living out here ad those who still live in the UK, but all I wanted to do was make the point that people do tend to see things out of context, sadly.

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  8. Time for a new post maybe, John! Goats are clearly a less incendiary subject than horses.

    Vicki

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  9. lCheers John. You are correct of course. I'm looking forward to my holidays as much as usual, if not more. We all want Greece to recover and I'm more than happy to carry on spending my euros on Rhodes. I hope the scumbags doing the burglaries are caught soon. Two friends of mine have been victims and neither are tourists. I must admit I was absolutely gutted when I heard about these incidents as it took just a little bit of the magic away from my favourite place in the world.

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  10. I live in the UK and am sick and tired of replacing my wing mirrors that keep getting kicked off, replacing shed windows that keep being smashed, peering out through a crack in the curtains when a gang of yobs are passing by,wiping spit off my front door, picking up litter dropped by everybody, peeling chewing gum off my shoes and pavement.
    Oh yeah, I'm so proud to be British....and then don't even start me on football hooligans!

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    1. Liz, can't you get your chauffeur to fix the wing mirrors? And there was me thinking that in your bijou pad down the end of the Mall "the law" would be keeping an eye out for your front door and shed etc..

      Seriously though, you make the point well. I love many things about the UK. For instance, each time I go back to visit, a trip to a decent local pub and a pint of real British ale is always on the agenda. But it's not the country in which I grew up any more, sadly.

      Some have flagged up the fact that villas are being robbed out here these days. Well, everywhere changes, but it's still being blown out of proportion in my view. Most people still don't bother with security to the extent that one has to in the UK. If I had a Pound for every home where I've seen the front door keys hanging from the keyhole of the door all day long here I'd be rich. Plus crime against the person is extremely rare here. By and large I still don't need to lock my car when I leave it parked in a street. Things are changing, it's the way of this world these days, but we're still a long way behind the UK and the US, as I said above. Family shame is still a huge deterrent to crime generally.

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  11. It's true, Britain is a long way behind lots of other countries as far as "security" goes. A recent tv show in the uk asked youths why they dropped their rubbish and spat in the street. Their reply was that it was already a mess and a little more wouldn't make a difference.

    I've visited a number of european countries (villages as well as cities) and am always struck by the cleanliness of them all. Coming back to the UK gives me great shame and a sense of hopelessness. Law and order is practically non-existent, i've even seen kids as young as 10 spitting on police officers and the police can't touch them. When I was a child, PC Plod only had to appear in the street and we would all do our best to look innocent and politely say "Hello ossifer".

    Anyway, I hope the Greek people can hold on to their family values, maybe re-assess their tax habits and carry on providing you with a pleasnt home.

    I could go on and on, but the corgi's need walking.

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  12. If anyone can remember the riots/looting that the UK experienced last year, I remember that in the North (Geordies, etc.,) did not riot/loot our towns and cities. I love Greece and I have visited Athens twice,I found the people to be the same as any big city dwellers. I will be spending my Euros in Greece this year so I urge everyone to do their bit and support the local people and ecomony in Greece as they need our support.

    From
    Annette
    xx

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