Greece - Korina Miller [0]
Destination Greece
Getting Started
Events Calendar
Itineraries
History
A Who’s Who of the Ancient Greek Pantheon
The Culture
Food & Drink
Environment
Athens & Attica
Peloponnese
Central Greece
Northern Greece
Saronic Gulf Islands
Cyclades
Crete
Dodecanese
Northeastern Aegean Islands
Evia & the Sporades
Ionian Islands
Directory
Transport
Island Hopping
Health
Language
Glossary
The Authors
Behind the Scenes
Map legend
Return to beginning of chapter
Destination Greece
What is it that calls so many of us to Greece? Perhaps it’s the endless miles of aquamarine coastline with some of Europe’s cleanest beaches. Or the ancient sights that you’ve read about all your life and want to see with your own eyes. Maybe it’s the slow-paced island life where days melt from one to the next, or the adrenalin-rushing possibilities of the mountainous terrain. It’s easy to understand how so many myths of gods and giants originated in this vast and varied landscape, with wide open skies and a sea speckled with islands. Greece is also the birthplace of drama and democracy, of western science and medicine. It’s been said that, in many ways, we are all the sons and daughters of Ancient Greece. Perhaps we’re simply being called home.
Once you arrive, it’s not too difficult to find the Greece you were hoping for, whether it’s the pulsing nightclubs of Mykonos or the solemnity of Meteora; the grandeur of Delphi or the earthiness of Metsovo; the rugged Cretan hillsides and the lush wildflowers of spring. You’ll quickly become acquainted with the melancholy throb of rembetika (blues songs), the tang of homemade tzatziki, and the ability of the ancient sights to unleash an imagination you might not have realised you had.
Nevertheless, while ancient sights might take the limelight in many tourist itineraries, the Greeks certainly aren’t stuck in the past. Sure, it’s easy to find remote, traditional villages with brilliant white buildings and roaming donkeys and goats, but the shepherd will likely be talking on their mobile phone and making a date for the local, trendy cafe. Athens has a firm grip on style and sophistication to rival any European capital. The Greek modern art scene is fresh and vibrant, and the political scene is passionate. It’s a nation that welcomes and even insists upon change – from the unstoppable urban renewal taking place in Athens to the internet cafes found on the smallest islands and modern, impressive museums popping up around the nation. There are few cultures that embrace the past so fondly while simultaneously welcoming the future with open arms.
Like everywhere, it’s not always smooth sailing in Greece. When problems do arise, they’re debated and handled with a strong will, as is evident in the heated conversations outside the local kafeneio (coffee house). The past three decades of increased wealth and improved living standards have gone hand in hand with rising unemployment, growing public debt and a credit crunch that’s left many Greeks disillusioned and angry. The government’s proposals of reforms in pensions and labour, plans for privatisation, and alleged corruption, incited many Greeks to take to the street in massive strikes and protests.
* * *
FAST FACTS
Population: 11.26 million
Percentage of women: 50%
Life expectancy: 80 years
Inhabitants per square kilometre: 87
Tourists: 18.8 million annually
GDP: US$345 billion
Per capita income: US$32,005
Inflation: 1.57%
Unemployment: 9.3%
External debt: US$92.19 billion
* * *
Since the early ’70s, battles between youth and the police have been a mainstay of Greek society. Increases in youth unemployment and downward mobility have added fuel to the youth movement and protests in December 2008 resulted in the death of a 15-year-old, shot by the Athenian police in the student neighbourhood of Exarhia. News of the shooting quickly spread (largely via texting, Facebook and Twitter) and hundreds of youth took to the streets in a social uprising that lasted for days