There’s nothing like a financial crisis to bring out the worst in people. Witness the shocking rise of Golden Dawn, a bunch of Nazi thugs masquerading as a nationalist party, currently rampaging through the streets of Athens. Ironically, another unfortunate side effect of Greece’s colossal debt mountain has been a drop in the number of German tourists, deterred by angry locals burning effigies of Chancellor Merkel in SS gear. This is bad news for Greece’s tourism industry, as Germans traditionally top the visitor table; but it’s good news for British philhellenes, who won’t have to fight Fritz for the best sun-bed next summer.
The brutal austerity measures imposed by Greece’s creditors are making things difficult in the capital, but outside Athens life remains as blissfully peaceful as ever. Lord Byron was right about the isles of Greece: ‘Eternal summer gilds them yet.’ Crete recently launched a clever viral campaign contrasting sensationalist headlines about civil unrest with the idyllic reality of island life.
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