Water, Water Everywhere
In case you missed last week’s introduction: my name is Ioana, I am a Romanian journalist living in Greece and this newsletter is both a professional attempt at untangling the Greek news stream, and my love letter to a country that is both exasperatingly eclectic and irresistibly charming.
So fasten your seatbelts and let’s go. And if you think this might be of use to someone else, please share.
Weekly Spotlight
One of this week’s main events was more of a non-event, which is perfectly fine, especially if you’ve been recently binging Fallout, like me: the presence of an Italian-flagged vessel conducting research for future underwater cables connecting Crete with Cyprus escalated tensions between Greece and Turkey.
Turkey accused Greece of violating its continental shelf and deployed five warships to the area, prompting Athens to respond similarly south of Kassos and Karpathos. Fortunately, the situation was resolved diplomatically, and in the end, all parties, including the Italian vessel, withdrew peacefully.
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„I had to start learning how to walk from the beginning”. These are the words of Dimitris Filippis, one of the survivors of the terrible fire that killed 104 people in Mati, on the 23rd of July 2018.
Six years later, in a moving commemoration of the tragedy, relatives and friends of the victims walked to the sea at Argira Akti and released 104 floating lanterns and flowers into the water. Families of the victims still seek justice and accountability for the circumstances that led to the devastating fire.
Photo: Intimenews/LIAKOS YIANNIS, via iefimerida.gr
The stories of the survivors will not be an easy read for anyone. But they are important.
News You Can Use
The prices of some packaged products in Greek supermarkets are up to 129% higher compared to other European countries, but Greece is among the countries with the lowest prices for unprocessed food items and services.
And, talking about prices, soon we should soon be able to switch energy providers with a single click through the gov.gr platform.
New programs for cheap housing are coming, as well as rent subsidies, but while we’re here: how much does student housing cost in Athens?
Bad news for football fans: they can now enter stadiums only using tickets stored in their digital gov.gr wallet.
Greece remains by far the country with the highest public debt in the entire Eurozone.
Public transport in Athens is about to become more friendly: new vehicles, contactless payments, 5G network in the metro. While we’re in the utopia section of the newsletter, here’s also some info about 3 new metro stations that are being built.
For those of you who haven't discovered it yet, MyCoast app lets you see all the beaches in Greece and check if beach bars and sunbed owners are following legal concession conditions. You can also submit complaints.
However, it doesn’t have all beaches and if you want to file a complaint or even see the contract, you need to be at a distance of maximum 10 km from the beach you want to complain about.
So, if you do happen to stumble upon an illegal beach bar somewhere, file the complaint on the spot, otherwise you won’t be able to afterwards.
And yes, it’s entirely in Greek.
A message from president of the municipal unit of Fira, Santorini, calling on citizens to reduce their trips to the island because they are waiting for 17.000 tourists. The post was later deleted.
But the tourists, eventually, arrived. Here’s what it looked like.
There are problems with water scarcity all over Greece, not only the islands. In Crete, five municipalities have declared a state of emergency due to the lack of water. In Halkidiki there are long water interruptions, in Evros two horses were found dead from dehydration. In Serres, a priest performed a litany for rain.
Attica is also on the map of areas with low water reserves.
Meanwhile, here’s a map of all the swimming pools in the Cyclades, courtesy of Digital Paros.
The Long Reads
This car is all of us on some days. I’m feeling your pain, car.
Wanderlust
If you’re still trying to pick a place to go on vacation, I have two suggestions for you: one is the beautiful island of Samothraki, „wilderness for beginners”, a great place for trekking and camping.
Second is Mytilini, on the magnificent island of Lesbos, where you can get both by ferry (if you endure the 12 hour boat trip) or plane (in one hour). Don’t be fooled by any rumors and prejudice: this is one of the most beautiful islands I’ve seen (most recently, I was there two months ago) and it’s big. As you drive around, you will be mesmerized by how fast the landscape is changing around you, as if you’re not on the same island anymore.
Lesbos in May.
If you’d rather stay on the continent, check out this story about old Kardamili, a tiny castle in the Peloponnese and a corner in Mani where time seems to have stopped.
And if you’re curious, see what history is hidden behind the most famous beach of Zakynthos and how the contraband "cigarette shop" that sank there in 1980 is connected to World War II.
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I grew up in a house with a lot of music, rewinding tapes with pencils, untangling and fixing them with scotch tape and writing down song lyrics.
One of the musicians that haunted my childhood was the Greek composer Vangelis Papathanasiou, who died a few years ago, but whose music is very dear to me, as is this next recommendation: We are Stardust, a digital show, screened onto the Eugenides Foundation New Digital Planetarium’s dome, celebrating its 20th anniversary.
It features unreleased music by Vangelis and is narrated by the late Dionysios Simopoulos. Dubbed in English and suitable for ages.
It will be available for the last time this weekend and so will Athens Photo Festival, at the Benaki Museum.
To see Devendra Banhart live, who is playing tonight at Stavros Niarchos, I once flew all the way to Barcelona from Bucharest. And if you listen to „Mala”, an album I’m still listening to obsessively, when I’m in a certain kind of mood, you will understand why:
The opening Greek band, Amalia & The Architects, is also pretty great:
Be sure to be there early, the events on the lawn always start on time and finish on time. The concert is free. And if you like the place, but you’re more into sports, the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, as well as the Games will also be screened there.
An amazing Henri Cartier Bresson exhibition at the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, and a Robert McCabe exhibition at the Acropolis Museum are also in my agenda for the weekend (although you can visit them until fall).
Tomorrow evening, at Athens Open Air Film festival, there’s a screening of „The Swimming Pool”, by Jacques Deray, from 1969, at Stella Cinema.
And if you’re into poetry, speak Greek and want to escape from Athens, Tinos International Literary Festival is happening weekend.
Useful Tidbits Corner
Driving in the emergency lane will get you on-the-spot removal of your registration and driver's license for sixty days, as well as with an administrative fine of 200 euros. Yes, even in a traffic jam.
Have a great weekend and do write back. Even if it’s just to complain. And if you know any other lost expats, share this newsletter with them.
Loved it! I don’t follow up on the news that much, so this helps.