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What is it really like "on the ground" in Athens right now?


Frisbie

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Hi, all. We are taking a cruise leaving from Athens (Piraeus) and visiting a couple Greek islands this month. We know about all the dire financial news coming out of Europe, and scheduled and potential strikes in Greece. But, we're wondering what it feels like to be a tourist "on the ground" in Athens (and on the islands) right now. Within the insular world of the Plaka, ancient sights, and other tourist areas, does it feel pretty normal, with businesses welcoming tourists and people having a good time? Or, is there a palpable sense of gloom and anger hanging in the air that you can't escape? I would welcome any insights from people who have been in Athens or to the islands recently, especially within the last month or so as the latest round of bad financial news has been coming out. Thanks much.

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Frisbie, just got back from a cruise which included several Greek islands and Athens, and, other than the obvious inconveniences of taxi and bus strikes, we didn't note anything.

 

Caveat: The day we were in Athens there was some sort of protest in Syntagma Square (we only heard it thru by way of the bullhorns that were being used) for a short time but our tour guide steered us clear and took us there later and everything appeared completely normal.

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My husband and I are on the Oceania Nov 2nd Istanbul to Athens. News today discouraging travel in Greece...any opinion as to Oceania's policy when the political situation is shaky...Any news appreciated...We were so looking forward to this experience.

Boatie

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My husband and I are on the Oceania Nov 2nd Istanbul to Athens. News today discouraging travel in Greece...any opinion as to Oceania's policy when the political situation is shaky...Any news appreciated...We were so looking forward to this experience.

Boatie

 

I would ask this on the Oceania board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=51

 

The girl I used to babysit for is studying abroad right now in Athens. She reports that all the commotion is really centered around Syntagma Square' date=' she reports all is well where she is (near the historical sites).[/quote']

 

Which is what has been reported pretty consistantly over the last couple of years.

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Just returned from a Greece/Turkey cruise...I have to echo the other posters... I took a private tour in Athens -- and didn't notice anything anywhere. The day we were there, there was actually a transit strike, so there was a little more traffic than usual - but other than that, around all the "tourist/historical sites" -- it was business as usual. The media has definitely made this out to be scarier than it in fact is.

 

I would recco getting a private guide/tour or doing a cruise ship excursion, as then you are guaranteed transporation, and don't have to rely on public transportation or taxis in case of a strike.

 

Also, I traveled on Celebrity, and they were very conscious of what was going on in each port...rest assured, your cruise line would never let you be anywhere that was "unsafe". In fact, due to a taxi strike, on some of the smaller isalnds, the cruise line provided a shuttle to the town center so you didnt need to rely on public transportation.

 

Enjoy! You will have so much fun!

Leesh77

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Hi, all. We are taking a cruise leaving from Athens (Piraeus) and visiting a couple Greek islands this month. We know about all the dire financial news coming out of Europe, and scheduled and potential strikes in Greece. But, we're wondering what it feels like to be a tourist "on the ground" in Athens (and on the islands) right now. Within the insular world of the Plaka, ancient sights, and other tourist areas, does it feel pretty normal, with businesses welcoming tourists and people having a good time?

 

As Bruce and others have noted, there a variety of "situations" happening now in Greece. Today was a scheduled strike day. Much depends on the exact date and location when you will be there. Some "events" are more for media show and are limited in their scope. Others can be more challenging for travelers and/or those visiting during a cruise. Many earlier articles listed on other posts with this Greece board have detailed that many who lives in Greece are feeling very squeezed as these cuts and changes are impacting people there.

 

Today was a pretty bad day. From the two on-site reporters for USA Today as shown on the ABC News website, they have this headline: "Strike closes down most of Greece" with these highlights: "Thousands of Greek workers shut down schools, hospitals and museums Wednesday to protest spending cuts that the government says are needed to prevent a bankruptcy that could roil global financial markets. People affiliated with the Communist Party marched into the central Syntagma Square, carrying red flags and chanting: 'No sacrifice for the bosses!' Others waved banners stating, 'The rich must pay!' Most private workers did not join the protests. Air-traffic controllers left work, forcing the cancellation of dozens of flights. Getting around was difficult since ferry services, bus and train lines were not running at full capacity. The Athens Acropolis and major museums were closed."

 

Reporters for the Irish Times were there and their story had this headline: "Violence as Greeks take to streets over layoffs". It was a 24-hour strike. It was called by the country’s public sector and private sector trade union federations with lawyers, doctors and nurses participateing. Ministries and government agencies were shut, trains stood still and planes were grounded. A key point noted in their story was that this story were "far from bringing the country to a standstill. Most workers in the private sector went to their jobs, while many state schools continued to function as normal in many city districts and areas across the country."

 

More details are provided in the below Washington Post story from Athens, plus from MSNBC.

 

Full stories at:

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/strike-closes-greece/story?id=14677550

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/1006/1224305330270.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/greece-austerity-strike-cripples-country/2011/10/05/gIQAqzIlNL_blog.html

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/05/8166914-outraged-protesters-clash-with-police-in-greece

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Recently back from a June 7-19 Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 43,111 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

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I have repeated many times here that strikes don't bring the city to an halt.

 

This is a 6 million people city, some miles one side to the other and a suburban area pretty much similar to what NYC is at geographical size.

 

One corner of Athens to the other is around 20 miles and most of the days you have different weather from one side to the other.

 

When a "general strike" takes place, strike is NOT general:

Restaurants remain open, cafeterias too, shops are open, malls too and in most of the ocassions public transportation is running too at full throttle.

 

What tv gets you as a picture is what is taking place around Syndagma Square, a 130 x 130 meters square in the center.

 

That's appx. a rectangular with a side of appx. 1 / 12th of a mile.

 

Area visitors are heading and sites are in is appx. 1 square mile, or 150 times larger.

 

Athens itself is 50,000 times bigger from what you see in your tv screen.

So, to put it simply, except Syndagma Square and perhaps one - two blocks around it, you may even NOT notice it is a strike day.

 

Even in this case, this is the ocurrence 5 to 6 times a year, out of 365 days, in what is 1/ 50,000 of the city itself.

 

-----------------------------

 

Only one things should worry the visitor: An air traffic controllers strike.

This can happen 2 - 3 times a year for 24 hours and can disrupt an itinerary. That's 2 - 3 days out of the 365 a year has and can't be overpassed.

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I have repeated many times here that strikes don't bring the city to an halt.

Only one things should worry the visitor: An air traffic controllers strike.

This can happen 2 - 3 times a year for 24 hours and can disrupt an itinerary. That's 2 - 3 days out of the 365 a year has and can't be overpassed.

 

Appreciate the added background and info. Most people don't realize how large and diverse is Athens.

 

THANKS! Terry in Ohio

 

Recently back from a June 7-19 Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 43,142 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

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( Edit: You are welcome Terry : )

Thank you too for the sincere effort to inform travellers )

 

and of course. . .news coverage is always a bit exaggerated in some extents and a bit downsized at others.

 

Example: All public transportation in Athens, except suburban railway ran yesterday. Taxis too. It was a quite busy day on roads with some traffic jams here and there, the usual jams you 'll see in Athens.

 

Private museums remained open.

 

But on the other hand: i seriously doubt any school opened.

 

Reports are usually a bit far from reality, some times exaggerated, some times, a bit too sentimental, some times not seeing the whole picture. Nor a camera can be everywhere, nor journalists are political analysts and of course, none expects so.

 

It was business as usual from 12.01am.

 

Strikes are quite big, meaning they expand on many business sectors but are not "general" and are defined on certain time windows; no later, no earlier.

 

At the same time, demonstrations as a rule, will sometime go out of hand but this happens on these specific strike days, and in a specific, defined area which we always expect it will be so, most of us living here for 10, 20, 30 years or all of our life.

 

It's like having a demonstration at Wall Str.: Nobody expects anything to happen at Columbus Circle the same time, nor you 'll realize it if you dont watch the tv.

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Thanks for your perspective. We're looking forward to our visit in exactly 3 weeks on the 27th. We expect to be able to see what we're going there to see and to be able to travel on the metro to the historical sites as we've planned.

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Nick:

 

We too are very much looking forward to our second visit to Athens on November 10th. We can work around pretty much everything EXCEPT the metro not working or the Acropolis being closed.

 

So keeping fingers and toes crossed for a smooth visit !

 

Thank you for keeping us updated so timely.

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I am looking forward to my first visit in Athens. I will be walking around Syndagma Square, Plaka and Historical sites. Keeping my fingers crossed too since I don't really have a Plan B. :confused: But I would think that the cruiseline will deal with the situation and make necessary decisions once we are closer to docking! My airline put a warning for flights going into Greece, check flight information!

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Nick,

 

Are there any planned strikes (especially taxi) for Monday October 24, Tuesday October 25, Wednesday October 26, and Sunday November 6?

 

Unlike others have mentioned here, our scheduled taxi driver just says he can not help us (such as finding a private alternative) if there is a strike.

 

We are scheduled to go to Delphi on the 25th and may need to find an alternative (such as group tour) to get there assuming the site is open.

 

We also planned to be at the acropolis and/or new acropolis museum at 8:00AM on the 26th before transferring to our ship.

 

Any updates or suggested alternatives?

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( Edit: You are welcome Terry : )

Thank you too for the sincere effort to inform travellers )

 

and of course. . .news coverage is always a bit exaggerated in some extents and a bit downsized at others.

 

Example: All public transportation in Athens, except suburban railway ran yesterday. Taxis too. It was a quite busy day on roads with some traffic jams here and there, the usual jams you 'll see in Athens.

 

Private museums remained open.

 

But on the other hand: i seriously doubt any school opened.

 

Reports are usually a bit far from reality, some times exaggerated, some times, a bit too sentimental, some times not seeing the whole picture. Nor a camera can be everywhere, nor journalists are political analysts and of course, none expects so.

 

It was business as usual from 12.01am.

 

Strikes are quite big, meaning they expand on many business sectors but are not "general" and are defined on certain time windows; no later, no earlier.

 

At the same time, demonstrations as a rule, will sometime go out of hand but this happens on these specific strike days, and in a specific, defined area which we always expect it will be so, most of us living here for 10, 20, 30 years or all of our life.

 

It's like having a demonstration at Wall Str.: Nobody expects anything to happen at Columbus Circle the same time, nor you 'll realize it if you dont watch the tv.

 

Exactly right Nick

 

We were in Athens in the summer of 2010 during the "strikes", staying at the Grande Bertagne, which is as close to parliament and Stymata square as you can get. The "strike"/"protest" took place on the street right outside the hotel. I went out during the event, and felt perfectly safe.

 

It seemed to me that the protests are more like the crowd one encounters at a football game than the "riots" that occur in the US. It was more like a parade than anything else with a lot of chanting.

 

It only effected one side of the square and nothing else in the tourist areas that I could see.

 

The only real impact on tourists is if there are disruptions in the transit systems. The people of Greece do not want to harm or drive tourists away because tourist dollars are a large part of their very fragile economy.

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Nick,

 

Are there any planned strikes (especially taxi) for Monday October 24, Tuesday October 25, Wednesday October 26, and Sunday November 6?

 

Unlike others have mentioned here, our scheduled taxi driver just says he can not help us (such as finding a private alternative) if there is a strike.

 

We are scheduled to go to Delphi on the 25th and may need to find an alternative (such as group tour) to get there assuming the site is open.

 

We also planned to be at the acropolis and/or new acropolis museum at 8:00AM on the 26th before transferring to our ship.

 

Any updates or suggested alternatives?

 

If your planned driver won't help you find a different one. I don't know where you are staying but almost all of the historical sites in Athens are within walking distance of each other. Check with your cruise line about a transfer from Athens to Piraeus on departure day.

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Nick,

 

Are there any planned strikes (especially taxi) for Monday October 24, Tuesday October 25, Wednesday October 26, and Sunday November 6?

 

Unlike others have mentioned here, our scheduled taxi driver just says he can not help us (such as finding a private alternative) if there is a strike.

 

We are scheduled to go to Delphi on the 25th and may need to find an alternative (such as group tour) to get there assuming the site is open.

 

We also planned to be at the acropolis and/or new acropolis museum at 8:00AM on the 26th before transferring to our ship.

 

Any updates or suggested alternatives?

 

Jade13:

 

We have absolutely no info on any upcoming strikes.

Next strike we know will take place on October 19th.

 

What can we expect from now on and what can possibly disrupt your itinerary:

 

These are the possible disruptions:

1) "General" strike or ADEDY strike. This affects public museums and ancient sites like Acropolis and Delphi. It is 24 hrs and very rarely 48 hrs. Private museums like the Acropolis Museum and Benaki or Cycladic Museum in Athens remain unaffected. Such a strike takes place 5 - 6 times a year, usually on Tue or Wed or Thu.

 

2) ATC's strike. Their strike disrupts flight itineraries.

 

3) Metro or buses strike in Atherns. This can disrupt commuting from the airport or commuting in the city. Being already in the city and having a hotel in a central location it does not affect you really. Usually when transportation is on strike taxis run.

 

4) Taxi strike: This can happen but rarely. Usually, when and if tyaxis are on strike, public transportation runs.

 

5) Seaport workmen strike: Very very rare, it can happen once a year. We already had one this summer and can disrupt ferries or cruise ships. I highly doubt you 'll have one of these.

 

I don't remember any restaurant or commercial shops strike for 22 years i live in Athens.

 

A. Based on your itinerary, i 'd suspect you may have some public tranportation strike on Monday ( or some stoppage on metro or buses ). So, if Monday is the day of your arrival you may have to switch from bus to metro or from metro to bus, according your initial plans. No such a strike has been announced but, even if something like this happens, you 'll get any available mean of transportation or a taxi. Remember taxi fare from airport to the center ( specific central zone, most hotels are in this ) costs 35 euros at daytime ALL included. So, it is a good deal. More details here: http://www.aia.gr/pages.asp?pageid=988&langid=2

 

B. Is Tuesday a full day on which you planned for a Delphi trip and Wednesday a morning before going top your ship? Indeed if Wednesday is a short day, you may want to go for a quick visit to new Acropolis Museum and then go to the cruise ship, still, with only one full day in Athens, i don't think i 'd go for a day trip.

I know, in your eyes, Athens seems as a total zoo, but i can ssure it's not so. It's a city standing here for 25 centuries and i think i 'd go for a full day in Athens, perhaps going to Acropolis first thing, then going to Agora site. It's a city full of thigns to see and do and i don't think i'd ruch out of the city to see Delphi, leaving a mere one - two hours for THE site which is Acropolsi Hill and all surrounding sites.

So, my advise is this: keep it simple and skip the day tour.

At the unlikely case of 25th being a strike day, you 'll go to Acropolis Museum and other sites, getting to Acropolis Hill on the 26th.

At the unlikely case of 26th being a strike day, you 'll go to the Acropolis and other sites on the 25th and Museum on the 26th.

 

You may want to take a look at these maps: Some nice Google maps from Trip Advisor

 

At the unlikely case of both dates being a strike, you 'll do Acropolis Museum on the 26th and go to a sail to Aegina or Hydra island on the 25th on your own, blaming the Greeks for ever for not leaving you see the Acropolis by 10 meters distance ( i am kidding, they have a really hard time ).

 

Flexibility is needed but aknowledgment also of the fact that this is a huge long - standing city and there is no way you 'll not find something to do IN the city, except if world turns upside down, which i doubt will happen in our days. At least, i hope so :-)

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Nick,

 

Are there any planned strikes (especially taxi) for Monday October 24, Tuesday October 25, Wednesday October 26, and Sunday November 6?

 

Unlike others have mentioned here, our scheduled taxi driver just says he can not help us (such as finding a private alternative) if there is a strike.

 

We are scheduled to go to Delphi on the 25th and may need to find an alternative (such as group tour) to get there assuming the site is open.

 

We also planned to be at the acropolis and/or new acropolis museum at 8:00AM on the 26th before transferring to our ship.

 

Any updates or suggested alternatives?

 

Several people have reported that their hotels were very helpful in arranging transportation to their ship or to the airport in the event of a taxi strike. You might try contacting your hotel to see if they can assist and it may give you some peace of mind.

 

If you're staying in/near the Plaka, the Acropolis Museum may be walking distance and it is also located very close to a Metro stop (Akropoli), assuming public transportation is running.

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Anyone care to speculate on what a plane arriving into Athens would do if it couldn't land, due to air traffic controllers walking out??

If the plane had to go to an alternate destination...where would that be?

AND, would the passengers then be bussed to the Athens airport, or what would happen to the poor tourists who have been expecting a wonderful Athens vacation?!

Keeping my fingers crossed for everyone who is going to or leaving from Athens in the near future.

 

*We will be flying in on a Saturday, and boarding ship on Sunday (Nov 5th and 6th)...will it being a weekend make a difference?

 

Sure do appreciate posters here who have graciously contributed valuable information to all us "fragile tourists". :)

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Don't always believe what you read.

 

Refinery workers strike stopped after 5 hours.

 

Yesterday was a pretty difficult day indeed, since car drivers rushed to fill reservoirs, even when it was announced strike was over.

 

Regardingthe garbage strike, it is indeed running. Yeap, a lot of garbage but you 'll see none in the center, where the sites are. Those having a hard time are those in the neigborhoods, usually those of "lower income".

 

Greece is pretty functional when it comes to tourism site, still public sector, tax collection and those secotrs having to do with government income are already near to non - functional indeed.

 

This does not affect visitors, at least at the extent you refer.

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