The Waste of painting Buildings White - impractical Greece
- On my first day I began to hate white buildings ... It irrtiates me ...I wear a hat to protect me from the sun, but it just reflects off the building walls onto me. There is some law that buildings must be painted white, but just as I would never go out with a woman who wears white as it shows how impractical she is this tradition if also silly ; if they left the stone bare or used other tones like off white or grey then the sun wouldn't glare and they wouldn't have to paint half as often.
- To top it all people sseemed to be spending days paint the joins in the paving slabs with 5cm of road pain ... Another silly measure ... how long before it gets worn off ? Apparently there used to be a practical reason behind this annual ritual as they used to use chalk and it would stop the insects and ants coming up.
- These duo tone of white buildings with blue window frames is boring and to cap it all the people seem to have little colour sense in clothes ... I's black shoes, black leather jacket, black hair "for God's sake people brightenup" .. Well at least they don't dress as bad as me !
| I don't Get this tourist business and off season idea
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- I'd be happy if the Island was sustainable, but I don't think it is I don't get this off season thing whereby they charge exorbitant prices 4 months of the year and do nothing the rest of the year. It'd be better if they traded all the year round by doing something creative like having a winter university.
- Are all the Greeks millionaires or something ? .. How can they pay €30 each for a room and then €2 to sit ouside a cafe and €5 to eat anything. - Me I’d sit outside with my thermos and sandwiches.
- I worry that the foreign hordes they expect to turn up this year, might not turn up... Even if they have got the money they could go somewhere cheaper like Eastern Europe. Even many of the Greeks might not come.
| Greece Dream the self-fulfilling phrophesy |
- Take Santorini : actually it's not such an exciting place all there is is that striking image of the white buildings cascading down the western cliffs which are the edge of the exploded volcano caldera. Once you have glimpsed this image for 10 minutes that's it and Yiannis said actually those multiple layers of houses are a new thing 15 years ago there used to be only one layer . But there is an effect : this dream of idyllic Greece attracts "cool people", so it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy cos visitors get to mingle with other cool people .... so they feel Santorini is cool. There a big bar scene, but the prices are too high for me.
- There a couple of other things the ruins high up of old Thira, and the sunsets looking west from Fira or Ia, but the reality is : it's often cloudy so I never saw an interesting sunset there.
| How Did Greece Become The richest country in Europe ?
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I won't pay 3 Euro for a coffee, but the cafes are all full of Greeks paying 3Euro for a coffee and 10 Euros for a sandwich ..how can they afford that, when I can't?
I asked local expats they said
"half the people are not paying those prices they are friends of the owners
Yes they pay for a coffee, but then the owner brings them 3 free rakis (a spirit whic is pretty crap cheap; schnaps)
they pay for a wine and then the owner might bring you have a a meal for free
Greeks are so proud they have to be seen in the cafe so they will pay ridiculous prices "
- why do that charge high prices and bring you free stuff ? Instead of just charging a fair price I don't use cafes, but if they charged reasonable prices in the first place I would
- alcohol is still often too cheap so many expat alcoholics here ..it's too easy ... at village bars I get a glass for 50c but 1.5L at a shop is 2Euro
They said when bargaining the trick is not to ask the price but say can they match the price someone else has given you
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Greece Plays ... Germany Pays |
- Since I have been here I have seen: - March 24th Greek National Day
- 4 days of Easter Holiday
- 2 days of National Strike on 22, 23 April
- Workers day holiday May 1st
- then there is another national strike on May 5th
- and there were a few other strike days for some workers..
- So that's 9 days of non-working in 6 weeks. - No wonder Greece is broke the government has paid people for 6 days when they weren't working
and the workers can't really be that desperate for work cos they have given up the money they could have earnt on the 3 or more strike days.
- Then - How come the cafes are full of Greeks having €3 coffees and €10 sandwiches when I can't afford them so sit in the square drinking from my flask and making my own sandwiches.
- Seems to me that all these non-work days and sitting around in cafes can be contrasted with the attitude in Germany of get at 6am and start working. Germany has money cos it works yet Greecce is playing while Germany is paying ... through it's taxpayers propping up the Euro.
- I have to say that the small business owners are less lazy I see farmworkers working everyday and many small shops are open 7 days (although not working hard)
| Idea : Work-in Days
- If Greeks are serious about mending their economy they could do the opposite of strikes.. they should turn up on a non-working day and work for nothing. It's so easy to strike and do nothing ... in my idea the bosses would pay their profits into tax
| The Greek Islands Are A Tourist Trap|
- Normally I go to places where holiday makers don't go so I am a bystander observing everyday culture. But in the Greek Islands it's different as there is such a huge industry with tourists often outnumbering locals ... It's different I am just another tourist.
| Idea to get Business People pay tax
- "Why should we work when the bosses pay no tax" say the workers. Why should bosses ride in first class whn thewy haven't paid enough tax ? OK here's my idea you make a law that luxury products like first class travel etc can only be bought with platinum credit card of the traveler ... Then make a rule that banks must withdraw the card if the last 6 months tax paid is below $10,000
| 98% of Greek Rich Cheated|
- As reported on BBC "ATHENS — In the wealthy, northern suburbs of this city, where summer temperatures often hit the high 90s, just 324 residents checked the box on their tax returns admitting that they owned swimming pools.
So tax investigators studied satellite photos of the area — a sprawling collection of expensive villas tucked behind tall gates — and came back with a decidedly different number: 16,974 pools.
That kind of wholesale lying about assets, and other eye-popping cases that are surfacing in the Greek news media, point to the staggering breadth of tax dodging that has long been a way of life in Greece"
| We Shouldn't be Punished it's the Corrupt Politicians fault
- I heard strikers say they shouldn't be punished cos they didn't cause Greece's huge debts. That's like some German's arguing after WW2 that they should be excused or being the mother and son in family when the father and 2 daughter's took huge loans.
1. They took the benefis like early retirement etc. , lots of public holidays
2. They failed to persuade the majority who voted for the governments.
- They can't exclude themselves from the punishment in the same way that in a family you can't be excused when you fail to stop the other family members taking out loans
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