It's not easy being the caretaker of Greece's heritage these days. Greek museums are facing budget cuts, strikes, reduced staff, even loss of visitors due to riots. The National Archaeological Museum had many rooms closed during the peak tourist season last summer due to ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Greece
Greek museums face the economic crisis
It's not easy being the caretaker of Greece's heritage these days. Greek museums are facing budget cuts, strikes, reduced staff, even loss of visitors due to riots. The National Archaeological Museum had many rooms closed during the peak tourist season last summer due to ...Athens nightlife: desperate pensioners on the hustle
Giorgis looked like he didn't have long to live.
Aged about 70, he was a tall man who appeared shorter because he stooped so much that his head hung almost below his shoulders. He was thin and walked with a limp that showed he suffered from sciatica. His clothes--yellow ...New series: Our past in peril, Greek tourism faces the economic crisis
This is a sculpture of a fallen Greek warrior from the temple of Aphaia on the Greek island of Aigina. Made in the 5th century BC, it's an important example of Early Classical Greek art. This was a time when Greek artists began imitating life with realistic poses and ...Rent the Acropolis for just $2000 a day
Desperate times require desperate measures. That seems to be the mantra coming out of Greece these days, where the country has gone from debating whether or not it should lease out the Acropolis to just how much they should charge. Yesterday, the Greek cultural ministry ...Should Greece lease the Acropolis?
Greece has been hit hard by the recession. According to EU figures, it has 18.8 percent unemployment, the second highest in Europe and more than twice that of the United States. Last year it saw its economy shrink by 5.5 percent.
Now former deputy health minister ...Daily Secret offers insider intel for Istanbul, Athens, Shanghai and more
Last month, I went to a designer-clothing pop-up sale in the back of a restaurant, scored an invite to an exclusive party with Champagne and gourmet truffles, and got the manager's private phone number of a hot new nightlife spot. I'm not famous or especially well-connected, ...Greek island for rent
Island-hopping around Greece is one of the most glorious travel activities imaginable until you arrive in Corfu or Santorini or Crete and realize that thousands of other holiday makers had the same idea. If only you could have an island to yourself....
Well, now you can. ...Castles in Greece in danger
When people think of castles, they usually think of those in Western Europe such as Spain, France, and Germany. Eastern Europe, however, has just as many if not more.
Greece has some of the best, like the castle of Methoni photographed here by Wolfram Sinapius. Having ...Battle of Marathon to be fought again
While the U.S. is having lots of Civil War reenactments lately, it's not the only country where avid hobbyists like to refight old battles. This year Greece is marking the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon, an epic clash between the Greeks and Persians that saved ...Travel Dreams survey ranks cruise vacations tops
Virtuoso Life magazine readers, some of the world's most sophisticated travelers, voted for travel options on their "wish list" for the 2011 Travel Dreams survey and the results are in. Spending time on the high seas emerged as a common theme. Taking a world cruise and ...Macedonia: what's in a name? A major controversy!
The erection of a giant statue of Alexander the Great in the Macedonian capital of Skopje is the latest round in an ongoing controversy with neighboring Greece.
The statue, erected on Tuesday as part of an ambitious urban development plan called Skopje 2014, drew ...Summer Travel: Athens to Meteora
You don't have to be an accountant to know that Greece's spreadsheets are in need of some serious financial overhaul. Some would argue that the country is essentially bankrupt, and that nothing short of a European bailout and/or a return to the drachma can save it from total ...From myth to Empire: Heracles to Alexander the Great
Today's royals have nothing on the ancients.
Alexander the Great and his predecessors enjoyed a sumptuous lifestyle that beats anything William and Kate will ever enjoy, not to mention real power as opposed to lots of TV time. Now an amazing new exhibition at the ...Summer travel: European beach destinations
With the summer holiday season just around the corner, it's never too early to start planning your escape to the beach. For many Americans, this means balmy Floridian shores, the sun-kissed Californian coast, far-flung Hawaiian islands or hedonistic Caribbean resorts.
But ...Bizarre foods: European "delicacies," by country
What constitutes "food" is relative, depending upon what part of the world you call home. In Asia, pretty much anything on no (snakes), two, four, six, or eight legs is up for grabs. Europe, however, has its own culinary oddities, as detailed below. Got maggots?
...Discovery Adventures travel company debuts 2011's Discovery Channel-inspired trips
Armchair traveler red alert! Discovery Adventures is offering eight new Discovery Channel-inspired cultural trips for 2011, including Greece, Turkey, Italy, France, Japan, and East Africa. Explore archaeological sites near Athens, visit wineries in Tuscany, safari in Kenya, ...Schengen and the disappearance of European passport stamps
Creative new use for border crossing posts at German/Austrian border.
In the late 1980s, an American spending a summer traveling across Europe with a Eurailpass would see his or her passport stamped possibly dozens of times. With a few exceptions, every time a border ...Five lesser-known European islands
Last June, we published a list of four European islands that float under the radar: Porquerolles, France; Fasta Åland, Finland; San Domino, Italy; and Vlieland, Netherlands.
As far as we're concerned, it's not too early to start making summer travel plans to get ...Ten budget-friendly destinations in Europe
For Americans, Europe can be very expensive. Let's take a moment to acknowledge this fact. Tourist costs are high, and currently the euro is doing well against the dollar, even if the pound is down somewhat from its stratospheric performance a few years ago. So yes, ...Zombies with passports: The Walking Dead goes worldwide
In order to promote the new show The Walking Dead on AMC, swarms of zombies invaded 26 cities worldwide (including my city of Istanbul, pictured above and filmed here) earlier this week, lurching around major tourist landmarks and generally freaking out passerby. The ...
