Destination: Greece
My Big Fat Greek Bus Tour
by Eva Holland | 01.08.09 | 1:39 PM ET
Here comes the latest Hollywood Euro-romance. Nia Vardalos, the writer/star of the surprise hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding, is returning to the big screen—and this time, instead of an awkward, unhappy Greek-American travel agent, she’s playing an awkward, unhappy Greek-American tour guide.
My Life in Ruins is set to hit theaters in early May, and stars Vardalos as Georgia, a dissatisfied tour guide who has to re-discover her mojo on the antiquities bus tour from hell. (Richard Dreyfuss co-stars as Irv, the wise and supportive tourist.) Sure, it looks to be a re-tread of the last flick—albeit with more Ugly American jokes this time around—but I’m looking forward to it nonetheless.
“My Big Fat Greek Wedding” was an unexpected bit of magic a few years back. If Vardalos can channel some of that wit, heart and self-deprecation again, she’ll already be two steps ahead of most romantic comedies.
Check out the trailer after the jump.
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Yahoo! BuzzAs Eco-Tourism Grows, Struggle for Cultural Identity Remains
by Joanna Kakissis | 12.30.08 | 1:08 PM ET
In places heavy with history and natural beauty, eco-tourism often comes deeply infused with nostalgia. Consider the 300-year-old Aspros Potamos cottages in eastern Crete, where goatherds once spent wintry nights as their flocks grazed along the mountain gorge. An Athenian journalist rescued the cottages from dilapidation in 1985 and turned them into simple, solar-powered lodges for those who want to commune with nature and a disappearing culture.
This time of year, you may find young Greeks on winter holiday there, gathered around a communal campfire and singing their grandparents’ favorite folk songs. It’s as much an appreciation of Crete’s fragile natural beauty as an exercise in identity.
The Golden Globes: Is it the Year of the Funny Travel Movie?
by Eva Holland | 12.16.08 | 1:24 PM ET
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has released the list of nominees for the upcoming Golden Globe Awards—and to my very pleased surprise, a few travel movies have made the cut.
Scroll right past all those dramas: the action is in the “Best Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy” category, where In Bruges, Mamma Mia and Vicky Cristina Barcelona have all gotten the nod. “In Bruges” also landed a pair of acting nominations for Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, and Meryl Streep took her umpteenth nomination for “Mamma Mia,” while Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall and Penelope Cruz represented “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” in three of the four acting categories.
So what does all this mean? Is it the year of the travel movie?
Plato Was a Backpacker
by Frank Bures | 12.15.08 | 12:10 AM ET
Frank Bures looks a long way back to fellow traveler Plato and the seeds of wisdom
Mourning in Crete, Where ‘Death is Part of Life’
by Valerie Conners | 10.29.08 | 10:30 AM ET
When Cynthia Paine’s fiance died unexpectedly, dashing her dreams of their moving to Greece and marrying, she decided to still head to Crete to face her pain and learn to better accept his passing, she tells the Guardian in a poignant first-person account. “In England, people cross the street rather than talk to someone about the death of their loved one,” she said. “Here (death) was out in the open and constantly spoken of.”
Strike Paralyzes Greece’s Airports, Transportation
by Valerie Conners | 10.22.08 | 11:37 AM ET
A nationwide Greek strike to protest pension cuts has left air traffic, urban transport and public services frozen. Nearly all domestic and international flights, trains and ferries have been canceled. Certainly not the best time to be in Athens; one official described the country as having “effectively come to a halt.”
Hollywood Does ‘The Odyssey’ ... In Space
by Eva Holland | 10.20.08 | 11:43 AM ET
Brad Pitt will play the traveling Greek general in an upcoming Hollywood adaptation of Homer’s classic, the Telegraph reports. The twist? The movie will be a “science fiction version based in space.” We’re big fans of both Odysseus and outer space—but I’m not convinced the two were ever meant to mix.
When Air Traffic Controllers Oversleep
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.02.08 | 10:45 AM ET
Two planes had to circle the Greek island of Lesvos for more than 30 minutes earlier this week because no one was at the airport control tower. The controller supposed to be on duty reportedly overslept, according to Reuters. The report prompted one Reuters reader to crack that “given how controllers are overworked these days, though, that might be the only time in the past year she’s had eight hours of sleep.” Scared? I am.
Photo by jefield via Flickr (Creative Commons).
The Spanakopita’s Last Stand?
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.26.08 | 10:14 AM ET
Three-quarters of Greek adults and two-thirds of Greek children are overweight because of the decline of the famously healthy Mediterranean diet, writes Elisabeth Rosenthal in The New York Times. Just 20 years ago, Greeks were still regularly eating famously healthful staples like whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and goat milk. But as Greek lifestyles grow more hectic and convenience trumps wholesomeness, fast food and high-fat, high-sugar processed snacks have invaded Greek cuisine.
Bored on Zakynthos? You Might Skip the Sex Competition.
by Joanna Kakissis | 07.16.08 | 2:40 PM ET
Last week we heard about the British couple arrested for having sex on a Dubai beach. Now, nine British women vacationing on the Greek island of Zakynthos are facing prostitution charges after being paid to participate in an oral sex contest that was recorded on video and set to be posted on the internet. Gives new meaning to Greece’s latest tourism motto, “Explore Your Senses.”
The New Acropolis Museum: Ready to Take on the British Museum?
by Eva Holland | 07.10.08 | 10:15 AM ET
There’s a new museum opening in Athens this year, but as the Times of London’s Mark Hodson writes, it’s not just another tourist attraction: It’s also “the latest gambit in a 200-year campaign for the return of the Elgin Marbles,” currently housed in the British Museum.
What’s the Cost of Tourism in the Water-Starved Mediterranean?
by Joanna Kakissis | 06.13.08 | 9:47 AM ET
Last year, when I was driving through the Mesara Plain in southern Crete, I found not the green farmland I remembered as a kid but a cascading plain of desiccated land. Some swathes looked like desert, covered only by dehydrated foliage. The island has always been dry, with resourceful farmers literally working the land to life. But I’d never seen it look as dry as this.
New Travel Book: ‘No-Man’s Lands’
by Frank Bures | 05.13.08 | 9:33 AM ET
Full title: “No-Man’s Lands: One Man’s Odyssey Through The Odyssey” (Hardcover)
Author: Scott Huler
Released: March 11, 2008
Travel genre: Travels with classics
Territory covered: Mediterranean
‘Lesbian’ Fight Heats up on Lesbos
by Jim Benning | 05.01.08 | 10:49 AM ET
Yes, some on the Greek island of Lesbos have filed court papers demanding that a gay rights organization in the country stop using the word “lesbian” in its name. Their argument? As summarized by the BBC: “that international dominance of the word in its sexual context violates the human rights of the islanders, and disgraces them around the world.” Ridiculous. The word, of course, dates back to the ancient poet Sappho, who lived on Lesbos.
An Expat in Athens: A Life Abroad, as a List
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.28.08 | 11:01 AM ET
Photo by riting on the wall via Flickr (Creative Commons).
If lives of expats can indeed be boiled down to lists, Marie Claire has some good ones. The magazine spotlights five American women living abroad: an author in Paris, a nonprofit worker in Beijing, a photographer in Cairo, a communications consultant in Tunis and a yoga teacher in Hamburg. They have all found things to love about their new homes but still long for their old ones.