Destination: Greece
TripAdvisor to Athens: Dirty Isn’t Sexy or Cool, Unless You’re London
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.14.08 | 10:41 AM ET
Athens is tied with Rome as the third dirtiest city in Europe, according to a survey by TripAdvisor. If the survey had been done this week, however, Greece’s capital might have made first place. Garbage collectors have been on strike for days, as part of a nationwide union protest against government pension reforms.
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzAn Expat in Athens: Carnival’s Kites and Calamari
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.11.08 | 4:31 PM ET
Yesterday was Clean Monday for Eastern Orthodox Christians, which means that Apokries (or Carnival celebrations) are winding down and Lent has officially begun. In Athens, where I shot this photo, Greeks spent the day eating fish—fried calamari and taramosalata, or fish roe dip, are special favorites—and flying kites on Philopappus Hill near the Acropolis. This year, Athens was far emptier than usual, since many Athenians had gone out to the provinces for the festivities.
An Expat in Athens: Hitting the Polls in Greece
by Joanna Kakissis | 02.12.08 | 1:37 PM ET
There was no way I was going to miss voting in the most exciting Democratic primary in my lifetime. The Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama race is making major headlines in Greece, even knocking a tedious government sex scandal from its nightly takeover of the news.
How Barack Obama Just Might Improve Your Vacation
by Joanna Kakissis | 01.24.08 | 12:39 PM ET
I’ve lived in Greece since 2004 and have watched foreign contempt for George W. Bush reach epic proportions. As an American (albeit one of Greek descent), I’ve repeatedly faced angry cross-examinations about Bush’s foreign policy and the war in Iraq. But since the 2008 presidential race started making international headlines a couple of months ago, including here in Greece, I’ve noticed those angry interrogations are increasingly being replaced with enthusiastic pronouncements about how much the Greeks I encounter love Barack Obama. It’s a startling shift. Could it be a sign that more American travelers will be greeted with warmer welcomes around the globe in 2008? I sure hope so.
Awakening the Primal Chef Within at Greece’s Open-Air Markets
by Joanna Kakissis | 01.14.08 | 5:04 PM ET
Photo by Daquella Manera via Flickr (Creative Commons).
This Smithsonian story on the Athens Central Market got me thinking about food (again), but not for the usual escapist reasons. For one thing, Athens Central isn’t a food porn kind of place, since it has all those bloody carcasses, intestines and glassy-eyed fish that inevitably come with creepy sales pitches (i.e. “baby lambs fed only on mother’s milk!”). When I first visited the market in 2004, the full-on raucousness of the place unnerved me. But it also awoke something primal in my palate—something these old but enduring agoras usually do to the sheltered supermarket set.
When Tourism Meets Nationalism
by Joanna Kakissis | 12.20.07 | 2:49 PM ET
It has in a big way in Yan’an, the prefecture in northwestern China that was the center of the Chinese communist revolution from 1935 to 1948. Mao Zedong and other communist leaders lived in caves and pagodas carved into the hillside, and Chinese communists celebrate it as the birthplace of the revolution. And as China has grown into a world power, its leaders are trying to boost national pride through “red tourism” that celebrates communist touchstones such as Yan’an, according to NPR. Of course, Mao’s pagodas are an obvious choice to muscle up nationalism: Today Chinese visitors from other regions visit Yan’an so they can dress up as revolutionaries and sing the communist ditty “The East is Red” with performers wearing traditional peasant clothes.
Searching for Authenticity In Florence
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.18.07 | 8:51 AM ET
When the gesticulating Italian selling printed artifacts said “baper” instead of “paper,” Shashi Tharoor couldn’t resist asking the follow-up question: “Where are you from?” “Florence,” the Italian replied defensively. “But before that?” pressed Tharoor. “Jordan,” the salesman replied. “Originally.” Tharoor, an author and former under-secretary general of the United Nations, explored authenticity in the age of globalization in a clever essay in Financial Times. He traveled to the historic Renaissance city—“with its self-conscious air of serving as a citadel of centuries of Italian civilization”—to find a Jordanian man selling traditional Florentine handicraft, a couple of Bangladeshi waiters who spoke Italian with a Sylheti accent, and a Japanese woman who worked at the fabled Farmacia of Santa Maria Novella. “Perhaps our sense of what is and is not authentic needs to change as well in our mixed-up world,” Tharoor writes.
‘The Condé Nast Traveler Book of Unforgettable Journeys’
by Tyler D. Johnson | 10.05.07 | 10:23 AM ET
A new anthology gathers some of the most memorable stories from the magazine's 20-year history. Tyler D. Johnson says it contains the humor and wisdom only travel can deliver.
Travels in Greece After the Fires: The Good, Bad and Ugly
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.03.07 | 11:29 AM ET
While Greeks living in parts of the Peloponnese and Evia scorched by this summer’s devastating fires are bracing themselves for massive floods this fall and the prospect that some forests will take at least two decades to grow back, tourists heading to Greece after the fires have remained remarkably bullish.
Chariots of Rubble
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.21.07 | 6:34 AM ET
Photo by JOVIKA, via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Antiquity trumps Art Deco, at least in Athens, where ancient glory is both identity and economy. Two buildings—a 1930s landmark and a house owned by “Chariots of Fire” theme composer Vangelis Papathanassiou—are scheduled to be razed in order to clear the view of the Parthenon for visitors at the New Acropolis Museum, says the AP. The plan has enraged Athenians who believe Greece spends too much time lingering over its antiquities instead of appreciating (and preserving) its modern treasures. Neighborhood residents and architects have begun a feverish Internet campaign to save both buildings. So far they’ve gotten a lot of attention and e-mail support from all over the world.
In Greece, Developers Eye Scorched Peloponnese
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.20.07 | 12:25 PM ET
We mentioned in an earlier post that greedy developers of tourism resorts may have had a hand in Greece’s devastating and deadly fires last month. Alas, the reports we pointed to were right. Just days after the ruling New Democracy party eked out an election victory, its leaders gave property developers the go-ahead to build hotels and other facilities on an environmentally fragile area cleared by the fires, writes Elinda Labropoulou in The Independent.
Hotfooting Through the Landmarks, From Los Angeles to Athens
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.19.07 | 8:53 AM ET
Local guides around the U.S. are offering urban running tours that point out city landmarks while also giving devoted runners a good workout, writes Bonnie Tsui in The New York Times. New York, Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco all have such tours, which are apparently growing in popularity. Though runners (me included) on vacation have been huffing and puffing on the back roads of new cities for years, their exploring has often been haphazard and befuddling. Who, after all, wants to run while holding a sweaty map?
Where in the World Are You, Joanna Kakissis?
by World Hum | 09.13.07 | 5:53 PM ET
The subject of our latest nearly up-to-the-minute interview with a traveler somewhere in the world: Joanna Kakissis, a new contributor to the World Hum blog. Her response landed in our inbox yesterday.
World Hum: Where in the world are you?
Is Tourism Development Behind Fires in Greece?
by Jim Benning | 08.28.07 | 2:18 PM ET
Fires raging in the Peloponnese (pictured) and on the island of Evia have killed more than 60 people and led to the declaration of a nationwide state of emergency in Greece. In Olympia, fires “licked the edges of the original Olympic stadium and scorched the yard of the museum, home to one of Greece’s greatest archaeological collections,” according to the BBC. Now, some are suggesting that a number of fires could have been set by arsonists “as a way of getting around Greek law which forbids development on areas designated as forest land.”
UNESCO Adds Three Sites to Danger List, Names Next World Book Capital
by Michael Yessis | 07.10.07 | 11:14 AM ET
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has had a busy few weeks. Not only was it busy issuing a press release claiming no affiliation with the new seven wonders, during meetings in Christchurch, New Zealand, the group added the Galapagos and their surrounding marine reserve; Samarra, Iraq; and Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba National Park to its list of endangered World Heritage sites. Two more sites—the Royal Palaces of Abomey, Benin and Kathmandu Valley, Nepal—were removed from the Danger List.