“Are you in Greece? What impact is the risk of leaving the single currency having on your life? You can share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk .
If you are available to talk to a BBC journalist please include a telephone number.”
So far (Monday late morning) everything seems to be the same around here except it’s pretty obvious that tourist numbers are down on the island. And I reckon we can blame the lack of British visitors on the good old British press and their mad scaremongering tactics to sell papers through invented misfortune. Neil went to the bank yesterday and got some money out, we went out for dinner as a Sunday treat, and, despite the best creative efforts of one of the Brit papers, Greece was not comparable to ‘the last days of Pompeii’, which, having seen the film with Frankie Howerd, conjures up all kinds of debauchery – yes, no, titter ye not.
Besides, wasn’t Pompeii a bit of a surprise to everyone? Did they have time to chill out, eat, drink and be Mary before the thing blew up? There must have been a few rumbles and such like but to suggest that they (and now ‘the Greeks’) were acting like Nero in Rome as the place burned… well, I think the newspaper was mixing its mythology, history, and probably metaphors.
So, there I was last night, fiddling while Rome burned and enjoying a very nice pork dish at Georgio’s, and that followed on from a very nice light lunch with friends in the courtyard, so we had a very pleasant Sunday thank you very much. So much so that we missed our 5.15 appointment on Monday morning, though I was awake and could have gone, and instead, settled into some writing work.
And, as I write this, the BBC might be interested to know that, as at 11.05 on Monday: day trip boats are arriving, the taxi boats are going out to the beaches, there are many pleasure yachts in the harbour, a couple of big ‘uns too. Last I heard both banks were giving out cash – though I think Alpha may be limiting their amounts – and all seems perfectly right with the world. A few locals I overheard yesterday were on the side of ‘get out of the Euro and be done with it,’ and presumably they are coming from the vantage point of having large families to support them, growing their own food and catching their own fish, being used to hardship, having nothing much left to lose and having a feeling of wanting Greece to be Greek again; national pride and all that.
As for me? Well, whatever. You know? I’m not the most politically active cushion on the back bench, and I can’t vote in Greek elections anyway (only local), so that’s that, but don’t get me started on the referendums… Had a brief chat about that Scottish referendum the other day: one country voting to leave a union of four, but only that one country’s residents allowed to vote. How democratic was that? Load of rubbish. And the possible 2017 one on leaving Europe? Well, heaven forfend! That’s going to be won or lost on the strength of headlines in the likes of the Daily Fail. “Leave Europe and you won’t have any more smelly foreigners getting their hands on your taxes, not that you pay any as you get all kinds of benefits yourself, but that’s okay because you’re white and read this newspaper.’ Daft. Vote in a government and let them get on with it. Don’t like them? Well, you should have gone and cast your vote rather than sitting at home saying ‘not interested’ and doing the tea-time quickie.
And, that’s me for you. Have a good Tuesday – hope you like Neil’s photos from last weekend.
