As I lie here soaking up the sun, I reflect that this is the remotest corner of the great European empire. The end of the road on the almost last island in the chain. Just across the water is foreign. You know, not the EU.
This must be how the Roman legionnaires felt when they were posted to the last bastion of the Roman Empire - or as we know it - the Scottish border. Nothing but savages beyond this point...
It's so quiet and peaceful. But of course that's the point. As we all know, the Greek economy is fucked together with pretty much all of the rest of the Euro zone except Germany. They have their own agenda. So maybe that's why it's so quiet. Everyone else is in Turkey - with the foreigners!
The exchange rate has improved since I was here in May (€1.10 now €uro 1.16) but nowhere near where it used to be (€1.45) but any slight improvement has been offset by the latest Greek VAT increase. Your restaurant bill has increased to 11% VAT from 8% last time out and non foods - e.g. essentials like beer, wine, ouzo and metaxa -now carry a whopping 23% VAT. Even in the local currency, restaurant bills are also up. A meal for two will now set you back around €35 where it used to be about €25 year a few years back.
Still, a few good things that can still be found. The red wine I am drinking as I write this comes in a 5 litre plastic bottle and is surprisingly good for the equivalent of about £1.20 a bottle.
Cheers!...
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