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Sunday, December 16th
Greek Christmas
i guess since i'm done with finals and only have a few days left in Athens, i should just share more pictures on this blog.
last thursday, we went to Syntagma Square to watch the tree lighting. we got there a little before 7pm, thinking that they were actually going to light it then, when it turned out, the festivities were supposed to start at 7pm and the lighting was at the end. of course, the festivities operated on Greek time, and there were many "intervals" without music, performances, and just waiting around in the cold. the fun part was that i was familiar with a few of the Christmas songs in Greek, and sang along with the children performing the carols. the surprise of the night was that when the finally lit the tree after 8 o'clock, it was followed by a spectacular fireworks show. i had not expected that at all, so despite the long period of standing around in the cold, it was worth the wait to see the fireworks.
jessica on 12.16.07 @ 10:47 PM GMT [more..] No Comments
Sofia, Bulgaria
last weekend, i went to Sofia, Bulgaria with one of my roommates for our last trip this semester. we knew nothing about the city before we went, and barely did any research on the language or place. however, it was a good, relaxing weekend, without any rushing to see archaeological sites and whatnot. we spent our entire time in the city, walking around in the cold, hitting all the sights located on our handy map provided for us by our hostel. too bad there wasn't any snow when we were there, but at least it didn't rain, and the cold was endurable for the most part. the hostel we stayed at was Hostel Mostel, which was in an excellent location and had very nice facilities. they also provided breakfast with toasters for real toast! i haven't had toast all semester and let me tell you, that was an amazing experience! they even provided a portion of spaghetti and beer every night, so we took advantage of that for sure, in addition to our Bulgarian dinners elsewhere. Sofia itself is a nice little city, with lots of street markets scattered about the city. we visited the Lady's market, which is the farmer's market mixed with the clothing market; the book market which had tons of great books, all of which we couldn't read because they were in Cyrillic alphabet; and a really cool, random street market that sold various heirlooms and old Bulgarian tradition handicrafts. we saw old army patches, old musical instruments, various doctor's instruments, old photographs, collector's stamps, flasks, furs and cigarette cases with the swastika on it...which we couldn't understand why they would sell it. the market probably intended for tourists since it was located right across from Sofia's main tourist attraction, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.
jessica on 12.16.07 @ 10:31 PM GMT [more..] No Comments
Tuesday, December 11th
Greeks on strike (again)
oh the greeks are at it again...except this time, even the airport will shut down.
International Herald Tribune
Nationwide strike set to paralyze Greece on Wednesday
By Anthee Carassava
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
ATHENS: Greek workers geared for one of the largest labor mobilizations in decades, staging a strike Wednesday that is expected to ground air travel, shut state offices and paralyze key services in protest to proposed pension reforms.
The nationwide strike was called by Greece's two main labor unions, the General Confederation of Greek Labor, or GSEE, and the Civil Servants' Union, or Adedy, in an attempt to pressure the center-right government to amend controversial proposals intended to revamp the country's ailing social security system.
"Nothing will be moving on Wednesday," said Efstathios Anestis, spokesman for the GSEE union. "This is the only way for workers to show their opposition to the government's decision."
GSEE and Adedy jointly represent more than 2.5 million workers.
Under the proposed reforms, the government hopes to fuse about 170 pension funds into eight broad-based funds, encouraging employees to stay at work beyond the age limit of 65 despite pledges not to increase retirement ages and cut pension benefits.
Like other countries in Europe, Greece's pension system faces enormous future deficits.
But barring changes, the funds could face bankruptcy and the government's massive pension spending may affect the budget within as little as 10 years, putting Greece at risk again of running excessive deficits, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Greece's center-right government won re-election in September promising to speed up economic and social reforms.
Still, attempts to overhaul country's ailing social security system have uncorked widespread discontent in recent weeks, sending streams of protestors to the streets in a string of strikes.
"Wednesday's nationwide strike is a crucial litmus test for the government's reform-minded agenda," said to Vima, an Athens daily.
Air traffic controllers said no airplanes would take off or land at Athens International airport on Wednesday, except military, medical and government aircraft. Bus, trolley and suburban railways services will also come to a halt as banks and most public services will remain shut.
Schools will remain closed, while hospital and ambulance service plan to operate on skeleton staff, treating only emergency cases.
The last serious effort at pension overhaul, in 2001, by the then labor-friendly Socialist administration, led to massive street demonstration that nearly rocked the government from power.
Notes:
International Herald Tribune Copyright © 2007 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
jessica on 12.11.07 @ 08:18 PM GMT [link] 6 Comments
Friday, December 7th
Bonsoir Paris!
yes, i visited Lorraine in Paris last weekend and it was amazing! i wish i had more time, but i know i will go back one day and spend at least a couple of days at the Louvre again. it was wonderful to not only spend time with an old friend, but to travel alone for once and wander around an unfamiliar, gorgeous city. it was also wonderful to walk around with the Christmas lights and decorations up, inhaling the crisp Parisian air as i wandered around the streets. it was definitely a lot colder than Athens, but at least it felt like winter. i don't have much time to talk about it, partly because it was more visual than anything, and because i have an early flight to Sofia, Bulgaria today. i don't think i need to say much about Paris since i bet most of you know enough about the famous sites there, and being a short visit, i only went to some of the most famous sites. a picture is a thousand words, and Paris is certainly the epitome of that saying. Thus, here goes a little blog content with lots of pictures and captions.
jessica on 12.07.07 @ 12:30 AM GMT [more..] No Comments
Wednesday, December 5th
Transylvania, Romania
recap: Thanksgiving weekend.
obviously Greece doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, but CYA gave us an extra day off, allowing us a four-day weekend of traveling. for no specific reason, the four of us decided to go to Romania and sort of backpack through for a weekend. we hit four places: Bucharest, Braşov, Sighişoara, and Sibiu. of course, we also visited Bran Castle, supposedly the inspiration for Dracula, and even ate at Dracula's (alleged) birth-home in Sighişoara. we arrived in Bucharest on Thursday morning, celebrating our Thanksgiving with no turkey and barely a full meal because we had to catch a train to Braşov later that evening.
don't be fooled by this picture, however. Bucharest was not nearly as picturesque as Sibiu. while Bucharest is the capital of Romania, and very large, its grey buildings and few tourist attractions didn't appeal to us too much. not to mention Bucharest is notorious for prostitution and other shady things, but nevertheless, we did visit Ceauceşcu's monumental legacy - the Palace of Parliament - the second largest administrative building in the world next to the Pentagon. while our tour through the building was super short, the few rooms we saw were ridiculously over the top, with magnificent chandeliers and rococo (they claimed neo-Renaissance), gaudy architecture. the building consists of 1000 rooms, and is perhaps the most unnecessary structure i've ever seen.
jessica on 12.05.07 @ 01:44 AM GMT [more..] 2 Comments