Omonia Square

As heat goes on, the heart of the city is hardly beating. Actually, I don't remember seeing Omonia Square so totally empty before.

Omonia is a central square in Athens and one of the main traffic hubs of the city.

After years of abandonment to drug dealers, junkies and prostitutes, today is clean and safe.

Omonia is the oldest square in Athens. It was built in 1846 and got its name a few years later, when the heads of different political parties met and swore Omonia (=concord) ending up the bloody riots that had burst among their supporters.

Since then, Omonia went through a lot of changes. The picture below was taken in 1903.

Omonia in 1931.

1955

1964

Eutychia means happiness

Today it's so hot in Athens. I just got back home and it feels like heaven laying under the air conditioner. But I guess this summer my air conditioner is going to be my best friend!

Last summer the 70% of Greeks did not go on vacation. This year even more people are expected to go nowhere due to the lack of money and fluid economic situation.

In 2007 the percentage of those who could not afford going on vacation was 45%.

For some people though things are even worse. One million Greeks can't pay their electricity bill while, at the same time, more and more look for food in the garbage.

In 2009-2012 homeless raised by 25%. Walking on the streets of Athens is not the same anymore.

Eutychia lives on the streets since last winter. In Greek Eutychia means happiness but that's a feeling she's long forgotten. She has no family or close friends. She feels hopeless. She didn't stop crying the entire time talking.

" I've worked all of my life and ended up like this. I have to wait for my pension to be approved for almost one more year . And 'till then what? Am I going to be alive in one year? Do you have any idea how dangerous is it to live on the street? Do politicians care about us? What have I done to deserve that?" she wonders.

It is estimated that 20.000 homeless live in Greece. Most of them live on the streets of Athens and Piraeus. Things though are expected to get worse since in the next six months public social spending will be cut by 18%.

Under the Acropolis

Yesterday I talked on the phone with a colleague of mine. She sounded so worried because it is heard that dozens of layoffs are about to come in my work.

But I don't want to think more about it. One thing I brought back from my trip to China is a proverb that says "when you still can change something there's no need to worry. When there's nothing to do about it, there's no need to worry too". So I took a long walk to one of my favorite spots in Athens: Monastiraki.

Monastiraki is located almost under the Acropolis and is one of the oldest neighborhoods in town attracting tourists from all over the world. "People look but don't buy" told me Antonis a tourist shop owner.

Most shops were totally empty. It was so sad seeing their owners all alone, watching and waiting and hoping that today would be better than the day before.

I kept on walking and looking around. Fortunately, the Acropolis is still there.

And even more there are still people that would fly from the other side of the world just to visit the Acropolis.

Chance, Tyler, Lina and Bri came all the way from Michigan, USA. They are 14 years old and have heard so much about the ancient Greek civilization. They told me that the majority of students in class voted to visit Greece on an educational trip with their teachers.

"Today we visited the Acropolis. It was more than I expected" says Bri.

"Athens is different but beautiful. We talked a bit about the economic crisis earlier. But I see no crisis. Everyone is in very good condition. I thought it would be different. I don't feel like something bad is going on here".

" I've seen it on the news and today our tour guide talked about it. I wouldn't know otherwise. I doesn't seem like it at all. It seems perfectly fine" says Tyler.I think it's really fun for the first time being out of the country so it's good coming here first. There's so much to see".

I walked back home enjoying the peaceful evening. In fact most of the evenings are peaceful lately. Streets are not crowed as they used to and traffic is less. One would guess that everyone's on vacation but the truth is that Greeks go out and use their cars less than before due to the current lack of money.

Dancing on Monastiraki Square

Yesterday, I was waiting for a friend of mine on Monastiraki square, just in front of the electric railway station. She was already late when suddenly...

...African rhythms filled the whole place ...

...attracting people of all different directions.

And when those two went dancing, people started to clap loudly!

And then I woke up; my friend called me on my mobile and she asked to hurry up because she had been waiting, a few meters away, in front of the metro station, for more than 20 minutes :)!

Giorgos of Korae Square

The other day I saw Mr Giorgos again. He was in Korae Square, on the same corner I first saw him.

Actually, that time was a day after the violent riots of February 12/2012 and I interviewed him for the radio I work for.

"Athens was burning, everything around was on fire but I was not afraid" he told me. "In contrast, I was wishing for my end. What worse could possibly happen to me? I'm homeless since 1991. I come from Thessaloniki but to me home is all places I stand on."

"The other day I went to the police station to get an ID card and they asked for my electricity bill! I'm homeless. How can I possibly have an electricity bill? One does not exist without money. I don't exist".

Today, five months later, nothing's changed for him. Only this time I met him, it was under 43C.

Under 44 degrees of Celsius

While all Greek media keep on warning people to avoid being outside, Georgia Athanassiades had to go to work.

She sells lottery tickets, sitting everyday on the same corner, in Syntagma, since 1973!

" I was a young girl when I first came to Athens and I grew old on this very same corner. Now I'm a grandmother" she says smiling.

To her, it doesn't matter if the temperature is up to 44C or below zero 'cause, as she explains, she has to earn her living.

" Bills are running and everything's getting more expensive. What else am I supposed to do? But it's OK. It doesn't seem that hard to me. I'm used to it now. Besides, I like meeting people".

By the time I met her it was three after noon. She had been there since eight o'clock in the morning and wasn't going to leave before six.

" I've sold nothing yet" she tells me.

" Who trusts his luck now days in Athens? I hear no one saying that everything is or will be fine soon.

Recently, I cut orders by half and still I never sell all of them."

She was about to tell me more but I really had to go. I couldn't bear the sun burning my skin anymore though it was less than 15 minutes that I was standing there.

Hulk goes Mohican

Hulk is my five-year old tibetan spaniel. I got him from a pet shop close to Monastiraki, on Athina's street, when he was only five-weeks old and raised him as a child.

Currently, Hulk is on vacation with the only people on earth I trust him with; my parents. Before they left I took him for a haircut. I wanted him to be both comfortable and stylish while playing by the sea. So I took him to "Pet Stars" where Litsa took real good care of him!

Litsa gave him a Mohican look due to the wild times going in Athens. The "Sex and the City" days are over giving place to a "Mad Max" time being that has definitely affected style as much as each other part of everyday life.

Litsa started her business two years ago. It was a risk she took and hasn't regretted it. She surely hasn't become rich but she's her boss and she keeps it going. "It's not easy running a pet beauty salon presently but it goes. People rather cut down their own expenses than their dogs'. I threw prices and yet it's difficult since most people just can't afford spending 30 euros anymore. " she says. And it's so true.

In Greece, nearly 1000 people are losing their jobs each day while nearly 1.1 million Greeks are already unemployed. Since 2009, wages have fallen by 25% on average while new taxes were added.

ERT is not for sale

While the Greek Prime Minister goes on to describe ERT as a symbol of waste, the French newspaper L'Humanite, published yesterday a letter from the Director of ERT Financial Services to the leadership of the Ministry of Finance which presents ERT as profitable, noting that the first quarter of 2013 had earnings 40.967.740 euros.

Greek media remain on strike

Participating to the continuing strike in greek media in solidarity with the fired employees at public broadcaster ERT, "The Athenian" will report only about topics related with the closure of ERT.

ERT is ours

What the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras really succeeded to do is to bring people back down on the streets. Thousands protested this morning outside the headquarters of ERT, on Mesogion avenue.

It's not about ERT.
It's about democracy, you idiot.

Even after the protest people wouldn't go. They remain in the courtyard in order to be a human chain in case of police intervention.

ERT's marathon broadcast is continued by the ex-employees that occupy the building for third day. The program is transmitted through various web-sites while the government threatens with closure all channels that dare to transmit it.
As I'm watching right now, despite the rain thousands of people are still there.

People's support is big and it comes from all over.

Tele-Brussels

At the same time, protests take place all over Greece and Europe pushing hard the greek government that probably could not imagine this kind of reaction...to the GREEK SUCCESS STORY.