Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with greece

Xmas in Athens - help me plan!

Danah_78 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:28:09 -0800

Spending Xmas alone in Athens: help me make the most of my impromptu holiday. Antiquities, contemporary art, laid back cafes, beautiful scenery, itinerary, etc. In attempt to forget that I'll be alone on Christmas, I booked a spontaneous trip to Athens from Dec 24-28. This is my first trip to the Mediterranean and there’s so much to see and so little time. Can you help me squeeze in as much possible?

My wish list: the ancient sites go without saying, an artsy area with contemporary art galleries, laid back & friendly places to eat/cafes, cool markets to stroll & shop, live outdoor music, pretty view of the sea, nighttime activities that are safe for a solo female traveler, gay/lesbian scene (day or night), scenic views, hidden gems, perhaps a mini cruise to one of the close surrounding islands, or train/bus ride to another must-see site, xmas event? (My hotel is based in Athens, near the National Archaeological Museum.)

I haven’t had much time to research and I’m looking for suggestions, potential itineraries (what to group together for logistic reasons), what I realistically have time for, money saving tips, must-see’s, etc.

Also, any general pointers on the public transportation, being a solo female traveler, not knowing a lick of Greek, and visiting over Christmas would be much appreciated.

Many thanks!
Danah

Help me pick the better cruise

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:52:10 -0800

Please help me choose between two cruises in the eastern Mediterranean (Croatia and Greece). I'm planning to take my wife on a cruise through the Greek islands next October (asking anonymously because this will be a surprise for her). Although we've sailed the western Mediterranean on Costa, we've never been to the eastern part so I'm having a hard time choosing the best itinerary.

The stops are mostly the same, but first cruise goes to Ancona, Piraeus (Athens) and Corfu while the second goes to Bari, Olympia and Rhodes. The price difference is insignficant, so I'd rather choose based on the advice of people who've been there.

Here's the first cruise:

Day 1: Venice, Italy
Day 2: Ancona, Italy
Day 3: At Sea
Day 4: Santorini, Greece
Day 4: Mykonos, Greece
Day 5: Piraeus (Athens), Greece
Day 6: Corfu, Greece
Day 7: Dubrovnik, Croatia
Day 8: Venice, Italy

and here's the second:

Day 1: Venice, Italy
Day 2: Bari, Italy
Day 3: Katakolon (Olympia), Greece
Day 4: Santorini, Greece
Day 4: Mykonos, Greece
Day 5: Rhodes, Greece
Day 6: At Sea
Day 7: Dubrovnik, Croatia
Day 8: Venice, Italy

P.S. We've enjoyed Costa before, but I'm open to suggestion in case there's a much better option.

Greece [Athens/Ios] - what should I absolutely do or see?

pahalial — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:22:27 -0800

So I'm heading to the island of Ios with friends in late august. Our plans mostly involve drinking and beaches, but I'm wondering what I should check out before/after the island, in Athens or otherwise on the mainland. Bonus points for interesting things that aren't complete tourist traps, of course - I'm naturally going to go see the Acropolis, and am resigned to the multi-hour line-up for it, but would rather avoid such for anything else. Also I'm going through the Pimsleur Greek course, so Greek-only attractions will (hopefully) be fine by the time I get there.

And, naturally, I'd be pretty psyched to meet any MeFi people on Ios or the mainland. I promise I'm not crazy!

Yiannis Ziros in LA?

charlesv — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:07:02 -0800

Looking for Yiannis Ziros. I have an obsession with super-soft, 100% cotton t-shirts in plain gray and/or white. They are harder to find than you might think. American Apparel makes good ones, as does D&G. I used to buy the D&G ones from a blocchista in Milan, but can't seem to find them here in LA without a ton of writing and logos on them.

So, two part question:

1. When I was in Athens in the summer of 2005, I bought two very soft, very comfortable undershirts under the Yiannis Ziros brand. I have been unsuccessful in finding that brand in the US, and their website appears to not have been updated since 2004. Does anyone know if they are still in business, and if their undershirts are available in the US?

2. Where in LA can I buy plain gray or white D&G t-shirts, or other t-shirts of comparable quality?

Seeking recomendation for immigration attorney in Los Angeles for Italian citizenship by descent case

Asparagirl — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:58:02 -0800

Please recommend an attorney -- preferably one in the Los Angeles area -- for an unusual Italian citizenship by descent case. Looking for one with knowledge of complicated 20th Century treaties regarding the former Ottoman Empire, modern Turkey, Italy, and Greece, and experience dealing with a lack of some typical primary citizenship evidence. Short version:
Know a good immigration/citizenship attorney, or someone with experience with the Italian consulate system, preferably in Los Angeles? If so, please drop a note.

Long version:
My mother-in-law "Jane" was born in California in 1949. Her family are Sephardic Jews who lived for hundreds of years on the island of Rhodes, which is just off the coast of Turkey in the Aegean Sea. Rhodes was formerly part of the Ottoman Empire. Much of the population was Greek and following the break-up of the Empire, the island was "supposed to" go to Greece. However, it was illegally seized by Italy in 1912 and, seeing as possession is 9/10 of the law, was formally made a part of Italy under the Treaty of Lausanne in July 1923. This treaty gave Italian citizenship to the people of Rhodes, and according to knowledgeable sources I've talked to in the Rhodes genealogy community, this new citizenship also applied to people born on the island even if they weren't actually living there at the time of the treaty signing.

Jane's maternal grandfather Ray was born on Rhodes in either 1895 or 1896 (reports vary), and immigrated to the US in 1913. Jane's maternal grandmother Amelia was born either on Rhodes or in Milas, Turkey (reports vary) in 1904 and immigrated to the US in 1916. They got married in Los Angeles in August 1923 and had their first child, Jane's mother Esther, in Los Angeles in late 1924.

Ray filed his Declaration of Intention for US naturalization and citizenship in 1916. He and his family believed he became a US citizen shortly thereafter. However, he apparently didn't actually file his final papers for citizenship until the 1950's and did not become a full US citizen until 1955. (Copies of all the papers have been obtained from the Department of Homeland Security under an FOIA request.) This raises questions about his citizenship status in the 1916-1955 period, and whether that citizenship can be passed down to his children and/or grandchildren.

Specifically, Italian citizenship is one of the rare European nationalities that can pass down by descent. It used to be that only men could pass it down, but after 1948, women can also pass it down to children who were born after 1948.

As mentioned, Ray was born 1895/1896. Assuming that he became an Italian citizen in July 1923, then Amelia also unknowingly became an Italian citizen upon marrying him a month later in August 1923 -- although she probably assumed that she was becoming an American citizen upon her marriage, under the Cable Act of 1922. Their daughter Esther was born in the US in 1924, at a time when both her parents apparently had Italian citizenship, thus making her a dual citizen. As she likely never knew this, she never formally renounced her Italian citizenship. Esther married Ralph in 1944, also from Rhodes and also an Italian citizen, who had come to the US in 1937, fleeing Mussolini. Ralph became a US citizen in 1945. Their daughter "Jane" was born 1949 -- and so could have inherited Italian citizenship from Esther under the post-1948 law allowing female lines to carry citizenship.

"Jane" would like to claim her Italian citizenship by descent, if in fact she is entitled to it (as we believe she may be). However, we're going to need a good immigration lawyer for this case, preferably in the Los Angeles area, because of several complicating factors:

- Applying for Italian citizenship by descent usually includes getting copies of your Italian ancestors' birth certificates, as proof. However, there are no known birth certificates for people born on Rhodes under the Ottoman rule -- the Empire was kind of lax about record-keeping by that point. Furthermore, it is unclear (but unlikely) that any formal documents, such as passports, were issued to the people of Rhodes when they became Italian citizens en masse in 1923. Therefore we have little primary evidence for Ray and/or Amelia's Italian citizenship.

- There are probably only two surviving modern censuses of Rhodes under Italian rule, one from the 1920's and one from the late 1930's. They contain minimal information on the population outside of names and birthdates (or in some cases estimated birth years). Ray had already left the island by that point and while he may have had family members show up in the census records, he himself would not. So, more lack of primary evidence of citizenship.

- Around 1943/1944, the Italian anti-Semitic governor of Rhodes illegally stripped all the local Jews of their Italian citizenship, above and beyond the impositions already placed on them by Italian Racial Laws. This meant that some then supposedly reverted to Turkish citizenship again...or not? It was unclear at the time. In any case, the Jews of Rhodes were shipped to Auschwitz in 1944 and nearly all murdered there. So there is very little previous "case law" before the Italian consulates on the subject of Italian citizenship for Rhodes descendants, as only a few people chose to apply for it in the intervening years.

- In 1948, Rhodes was formally transferred from Italy to Greece, and the people of Rhodes were now given Greek citizenship. However, unlike the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, this only applied to people who were actually living on the island at this time...probably. This is a sticky wicket that needs research by a good attorney.

- Finally, copies of all US-based evidence -- birth certificates, US citizen papers, etc. -- have already been collected, but apostilles are still needed.

So, names of immigration/citizenship attorneys, people involved with the Italian consulate system, and suggestions on how to proceed are welcomed. Thanks, MeFi!

Find me a nice and cheap hotel in Mykonos...

dawdle — Fri, 22 May 2009 23:54:36 -0800

What is a great hotel on Mykonos that won't break the bank ? We are travelling to Mykonos for a wedding July 24-27th. Having checked out the prices of hotels online, many of them break my budget.

We'd like to pay $100-$175 / night yet still have a sea view and a balcony if possible. Caveat is it MUST be clean and extra points if it looks like a typical Greek villa ( white walls, blue accents )

Balkanization travel tips!

meerkatty — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:18:31 -0800

Travel recommendations please! Tirana - Ohrid - Bitola - Thessaloniki - Athens - Santorini. I've booked places to stay in all of these fabulous-looking towns but would love any personal recommendations for restaurants, tourist sites, travel tips (ferry riding in Greece, for example) or things I shouldn't miss. (Yes, I've read the Greece Askme threads.) Thanks!

Greek phrase on t-shirt: help me help you

Curry — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 23:03:37 -0800

Greek translation filter: I got a t-shirt from Delphi with a Greek phrase embroidered on it a few years ago and I have forgotten what the phrase means. It seems to say "EN OIDA OTI OYDEN OIDA," though the "O's" are diamond shaped on the shirt and the "D's" are rendered more like slightly askew triangles. Any guesses? I would love it if the phrase was "KNOW THYSELF" but I have a feeling that this is not the case.

Mathematics sightseeing in Greece.

junipero — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 06:48:51 -0800

Can anyone suggest good places to visit in Greece (or nearby) that are relevent to mathematics? Much more detail inside. I teach mathematics at a small private school and I am fortunate to have the opportunity to apply for a grant for $25,000 set aside for further educating full-time faculty. Our school is in need of a fourth year math class for students who are not "math-minded". The junior class this year will be the last class to graduate that is not required to take three years of math.

I am going to apply for the grant and if I receive the money I would like to take a trip to Greece, as it is one of the birthplaces of mathematics. Obviously, I would like to visit the Pythagoras sculpture in Samos, but other than that does anyone know of any good places to visit that have to do with mathematics?

My plan is to write a curriculum for a year-long course that can be taken all together, or can be take as an elective for a semester. The first semester would focus on the history of math (more the focus of my trip than the second semester). The second semester would focus more on practical math that would be advantageous to our students as they make their way into the real world.

I would like to be based in Athens for about three weeks. I could rent a car, take boats, or fly if necessary in order to travel. I would absolutely love to travel to Alexandria, Egypt to see Euclid's hometown, but i don't know how much of ancient Alexandria is still standing (if any?).

Any and all mathematics related locations in the world are welcome, but I am mainly looking at the Greece/Turkey/Egypt area.

Off-season Greece: Crete and Athens?

TheophileEscargot — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:54:11 -0800

I'm considering a December trip to Greece: probably Athens and Crete. Any tips on the off-season in particular? How many days to spend in each place? Any other places I should be looking at? Possible plan: Fly to Heraklion in Crete, check out the museums and the Palace of Minos at Knossos. Fly to Athens, look at Parthenon and the museums there.

My location: London. My interests: history, culture, architecture, ruins. Assumptions: Ferry schedules are too erratic to count on, Heraklion is big enough that there will be stuff open.

Screw Chevy Chase

Christ, what an asshole — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:03:51 -0800

I'm looking for underrated, obscure European vacation stops. A couple friends and I are going to Europe for a month (Nov/Dec), and we plan on doing the whole Eurorail/hostel thing across several countries. 1/3rd of the destination stops are for my choosing, and while I know they'll be making the saturated, obvious choices like Rome, Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, etc., I'd like to spice things up with places that don't automatically spring to mind but offer the same level (if not more) of awe. Ideally, cities that aren't automatic tourist stops where most everyone speaks English and there's a McDonald's on every corner (but also not so far out of the way from mid-Europe like some hole-in-the-wall, Eastern-European Caspian city).

What sort of places have you visited that you would recommend?

How can I get From Venice to Dubrovnik to Athens?

the duck by the oboe — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:58:04 -0800

How can I get from Venice to Dubrovnik to Athens on a backpacker budget? I'll be in Venice soon and want to go from there to Dubrovnik/Split and thence to Athens (if I can go via Ljubljana I'll be a happy camper too). Staring at budget airline webpages and train timetables is less illuminating than I'd hoped. Any tips?

I'd like to spend about ten days on the way from Venice to Athens.

European B&B Jobs

lfeather — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:46:05 -0800

What are the best sites to search for jobs in B&B in Europe(particularly Italy and Greece)?

8 days in Egypt, 3 days in Athens...what to do?

citystalk — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:48:54 -0800

8 days in Egypt, 3 days in Athens...help with itinerary, please! Posting for my non-mefi-account-having friend, who I'm very jealous of right now, lol:

"My wife and I are going to Athens for 3.5 days, 3 nights Dec 27th-Dec 30th, and Egypt for 8.5 days, 8 nights Dec 30th-Jan 7th, starting and ending in Cairo.

For Athens, we're pretty much set for the WHERE (one day trip to Delphi, the rest enjoying Athens, but would like specific, unusual things to check out and visit in those two places.

For Egypt, we're trying to figure it out. We know we'll be in Cairo through New Year's (any cool things to do on New Year's Eve?) and are considering just taking the overnight train and spending the rest of the time in Luxor and then a day trip to Alexandria at the end. Any other thoughts about what to do and/or where to go in this short time?

Probably will be our only time ever to Egypt, so we want to do as much as possible, but Greece we'll go again in the summer to see the islands."

We are on a moderate budget (would like to spend in and around $200-250 day, not including hotel) and are up for long days and odd experiences."

Istanbul, Constantinople ...

the luke parker fiasco — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:14:01 -0800

Turkey vs. Greece: A colleague of mine is looking for suggestions on the best place to visit for a seaside vacation with her 15-year-old son. This more or less encompasses the criteria she gave me. She is planning to take a vacation in the next six weeks or so, with her son. They want to go to the seaside in either country, and are looking for suggestions on the best location to choose, where to stay, etc. She did mention the word "resort", but I'm assuming that outrageously expensive locales are to be avoided. Where are the places you've gone, loved, would recommend?

Eating, drinking and sightseeing suggesttions for Patras, Greece?

handee — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:42:37 -0800

I'm off to a conference in Patras, Greece next week. Any suggestions for high-speed tourism (we'll be busy most of the day but might get a bit of free time), decent eateries, and decent drinking places, particularly late night?

FleaMarketFilter: Looking for all Flea Markets in Europe

dripdripdrop — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:55:20 -0800

I'm looking for flea markets in Europe. Specifically we will be going through Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Croatia, Bosnia (Sarajevo), Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland (Krakow) before settling in France, but any other suggestions in Europe are welcome. I'm interested in the kind of flea markets with old, random crap, not the new, cheap crap. I've been to the flea market outside Budapest on Nagykőrösi út and loved all the old nick nacks.

Please be as specific as possible about addresses. If I get a lot of answers I'll put together a Google Map for sharing.

Discovering new works from ancient Greece or Rome?

mediareport — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:20:09 -0800

When was the last time scholars discovered a previously unknown piece of literature from ancient Greece or Rome? Has it happened at all in modern times? If you were to speculate on the chances we'll ever rediscover another play from Euripides, Sophocles, et al, are there any relatively recent discoveries of new works from ancient Greek and Roman authors you could use as examples?

Greece + Turkey travel advice?

cgs — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:50:26 -0800

Travel advice: 15 days in Greece and Turkey? Hi AskMeFi! You gave me some great advice for my trip to Mexico in February, so I'm coming back for more.

Here is the general route of where my gf and I want to go in Greece + Turkey during the second half of May:

I'm looking for general advice and anecdotes, plus answers to the following:

1. Are we trying to cover too much ground?
2. How can we get around? Is renting a car difficult? Is public transit available and quick enough?
3. is getting between Greece + Turkey difficult? (Do we need to go through one of a few immigration points at the major cities?)
4. Are there any places that we definitely, 100% should not miss? (And places we should avoid?)
5. Is going east into Turkey a good idea, right now? (Considering we are still dropping bombs 400 miles away :-/ )
6. my gf is veggie + fish... will she be able to find stuff to eat?

I would post on travel.metafilter.com, but it doesn't look very active.
Thanks for your help + time!
-cgs

Where should we visit or stay in Eastern Europe?

D J Robertstein — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:54:44 -0800

Where should we visit in Eastern Europe? Me and three or four freinds are planning to have a bit of an interrail this summer and unlike last time, we've opted for more of an eastern European slant. So far it's looking like this:

France - Italy - Greece - Bulgaria - Romania - Hungary - Poland - Germany

We're hoping to see a bit more of the countryside and will be camping a fair bit as well as using hostels. However, we know nothing of Eastern Europe save for a Michael Palin documentary.

Does anyone whos been around that area have any suggestions of places to go, things to see and stuff to do? We're on a fairly low budget, but we could save cash for certain things if it's worth it.

Sorry for the vague post but we're ignorant and in the early planning stages. Thanks!

How Do The Postal Services of These Countries Compare?

Rykey — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 15:07:55 -0800

The Postal Service of a few different countries is a factor in where I decide to move. I'm in the USA and am considering moving out of the country for at least a couple years. I've been fairly successful selling stuff online for extra cash, and would like to continue to do so if I move abroad. I'd sell goods I found in my new country of residence. We're talking supplementary income, not a full-time business.

Crucial to this possibility is the quality of the Postal systems of the countries I've narrowed down: Thailand, Czech Republic, Greece, Germany, Panama. Cost is of course a factor, but I'm more concerned about reliability and consistency, especially with international shipping. I have to have a reasonable assurance that my packages (which will probably never be bigger than a breadbox, or over a few pounds) will get to where they are supposed to undamaged within a decent time frame.

Has anyone mailed several (a dozen or so) packages a week from any of the countries I mentioned? What were your experiences? What were the laws governing how much was considered to be subject to tariff, or when you were required to get a permit to sell stuff from that country?

For what it's worth, I'll be selling consumer goods and/or souvenirs to individuals (yes, as in online auctions). I would be fine with taking these items to the post office myself (as opposed to pickup by the postal service).

Plan my trip!

crinklebat — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 16:36:59 -0800

One week in Italy, one week in Greece, two weeks in Spain. What can't I miss? What should I avoid? Where should I stay? What else should I know? The trip will start around June 20th (no hard dates yet, but I need to be back in the USA around July 20th). I will have a decent amount of money and probably a decent line of credit, but I'm not generally an extravagant lady and would like to save where I can. I'll likely be alone for Spain and with my boyfriend for the rest. Neither of us have ever been to these countries before (well, he's been to Spain, but he won't be going back). We don't speak Greek or Italian and I speak only the Spanish any Southern CA kid picks up, pretty much.

My itinerary is extremely wide open, so just tell me what you loved/hated. I know I need more time to explore these places properly, but I have to sandwich this between graduation on June 18th and a family reunion in late July, so this is what I've got and these are the countries I want to see. Sigh.

Wary of bringing gifts to Greeks....

longdaysjourney — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 23:54:34 -0800

What booze to give the Greek relatives? I'm going to Greece next week for an extended stay, during which I'll be meeting some family members I haven't seen in years. I'd like to bring them a gift. I was thinking chocolates for the children, but I'm drawing a blank on gifts for the adults. Wine or liquor sound fairly safe, but I have no idea what Greeks consider "good" alcohol. Glenfiddich? Stolichnaya? I'm not a big drinker, so it's hard for me to just pick something out of the vast array of alcoholic beverages out there. If anyone has any recommendations for what might be good wine or liquor to bring, or any other suggestions for non-alcoholic gifts, I'd greatly appreciate your advice.

Has Toynbee ever said this?

falameufilho — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 08:27:11 -0800

On the back cover of my copy of Gates of Fire it says something like (quoting on the top of my head here) "Toynbee said that 'what ifs' are generally irrelevant in history, except for one - what if the Persians had conquered Greece? Then what we regard as western civilization would not exist". Has Toynbee ever said such a thing? Where?

What is this contraption?

pwally — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:50:46 -0800

Can anyone help me figure out what is in this image? I know that it is from ancient Greece and thats it. It has to be some sort of tool, maybe to catch fish? Any help is appreciated.