En castellano: "Una Odisea en Grecia" / "Welcome to Estonia"
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Talking with the King
Last Monday I met the King of Spain (also the Queen and the Foreign Minister). Why? Well, it's a long story. Last summer I was working in Tallinn (Estonia), thus I registered in the Embassy. Unless you tell them otherwise, they keep you registered for a year. The King visited Estonia last week, and they organised a reception for the 'Spanish community' in Estonia. Since I still was officially registered, I was invited too.
As usual, my name is misspelled ¬¬
So, as it's always nice to come back to Estonia (I have good reasons to do so besides the King :P) there I went, half an hour early (I think I was the first one). There weren't many of us, around 30 Spaniards (many young people doing their Erasmus program or working in Skype) and a few random people. After a not very strict security control, there we were in a small room, waiting for 'their Majesties'.
They told us to make a line and shake the King and Queen's hands without stopping: "they shake hands very fast" (they must be used to such a hard job). We did so (the King saying to everybody "Hi, how's going?") and afterwards we were in a bigger room, in which the King, the Queen and the Minister were talking with us for about half an hour.
Unfortunately I couldn't impress the Queen with my Greek language skills. But I had the chance to talk about this with the King. His answer: "Bah, no problem! You grab her and tell her HEY QUEEN! and then talk to her". I hesitated and finally I didn't follow his advice, but anyway we were laughing about this.
On the other hand, the Foreign Minister, Mr. Moratinos, suggested us to 'vote properly' on the next European Parliament Elections (damn! I didn't even remember about that). Besides that, I spent my time there chatting with some guys from Skype that I met last summer, and some Erasmus students.
I was actually expecting more 'glamour', fancier stuff. But everything was pretty simple and straightforward. We didn't even get much food, just some tiny portions pretending to be avant-garde, Spanish-inspired cuisine. We didn't even get wine, just some juice and tea. And after half an hour, everything was over and we went for a beer and then home.
On the following days I had the chance to meet some of these Spanish people. On Wednesday we went to see the football match, Chelsea-Barcelona, and in the end we went crazy with the last goal of Iniesta (beer rain and angry Chelsea supporters were included).
On Saturday we went to watch a free Spanish movie, 'La Soledad' (loneliness, a more appropriate name would have been boredom). Two hours of boring, unbearable crap. This movie was awarded with the prize to the best Spanish movie of the year, which shows how bad is our cinema... and they have the guts to say that the problems of Spanish cinmea are due to the Internet downloads! But anyway, this is a new topic...
PS: of course, we weren't allowed to take pictures of our meeting with the King. There was an official photographer instead. I don't know when (and how) will I get my picture, so until then, there's no offocial proof :P
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Athens vs. Barcelona
I left Athens last Monday. I spent last days in Barcelona (my former 'hometown' before moving to Greece) visiting old friends and enjoying a city which I love. There are many contrasts between Athens and Barcelona, which of course are easier to notice if you have been living in both, like me.
I just found a very interesting article in Life in Capital A, a bilingual (en/gr) magazine about Athens that you can even download online, where they compare both cities.
First and foremost, cleanliness. The central parts of the city look well-taken-care-of. As if by magic, when everybody's asleep, all the cigarette ends and empty beer bottles are collected, the pavements washed and the public spaces tidied up. The same thing happens in the parks. Every day, thousands of tourists visit these places, but every trace of them disappears overnight and in the
morning all is sparkling clean.
Well, they should have seen other Spanish cities (for instance, Girona, one hour away from Barcelona), comparing to which Barcelona looks like a dumping site. Anyway, the lack of street weepers and cleaners is surprising for a Spaniard used to it. Athenians make it up being respectful with their streets and cleaning the pavement in front of their own doors.
Policing is done correctly [in Barcelona]. I need to explain what I mean by that. When you walk down the main streets, you sense the discreet presence of the police, who patrol either by walking the beat, on bikes or in cars. If somebody is determined to break the law, even if this just means making a lot of noise during quiet periods, then the police take over.
Although I don't like the policemen of Barcelona, being too strict in small matters such as drinking a can of beer on the street, they seem the best professionals comparing with Greeks. Greek policemen are either scary (walking around in big groups with heavy guns and bulletproof vests around the city center) or inexistent (I didn't see a single policeman in my neighbourhood for seven months).
And of course, facts as the murder of a 15-year-old boy by policemen don't improve the public image of Greek police. Rather the opposite.
There are many pickpockets [in Barcelona] - taxi drivers always tell foreign visitors to be careful- and petty crime is quite common.
Street crime is not common in Athens, and even in crowded touristic areas you can walk without being constantly afraid of being stolen. This is something that I really appreciate. Although Barcelona is not as unsafe as this paragraph suggests, in Spanish touristic areas (and especially in Madrid and Barcelona), you'd better watch your step!
It is out of the question, however, for a tourist visiting Barcelona to witness 30 hooded thugs breaking shop windows - as happened recently in Kolonaki, one of the best policed areas of Athens - without a police officer intervening.
Indeed, in Spain they would have been badly beaten by policemen (even in peaceful demonstrations happens!), arrested and sentenced to several years of prison because of 'urban terrorism' or something like that. Which is not a good solution, either.
Things aren't overpriced, compared to Athens, where you sometimes have to pay a bit more for food. In Barcelona, good quality food is often reasonably priced.
The insane prices of terraces and 'posh' places in Athens are only due to the typical Athenian behaviour: "I go to have a coffee and I don't mind paying 4.50 € for it because I need to show off. And of course, I leave the 50 remaining cents as a tip, because I'm worth it". Tourists and visitors should note, however, that in Greece, 'having a coffee' often implies to stay three or four hours chatting with your friends.
About the food prices, we can discuss... the quality and quantity of an average Greek 'taverna' usually deserves the prices charged (not to talk about the live music in many of them!). About fast food, Greece is just unbeatable. A Greek 'pita gyros' is healthier and tastes better than any 'döner kebab' in Barcelona, whereas its price is less than half.
Luckily, both in Athens and Barcelona you can find quite many bars and eateries which are traditional and not tourist-oriented. However, you need advice from the locals (or a vast experience on drinking/eating out) to get to know the best ones!
Everybody enjoys an enviable standard of living. The inhabitants look relaxed and happy as they rub shoulders with the tourists, knowing full well the many advantages brought to their city by 7,000,000 visitors a year. Before the 1992 Olympic Games, inflation and unemployment were extremely high. Nowadays, the city is the pride of Catalonia and Spain.
Neither the living standards in Barcelona are so good, nor those in Athens so bad. It's very expensive to live in Barcelona. Many of my friends have part-time jobs and study hard for their Engineer diplomas, whereas my Athenian colleagues drive the cars bought by their parents, enjoy a less demanding University life and of course are 'too busy' to think about a job. Of course, the average living standard is higher in Barcelona than in Athens, as it is higher in the whole Spain than in Greece, but there's not such a big difference.
Out of the question, tourism and infrastructures of Barcelona boosted incredibly thanks to the Olympic Games... which were held 17 years ago. In Athens, they happened just five years ago. The pace of the changes has slowed afterwards, but Athens keeps changing.
I really like both cities, but in my humble opinion there is still a way to go for Athens, before reaching Barcelona. The Catalan city should be the mirror for the Greek capital. Both of them held the Olympic games in recent times. Barcelona did it 12 years earlier than Athens, let's see if the ongoing changes are fruitful and in the next 12 years Athens is able to catch up with Barcelona.
In any case, I strongly recommend paying a visit to Athens and Barcelona to get two wonderful (yet different) samples of the European side of the Mediterranean.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
New projects, new challenges
During the last weeks I have been quite busy. After some months of 'quasi-holidays' I had to finish my Final Project (or 'Master Thesis', or whatever you want to call it) in Greece. So now I am an expert on 'Noise Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radars'. Or at least, I should be...
Since February I am also cooperating with a new project. The most visited and well-known blog about travelling in Spanish language offered me a position as a freelance editor. This means that most of my 'blogging energy' and spare time goes to Diario del Viajero.
Right now I am writing from Estonia, but I will go back to Athens tomorrow. My apartment is rented also for April so I have to take advantage of it ;). I decided not to stress anymore about my future, let's see what happens when I go back to Spain in May.
By the way, the local newspaper of Valladolid awarded me with the prize to the best information sent to their website (thanks to my blogs about Estonia and Greece). Unfortunately I wasn't there in Spain and I couldn't eat and drink for free in the gala dinner. I sent my family instead, I hope that they enjoyed :)
Monday, February 02, 2009
Public transport shouldn't be a luxury
On Friday I got my monthly ticket for the public transport in Athens. It costs 18 € for students (and other people eligible for reduction) whereas the normal pass costs 35 €. These prices are quite affordable, since they include metropolitan train (green line), subway (red and blue lines), suburban train within the Greater Athens ('Proastiakos'), trams, trolleybuses and buses. The prices are in fact cheaper than those in 2007! (this is the best way to encourage the use of public transport).
For people who don't use very often the public transport, the prices are affordable too. A normal single ticket costs 1 € (it was 80 cents until December) and the reduced one costs 50 cents. Both of them are valid for 90 minutes (which can be extended if the last of the trips starts before reaching the 90 minutes limit), also for all the means of transport. But there is even more: some municipalities (such as Kesariani, where I live) have their own public buses, which are totally free. In the case of Kesariani, connects the main avenue (which crosses the whole suburb) with the closest metro station, located near the National Gardens (quite in the center).
In short, the traffic in Athens may be chaotic during the rush hours, but there are affordable solutions for those who don't want (or can't) take the car. It is a pity that there are only 3 metro lines at the moment, which means that many suburbs don't have direct access to the network, and it's true that some bus frequencies and connections between suburbs could be improved (I think it happens in every big city), but otherwise, the public transportation of Athens offers an acceptable and inexpensive service.
On the other hand, the situation in my hometown, Valladolid, is quite different. There is only one mean of public transportation: bus. Yes, the city is not very big, there is no point on building a metro line, but the size and population would make the tram a perfect solution. The bus ticket costs 1.10 €, this is 10% more than last year. It is also 10% more expensive than in Athens.
Let's compare the services offered by both. In Valladolid, the ticket is valid for a single trip in a single bus line. If you do a 15 min. bus trip, spend another 15 min., let's say, buying something, and then go back in another 15 min. bus trip, you need to spend 2.20 €. In Athens, you would have spent 1 € and you still would have the right to use the public transport for 45 extra minutes (what about taking the metro and going to the center for a coffee?).
And of course, we can't compare the actual distances covered by both networks. With a single ticket it is possible to travel, for instance, from the port of Piraeus to Kifisia by train (26 km) and then you would have about half an hour left to catch another bus and get further away. The longest distance covered by the urban bus lines of Valladolid is about 12 km, but most of the lines are much shorter. It's true that the buses that you can find in Athens are usually a bit older than in Valladolid, but the trolleybuses, trams, and metro wagons are really new (it's a pity that we cannot compare with their non-existent counterparts in Valladolid).
About the prices, I know, probably you think that the salaries in Greece are lower than in Spain, so it's a normal thing that the prices are also lower. Well, it's not exactly like that. Athens is the capital, and the salaries are higher than in the rest of the country, whereas Valladolid is not a place with very high salaries comparing with bigger Spanish cities. According to the disposable income statistics made by Eurostat in 2005, the disposable income in Attiki (the region of Athens) was 14352 € per inhabitant and year. In Castilla y León (the region of Valladolid) was 12499 €. The figures have changed since 2005, but the salary level is still higher in Athens than in Valladolid, for sure.
For me it's difficult to understand. How is it possible that a 4-million city can offer much better and much cheaper public transportation than a 400-thousand one? Why the public transport can be promoted in Athens and not in Valladolid? Why do some people talk of the 'profit' of public services? Aren't traffic-jam-free, non-polluted cities profitable by themselves? Isn't it worth to pay a cleaner air with our taxes?
Labels: athens, transport, travel, valladolid
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Restarting!
Such a long time without posting here... shame on me! But I just had such a long holiday in my hometown, Valladolid (even if I didn't deserve it :P). Anyway, after a month here, it's time to go back to Greece, and tomorrow I will take a Lufthansa flight from Madrid to Athens, with a stop in Frankfurt (by the way, Lufthansa has good offers for roundtrip tickets bought on advance, and unlike Ryanair, it's a pleasure to travel with them).
I don't know what will be left of the riots that were happening before I came to Spain, I hope that the situation will be calmer. It's just annoying to see everywhere groups of policemen dressed like Robocop. Rather than make you feel safer, they are scary. And of course, I am looking forward to meeting friends again and enjoying Greek weather (after a couple of weeks of freezing temperature and snow).
Besides that, my life is approaching a big turning point. Soon I'll be graduated, and then what? First of all probably holidays, but... afterwards? More studying or working, finally? And in both of cases, what kind of study/work? Who knows... important decisions are always difficult, aren't they?
Best wishes and good luck for the next year and don't forget to pay a visit to this blog from time to time :P
PS: The blog just turned 1 year old a couple of weeks ago, and even though the posting frequency is quite irregular, I'll try hard to keep it alive.
Labels: myself
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Merry Christmas... à la Grecque
This evening the violent protesters in Athens crashed windows, looted shops, burnt down cars and even buildings... and they also set in fire the giant Christmas tree of Syntagma square:
I took a lot of pics from the riots also today, just take a look.
Athens Burn, November 2008.
Labels: athens, demonstration, greece, riots
Monday, December 08, 2008
Athens is burning
A 15-year-old boy was killed by a policeman last Friday night in the Exarhia square (meeting place for anarchists and other left-wing activists of Athens). The news spreaded soon, and tonight we are living the second night of fights among students and policemen. I wrote about that in my Spanish blog (visit), and you can find more info about the situation here.
But I will post here some pictures of the riots that I took today
Destroyed shop on Ermou street
Burnt building on Ermou street
The marble is destroyed in order to throw the pieces to policemen
Fire near Omonia square
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Yes, they could
«It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.».
Barack Obama.
Yes, Barack Hussein Obama will be the next president of the USA. Now it's official. It seems that the majority of the people in the USA believe in change. Something that could only happen in the movies just few years ago did happen last Tuesday.
I don't think that so many things will actually change. The system will work in the same way that it has been doing for decades. But the manners will change. Hopefully, they will change dramatically. And the manners are very important. They are what people perceive.
In the rest of the world, Obama's election means hope. We hope that the USA will have a president who regards the rest of the world as people, rather than as a battleground, or a huge oil deposit.
I have to say that I am already fed up with all this 'Obama will be the first black president of the USA'. First of all, because I don't care if he's black, white or green (well, if he was green I would be worried about his health :D). And second of all, because he is not black. He is as black as white (if that matters at all).
Saying that Obama is black we are already showing our racism and our white-centered point of view. So, if you are not a 100% pure anglo-saxon, you are 'black'? Obama's mother was 100% white. From our white point of view, he might be black, but let's put him in a village of Kenya, his father's homeland. I bet he looks perfectly white among them.
Anyway, I have to say, I am really curious, and I believe that Obama will have brilliant pages in the History books (they would look brilliant anyway, being next to the dark chapter of Bush). If he has overcome all the clichés, if he has beaten two 'political monsters' being a perfect stranger a couple of years ago, and if he has managed to do that talking about change and hope, we have reasons to expect great things of him.
Let's see.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Imagining the tenth dimension
Life in Athens goes on, calmly, and we only notice the upcoming winter because of the shorter days. It's just 5.30 pm and the Sun already set. Besides that, it's 25 ºC outside, perfect weather to enjoy a frappé in a terrace.
Since it's already november, I decided that it was time enough to write a new post. And today I remembered a very good video explaining the String theory for 'all the audiences', meaning that you can get at least the background of the whole issue without being a quantum physicist.
It takes a lot of imagination to think of the tenth dimension. The first part of the video is 'more or less OK', the concept of time as the 4th dimension is already a very old idea (even H. G. Wells wrote about it in his Time Machine).
But things get somehow twisted in the second part, when we have to picture the infinity (and that means just everything, all the possible timelines of our Universe from the beginning to all its possible endings) as a single point in the 7th dimension, in which there are more possible points and connections among them, possible splits (8th dimension) and possible folds (9th dimension).
So, open your minds and enjoy!
1st part
2nd part
Friday, October 17, 2008
New life, new blog
As I said in the previous post, I decided to start a new blog (in Spanish) about Greece, it is called 'una odisea en Grecia' (an Odissey in Greece). I will write there about my life in Greece. There's not much to tell, actually... nothing really interesting has happened lately besides a small trip to Thessaloniki (the second city of Greece) and the fact that my computer is broken (so I can only use my flatmate's laptop when it's not busy). This means that the posting frequency will be even lower until the laptop is fixed (and in Greece there's no way to know when will it be).
Without computer and Internet there aren't many entertaining things to do at home, that's why we just bought a crappy videogame machine with good ol' classic games such as Super Mario, Tetris, Dragon Ball and a soccer game that it's 15 years old at least, for sure.
Our wonderful new toy
By the way, if you are planning to come to Athens in the next weeks, beware of the random metro strikes... Yes, going on strike is a national sport here :)
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Talking with the King
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Restarting!
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