Back from Greece…

I’m back and I had a really nice time.
Weather wise it wasn’t that great. I’ve noticed that Greece in general has the opposite weather from UK. When the weather here is warm and sunny, it’s crap in Greece and vice versa. That is why, most days of the year, Greece enjoys a nice, dry, warm weather. That didn’t stop me though from having a nice time.

walking around the city center

I hadn’t told most of my friends that I’ll be in Greece. I only saw two of my closest friends I missed the most and hadn’t seen during my last visit. I mostly wanted to stay at home, see my parents and get some rest, which is what I did. I even organised with my parents a day trip to a city called ‘Kastoria’ in northern Greece. That’s a lovely picturesque city by a . I hadn’t been there before and it was very nice to see. My parents loved the fact that we spent the whole day together.

Arriving in Kastoria

Walking around Kastoria

As expected, no serious discussions were made and the ‘gay’ issue wasn’t brought up. To be honest, that’s what I expected. As a family, we don’t easily discuss difficult, sentimentally charged topics. Especially, when my visits are short, a topic that might end up in an argument is not raised. I did however wanted to tell them about JJ. I know that my mother is keeping an eye on my facebook page and she must have seen the countless pictures. I’ll just give them more time…

View of the sea and the Aristotelous square from a lovely coffee place

The financial situation in Greece is abysmal. Driving through the city, the number of closed shops you see is frightening. Apart from the very city centre which is always busy, other major commercial roads are failing. The government in their attempt to minimize the national debt is taking measures that do not really help the market. Increasing yet again the VAT and the taxes made people afraid to spend. My parents for example are not wealthy but they are considered to be financial stable. They saw their pension schemes cut and the price of everything increased. My mother told me she’s terrified to spend more than necessarily needed, for fear of what will come next. The dark cloud of Greece defaulting is looming. When consumers are so scared, I can’t really see the situation improving any time soon.

Anyway, I’m back now and I’m as busy as ever. Work’s been interestingly challenging lately and I’m out of town tomorrow to visit a client. I love these visits because they’re a nice excuse to be out of the office. The place I’m going now is not that bad either and when I’ll be back, it’s going to be almost the weekend.

Being out of London means that I might not be able to take part in ‘5 on the fifth’ on time. I’ll probably upload my pictures on Friday…