The forgotten islands

[Maik]

How the refugee crisis turned waiters into goatherds on the Greek islands

MOLYVOS, Greece — This is a story about war and waiting tables, about how a line can be drawn between the chaos in Syria and why Theodore Kourniaris lost his job on the Greek island of Lesbos.

In the eastern isles of Greece, the hidden face of the European refu­gee crisis is an everyday dude like Kourniaris, who suspects he has been cheated — not only by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who drops barrel bombs on his own people, but also by leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who threw open the door to refugees and then slammed it shut.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/how-the-refugee-crisis-turned-waiters-into-goatherds-on-the-greek-islands/2016/07/27/f5fcbf00-3c92-11e6-9e16-4cf01a41decb_story.html

[suej]

It doesnt help when british tour companies pull out and regulars cant get flights to their favourite holiday place

[TonyKath]

Excellent article, Maik.  Thanks for posting it.

Long time since we went - three times in all.  Lesvos (the correct pronunciation/English spelling for the last couple of millenia!) is a lovely island that deserves tourists to turn up in droves.  See if you can still find an old fashioned men's kafenion which lets tourists in at the side and sells ouzo out of a funny old bottle with a metal spout - like we had for fountain pen ink in school, back in the days - for about 50 drx the equivalent of 20c today.

 

Tony

[Aristarches]

Excellent article, Maik.  Thanks for posting it.

Long time since we went - three times in all.  Lesvos (the correct pronunciation/English spelling for the last couple of millenia!) is a lovely island that deserves tourists to turn up in droves.  See if you can still find an old fashioned men's kafenion which lets tourists in at the side and sells ouzo out of a funny old bottle with a metal spout - like we had for fountain pen ink in school, back in the days - for about 50 drx the equivalent of 20c today.

 

Tony

Surely tourists turning up in droves would ruin the place?  Besides, I understand from a recent visitor that the island has droves of  lesbians (not natives) these days who make any male feel very unwelcome.  And who wants to share the beach with a load of illegal immigrants?

[suej]

we have been to Lesvos 3 times and there are lots of people who return year after year just like Kefalonia. But the tour Operators have pulled out not the people so next year no flights from Manchester.
As for Lesbians lucky if you see a couple mainly families and couples.