Greece Earthquake

A 6.3 quake hit the Greek islands today.  Lesbos, close to the coast of Turkey was the site. It was a pretty serious one and at least one person has died.  For technical details see one of the many sites monitoring conditions.  Best to steer clear until an assessment can be made about the damage.

Greece uncovers tourism scam

Caught this news report from Reuters.  As if the Greek people don't have enough problems, former leadership in Greece’s National Tourism Organization (GNTO) is in deep doo doo.  

The official Greek Tourism site is http://www.visitgreece.gr/.  

Greece tourism with Riot Prices

Don't know about that, but with the economy in the pits for Greece, the stronger dollar against the Euro (now it is 1 euro to 1.24 US dollar compared to 1 euro to 1.39 US dollar this time last year) and Americans feeling better about spending money, this summer may be a time to visit some ruins. Not banks burned in the riots but the real old stuff.

I just ran a Kayak search for a vacation in Athens for seven nights from 30 June to 7 July 2010 from BOS and BDL. Picked a 3 star hotel (Apollo Hotel, sounds nice huh?) and found it to be cheaper from BDL than BOS!

The flight over has two stops but only one stop coming back. For us in Western Mass, it just goes to show us that BDL is a decent airport and BOS may not be worth the extra cost to drive, park etc.

Greece not in the plans? Well you may wish to avoid Northern Europe since that nasty volcano is still active.