Dollar Hits All-time Low against Euro – Again!

by Neil Woodburn on

Crap!

The US dollar has once again hit an all-time low against the Euro.

While this is hardly news these days, it makes me cringe every time I see this headline. And let me tell you, we’ve seen a lot of it in the last couple of years.

Things have dropped a long way since the glory days for American tourists visiting Europe when the euro was worth only 83 cents to the dollar. Since that point, the dollar has plummeted to the point where a euro is now worth $1.3927–a record established on September 13 for the European currency. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the dollar also hit an all-time low against the Canadian dollar on the same day.

It’s gotten so bad that LA Times journalist Tom Petruno jokingly refers to the currency as the “American peso.”

While this is great news for American exporters whose products are now considered deals in Europe, it remains horrible news for us travelers in search of adventure abroad. It also means that my next holiday is going to be domestic. Kansas here I come!

Greetings from Crete: Diving Like It’s 2999

by Iva Skoch on

If Crete is the first place you will ever dive, chances are you won’t ever do it again…unless you like hanging out underwater, some 60 feet deep and in poor visibility, and seeing about ten fish an hour, that is.

If diving here is any indication of the state of fish in the Mediterranean, we should all be very, very scared. There are, for sure, more fish at an average all-inclusive hotel restaurant buffet table than there are in the water off the northern coast of Crete.

To be fair, we did see a few barracuda and a couple fireworms, but that’s about it. Save your Euros for sightseeing and frappe-drinking instead.

Hitting Where it Hurts: Italians Protest Rise in Pasta Prices

by Catherine Bodry on

If you’re traveling to Italy soon, you may have to decide what side of the picket line you’re on.

In protest of rising prices of the country’s favorite starch, many Italians passed up the noodle aisle on Thursday. Outraged that rising wheat prices mean a plate of spaghetti will almost certainly go up in the next few months, even if by only a few cents, citizens held demonstrations across the country.

Consumer groups hailed the boycott as successful, with an informal poll outside supermarkets showing that at least half of customers did not bought a package of pasta. Even Justice Minister Clemente Mastella said he supported the cause by skipping his favorite Neapolitan dish of pasta tubes stuffed with tomatoes and ricotta.

Could you do that?

Read the full article at Reuters.

Greetings from Crete: What’s Up with the Picture Menus?

by Iva Skoch on

You have to wonder about the intelligence of Crete’s tourists since virtually all the menus are not only in Greek and English, but also in pictures. These things are huge, too, usually taking up an entire entrance to a restaurant. Handy for all those people who prefer seeing a photo of a life-sized lobster before they eat it, I suppose. Or a picture of a Coke or a glass of wine, for that matter.

The worst part of it is that most of the picture menu boards are not professionally photographed; in fact they are faded and make the food look really nasty. Not that there is a particularly good way to make hummus look appetizing in a picture, but still! Seeing food dumbed down to this level in a country with such culinary delights should be illegal, I think.

Historical Building to be Demolished for View of the Acropolis

by Catherine Bodry on

Against opposition from architects and cultural conservationists, George Voulgarakis has cleared the way for the razing of a once-protected art deco building in Athens, Greece, because the building stands in the way of a direct view of the Acropolis from the new landmark Acropolis Museum. Voulgarakis also added that demolition of the building “would allow the plot to be excavated ‘to reveal antiquities whose existence is considered highly likely.'”

The Culture Minister revoked state protection of Areopagitou 17 and 19 when the rest of the nation was focused on forest fires in the southern part of the country.

The building, standing just 300 meters from the Acropolis, was designed by Greek architect Vassilis Kouremenos, a Paris-trained friend of Pablo Picasso. Ironically, the structure was originally protected by the driving force behind the new museum, the late actress and former Culture Minister Melina Mercouri.

Two adjacent buildings on Dionyssiou Areopagitou Street will not be automatically demolished, as they are both still protected by the Ministry of Public Works. But Voulgarakis’ decision is expected to ease the way for that listing to be revoked too.

Read the whole article here.

Thanks to Mel Kots and John Kots on Flickr for the photo of the “almost ready” Acropolis Museum.