the euro and greece

[blondegirl]

I dont know how it is in Arillas now for prices, but I was shocked when my friend who lives nr Chania in Crete has said the prices are cheaper in the UK now than there.  She had a G & T and it was 6 euros!  A coffee and coke in Chania was 10 euros.. small pack of butter was 3.. petrol was 1.25.. Even the Greek Total Yoghurt was cheaper here. 

The local people are struggling.. her son in law and family run a restaurant there and havent earnt much this year so far to take them through the winter and they own one of the most popular restaurants in Ag. Marina.  People arent eating out as much in the restaurants, the queues in the supermarkets are longer than usual with tourists and the olives arent doing so well, the crop will be smaller and wont be able to sell as much to help out through the winter, and they will need it for the restaurant. The meals are very expensive now compared to what they were.. she said they never eat out now and they own a restaurant!

Sounds like it will be a very lean winter for some there.. I have heard of others having to get jobs on the ferries out of the season too.  I was just wondering how others have found it this year or whether it will affect their holiday.

I thought its ok that we might be able to afford the cheaper holidays the companies throw out but actually being there might be more expensive than the holiday or even holidaying in the UK... Its a total turnaround from what it used to be.. theres no real cheap holidays now is there.

[justphil]

BG luvver, we are masters of cheap holidays. If we didn't care we would go to Majorca like we probably will in February 2010, like we will, rather than pay our fag-tax to Gordon Brown.

Many have told us that the euro was a disaster for ordinary people in Corfu. The poor got even poorer. All their needs cost more because the prices got translated upwards. 100 drachma equalled a lot more than it should have. 

kes, May was a while ago, but in July 2009 the euro prices hadn't changed. The rate of inflation in Arillas is not a lot. You can still eat in taverna for what to me is silly money. Tomas at Vavilas tried to charge us 18 euros for our meal. Thalassa was similar.

The euro has been a disaster for Greece. It would be for UK. And no. I support the Labour Party, not UKIP.
I just adore my Arillas....

Phil

[sunfun]

Hi Phil,
         Do you mean 18 euros for both of you?If so,what as that for? Was it a 2 course or what?Did it include any drinks? Any info appreciated.It seems to us that it is on par with uk,but hope not!

[justphil]

sunfun luvver yes it was -  it was for a medley and sea bream. two jugs (half litre) of red wine - we were trying to be good - it was early..... like I said, he tried to charge me silly money and I made a large tip. If you want to eat fish in Arillas go to Tomas in Vavilas.

Phil

[riggers]

Awww poor Gordon Brown. Lets give it to David Cameron instead...lol. Yes you are right Phil though, my son has just come back from Ibiza yesterday with "nothing" i will learn him one day....

[Sara]

I've just found this link on another site & it's interesting reading. It would suggest that shopping in Greece is still cheaper than the U.K [in tourist areas] & a lot cheaper than Turkey.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/travel/2010/03/going-on-holiday-where-does-your-pound-go-furthest

Sara

[Eileen]

Well that's just dispelled the myth that a holiday to Turkey is cheaper!  This kind of publicity could help swing the tourists back to Greece after the pressure campaigns by tour ops to send people to Turkey.

It's interesting to see that the basket of goods cost 29% cheaper in Spain than in Greece.  I'd certainly agree with that after our recent trip.

If I want to visit a country I will, irrespective of the price of a basket of goods,  but not everyone especially those with families can ignore these findings.  This survey may be early indication of a re-awakening for tourism in Spain...hopefully even Greece will benefit.

Eileen.x

[Sara]

Well that's just dispelled the myth that a holiday to Turkey is cheaper!

Greece has had so much bad publicity recently & the tour operaters are promoting Turkey, but the truth is that once you get there it is very expensive [so I'm told] Some friends of ours last year couldn't believe the prices charged, especially for drinks. They were also bombarded by restarant owners trying to get them to eat in their restaurants & said they would never go back. Sadly not Corfu, but they're going to Kefalonia this year. They love Greece, thought they'd have a change, but now they know better!!

Sara

[TONYNEW]

They were also bombarded by restaurant owners trying to get them to eat in their restaurants & said they would never go back.

That's 1 thing we disliked about Turkey Sara it was relentless from 1 taverna to the next the only thing we liked about it was the good exchange rate and price of goods over there
We were paying 32p for a 500ml bottle of lager but it was back in 2003 leather goods and gold were also cheap as were the fake clothes .
But i would rather go anywhere in Greece than Turkey but each to their own
                         Tony

[TerryW]

Interesting acticle in Mail on Line. Could this be the beginning of the end for the Euro?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1268630/Greece-hit-new-riots-pressure-grows-quit-euro.html?ITO=1490

There are some very good comments at the bottom of the page.

[Lindypops]

Good reading Terry, thanks for posting it.

[Sandy x]

The good news is that the exchange rate has gone up to about 1.15. Every "cloud" has a silver lining!

[graham]

The good news is that the exchange rate has gone up to about 1.15. Every "cloud" has a silver lining!

1.1920 on Crown currency exchange for July!

[Janis]

Our euros are being delivered on Friday - at 1.117 - sob, sob!  Ah well....

[kevin.g]

happy
jus got 115.happy