German tourists who visited Greece for their early summer holidays, in spite of the stream of articles trying to convince them of the contrary, find it “different” with visible “signs of crisis” but note that the anti-German feelings they read about in various periodicals are nowhere to be seen, the German newspaper Bild explained in a news report covering how vacationers experience the Greek crisis.
After referring to a statement made on Thursday by German Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation & Development Dirk Niebel that warned that Greece runs the risk of being considered a “developing country,” the tabloid set out to find out whether these sentiments were shared by German tourists visiting the country.
“We were shocked by the way Athens looked. It is sad that stores are shutting down. Nobody is in the mood for shopping. We believe that the Greeks will return to the drachma,” said a couple who visited Greece with their 13-year-old daughter.
“Before arriving on Crete for our vacations we were worried, but Greeks are extremely polite to us; almost more polite than with each other. There was not a trace of animosity toward the Germans,” confessed two 15-year-old German students.
“We have been visiting Crete for years but after the crisis a lot has changed,” expressed a lawyer and his wife, a bank employee, who underlined that “stores are closed and you see only a few people at the tavernas. It is sad but we will be here again.”
