Hope is missing in Greece of to day

Βy Anastassios Retzios 

I have travelled to Thessaloniki, Greece for the holidays.  My main intention was to spend this time with my family that still lives in this city.My impressions alarmed me.  Whayt alarmed me more is the divergence of my assessment to that of certain of friends and relatives.   This divergence partially explains the schizophrenic nature of Greek politics today.In Thessaloniki, I have found a city that is becoming uglier by the second; it is a city which “livability” is way, way low.  Virtually all main streets are severely constrained by parked cars which also impede the passage of pedestrians.  Traffic moves slowly and spasmodically, not because there are too many vehicles on the road, but because there are too many parked cars in these roads, transforming them into very narrow passages.  There are hardly any public parking places (there are a few, usually full).