Date: Wed, 25 May 94 6:26:42 EDT >From: Nicholas P Zymaris (From my reply to a Usenet inquiry on travel to Greece, slightly modified) June and July are usually 100% sunny and calm; August has some wind and showers (this applies only to central and southern Greece, e.g. Athens) Northern Greece (e.g. Thessaloniki) is at the same latitude as New York City and has more similar weather, but still drier and warmer. Winter is somewhat rainy and cool; the north gets some snow but snow in the south is rare (except in mountain passes which can be blocked by snow). In the summer the mountains are snowless except for Mt. Olympus (sometimes). Hotels are plentiful and inexpensive. The last time I was there (Winter 1991) I could find a room for the night for about 2000 drs. (then $10, now about $6) in every city I stopped in; they were B and C class hotels (B class is like motels here but no TV; they have private bath; C class usually have "WC" in hallway; D class is sometimes dingy, sometimes OK). There are also youth hostels if you don't mind limited checkin, etc. times (you can contact AYH (American Youth Hostels) in New York City (212-555-1212)) for info). I assume the gay guides have sections on Greece. The gay area in Athens is said to be the Kolonaki/Exarhia area (near Lycabettus/Likavitos mountain, and the Albanian embassy) but I found that Omonia and Plaka had the only noticeable gay presence in Athens (not including the Zapion which I didn't visit, but that is said to be a dangerous cruising area). Antigay violence is said to be rare, but societal homophobia is expressed otherwise. Once, I was trying to remove the two-month-old gay pride day poster from a wall in Athens (the parade had long since taken place) as a souvenir; at first a bystander was touched that a foreigner was so interested in Greek culture (well, I am of Greek descent but since I have an accent I'm a "xenos" by them) -- until he saw what kind of culture and said something like "Oh That" and left. Note: Omonia is a square/traffic circle in the center of Athens. (North of it is 3 Septemvriou St. where all the good bike shops in Greece are). When I went to Greece for the first time since coming out I expected AKOE (Greek Homosexual Liberation Organization) to be the info supplier, but they are no longer at their c. 1988 office (6, Zallogou Street, Athens) and no one knows where they are. At Omonia I saw an ad for "Kraximo Gay Guide" on the entrance to the undergroud mall/subway and these guides were for sale ($7 equivalent?) at the nearby periptero (newsstand) but were not very accurate. However, the introduction gives a good general idea of gay life in Greece. I went to Mykonos expecting a gay Fire Island but was disappointed to find mostly Italian heterosexuals there (nothing against either but it was still disappointing); the only openly gay people were some people from New York City. This was made up for by meeting an Albanian of unspecified orientation who nevertheless was very unhomophobic and told me at length about attitudes in Albania which are surprisingly tolerant. (As I said, AKOE was at 6 Zallogou Street between Kolonaki and Exarhia, but no longer. Kraximo said that the Greek gay community is sort of lethargic and complacent about the status quo and doesn't thus do much. However, there is a new ACT-UP Greece chapter, and gay bars are sometimes violently raided [which is apparently why ACT-UP is needed]) Contact G-GALA (Greek Gay and Lesbian Association) in New York City (Gay Switchboard, 212-777-1800 6pm-mid) for more info on the situation in Greece. Meets at Lesbian/Gay Community Center every other Thursday; call 212-989-6211 (George) for info. It seems that you should have no problem in bars, clubs, etc. if you leave by 2 AM; the raids were to enforce a new law for clubs to close then; the violence was I guess a superimposition of homophobia. And Greek hospitality to foreigners often suppresses expression of homophobia; but recently I have noted some nationalist/chauvinist sentiment (Ask a Greek what he thinks of Albanians and you'll see what I mean). By the way, Kraximo is in Greek and English. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Nicholas Zymaris I C | X C P.O. Box 741 ----------- "Theos estin agape" East Northport, NY 11731-0496 N I | K A "Perendia eshte dashuria" "Lavdi Perendise ne me te larte" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++