Anyone in Athens Greece please help out

[GregFarz78]

We have a trip planned for next week then see all this **** on the news about people striking and rioting over there. Will this affect us at all? Are any historical sites shut down or is the metro not running?

Man this really blows you look forward to a trip for 2 years then the country goes into chaos a week before :(

[Jon]

What? The Olympic protests? Or are there some other ones I haven't seen? The Olympic protests are likely to just follow the Torch, and will probably be out of the country by the time you get there.

We were in Athens at the same time as a protest (teachers, IIRC) back in October '06; the museums and subways were all still running; the center of town was closed to at least bus traffic though. It didn't really affect us. They've got fairly frequent protests I gather, but there seems to be a well-established protocol on both sides for handling things.

[GregFarz78]

What? The Olympic protests? Or are there some other ones I haven't seen? The Olympic protests are likely to just follow the Torch, and will probably be out of the country by the time you get there.

We were in Athens at the same time as a protest (teachers, IIRC) back in October '06; the museums and subways were all still running; the center of town was closed to at least bus traffic though. It didn't really affect us. They've got fairly frequent protests I gather, but there seems to be a well-established protocol on both sides for handling things.

No its different protests something about national pension cuts or something people were pissed actually started some riots throwing stuff at police and such. Airlines were shut down and the metro was shut down I just hope this doesnt ruin our honeymoon b/c its too late to change our plans now :(

[Jon]

Really had to look back to find mention of that; using BBC, CNN and MSNBC. I suspect it'll have quieted down by then. If it hasn't, rent a car and visit Delphi, Kalambaka, Ancient Olympia, Naufplion and Corinth. Or hop a ferry to the islands. For that matter, unless you're staying on the outskirts of Athens, many of the sights are quite walkable.

[neurosis]

Protests shouldn't be a problem. We've been in Athens during protests before. Could not get a cab to take us across town but the subway was still running.