ATHENS NEWS & SCORES
Need your news fix? Can't drink your morning coffee without a paper? There are a number of English language newspapers and you can read the latest news and baseball scores and even get the weekly ferry schedules.
Most
kiosks
around the center
carry the ATHENS NEWS which is in English. I
have been reading this paper for over thirty years and
it's one of my favorites in the whole world but
unfortunately it was bought up by a big company and
turned into a once a week paper coming out on Friday.
There are sections on World News, Greek News,
Entertainment, and lots of helpful information for
tourists on the back page about exhibitions, theater,
rock concerts etc. The Greek news In Brief is not what
it used to be but occasionally there is an interesting
article that seems to defy reality. (My favorite is
the one about the shepherd who blew his house up when
his dynamite got wet and he put it on the hearth to
dry. Then there's the human head found by a fisherman
in Crete that had three autopsies done on it before
they discovered it was the head of a mannequin.)Most importantly the Athens News now has the weekly ferry schedules from Pireaus, Rafina and Lavrion so get a copy at the newstand in the airport when you arrive or at most kiosks and newstands in Athens. I have been trying to talk them into doing a weekly baseball column which would feature a recap of the weeks Magor League action plus an article on the Greek baseball leagues. If you want to weigh in on this you can e-mail John the editor at johnp@dolnet.gr
(The photo is the kiosk (perip tero) owned by our friend Thanassis, on Kydatheneon street in the Plaka. He keeps the International Herald on the rack. You have to ask for the Athens News.)
The USA TODAY comes
out weekdays. They usually arrive at the newsstands in
the mid afternoon. For sports information, baseball
box scores etc. It's incomparable.
For news, business and everything else get the
International Herald Tribune which is published every
day except Sunday. There is now an insert of the
Kathimerini which is similar to the Athens News except
they have the ferry schedules every day but
unfortunately it is for the day the paper comes out so
by the time you read it your ferry most likely has
left.
Odyssey Magazine
is available around
Athens but you are better off getting it before you go
by subscription. Their summer preview issue has lots
of valuable information about what is going on in
Athens and around Greece. It comes out every other
month. The writers are very good as is the layout. It
is by far the most professional looking of all the
print media. This is also a wonderful gift to yourself
or someone in your family who is Greek-American or
just loves Greece. Well-written and interesting
articles on subjects you won't find anywhere else
about destinations in Greece, current events and
historical events, artists, writers, politics,
scandals, and culture. It's like the New Yorker but
easier and more fun to read with a lot more pictures.
When I am missing Greece the arrival of Odyssey Magazine softens the pain. Great photography. For info on
special subscription rates
click
here.