So The Daily Mail will no longer be printed and available in Greece. We have been getting it every Friday for the theatre, film and book reviews and Jan Moir’s column which I always enjoyed but alas no more. It advertises in the last issue that the paper will still be available on kindle or I-pad and as I am not a proud possessor of either of these expensive toys and have neither the means nor desire to get them in the immediate future that’s the end of The Daily Mail for us.

First of all we lost The Sunday Times which we relied on for reviews but this was from choice as the price stayed the same, a hefty five euro, but the paper gradually became a skeleton of its former self starting with the magazine and the comics and finally, despite howls of outrage, the culture section. They did leave in car sales but what ex-pat is interested in British car sales for goodness sake? No reason is given for the demise of The Daily Mail but I can only assume it has all to do with the economic situation in Greece. Were the publishers not being paid? More than likely. But it is sad really because it is a blow, albeit a small one in comparison to much else, to the Greek economy and of course it means more people out of work.

Well, here we are already in to the third day of the year, only 352 days to Christmas. Apart from being invited by friends for lunch this last Christmas Day and again on New Year’s, the festive season passed by hardly noticed. I don’t know if there were many in Greece who felt festive. We sent no cards for the very first time. The money that could have gone towards that went on the iniquitous new property tax the government have brought in. Interestingly the financial situation of Greek’s politicians reveal that most of them, apart from drawing pretty hefty salaries, have well over the million euro stashed away, and that is apart from other assets they might have like one of them owning six rental properties. They all obviously had a very festive season, no worries there, though I am sure none of them are looking forward to the next general election. Lose your seat and you lose the gravy train and, as the banks aren’t paying decent interest these days, you’d best find yourself a decent job or be another of the ever increasing number of unemployed. It’s a bloody mess and no mistake. Happy New Year, Greece.