E-Paper
Athens Olympics finally in party mode
Unfazed by doping scandals and security fears, thousands of people crowd cafes, restaurants and squares in central Athens every night.
Unfazed by doping scandals and security fears, thousands of people crowd cafes, restaurants and squares in central Athens every night as the much-awaited Olympic party gets in gear in the Games' final week.
"There's action, there are shows everywhere, people are everywhere, it's fun," said a young French tourist strolling in the pedestrian area winding its way around the Athens Acropolis.
The promenade, filled with street musicians entertaining passersby, is the usual departure point before they pour into the nearby restaurants and night clubs miles (kilometers) away in Plaka, Thissio and Monastiraki.
"Plaka is fantastic at night. You have lots of people, different nationalities -- people dress up like Mexicans... it's a jolly good atmosphere," said Nick Kalfopoulos, a Greek-American who is visiting Athens for the Games.
The partying has the blessing of Greek authorities, which extended opening hours for entertainment establishments and restaurants by two hours during the Athens Olympics, effectively allowing all-night partying.
The city of Athens has enlisted more than 600 Greek and foreign artists to entertain tourists on streets and squares. Some 500 shows are taking place, from open-air concerts to dancing and street-theatre performances.
A mixed crowd of Greeks and foreigners watched, many smiling, as a Greek rock band put a reggae gloss on traditional Greek folk tunes in Omonoia square earlier in the week.
Then it was the turn of French group Trans-express to steal bypassers' attention in nearby Kotzia square.
Perched on giant mock vehicle hung from a crane ten metres (33 feet) high, four violinists and an opera singer performed classical music, while a heavy metal band had its feet firmly on the ground trying to entice people to dance.
And then there were the trapeze artists performing spectacular jumps.
"I very much like what happens in Athens. There are many people, it's much livelier than usual," said a Belgian ex-patriate living in Greece for thirty years.
Security fears seem not be spoiling the party mood. Guarded by 1,000 coastguards and police officers in the port of Piraeus, German tourists on one of a dozen cruise ships serving as floating hotels for Olympics visitors partied so loud on Saturday that nearby residents called police to turn the music down.
A few Estonian fans felt right at home. A trendy Athens bar was turned into the small Baltic nation's "headquarters." The country's blue-white-black flag has been hoisted next to that of Greece as around 100 Estonians gathered, drummed into party mood by a percussion orchestra from their country.
Athens shopowners meanwhile complained that tourists celebrate too much but buy too little.
"Everybody says that the tourists have arrived. I don't know if they arrived, but if they did, they buy nothing," said a Plaka shopowner standing amidst packs of unsold remakes of ancient Greek statuettes.
