Time
May. 24, 2010
By Nicole Itano / Athens
By 2 a.m., the party at Thalassa, a waterfront bouzouki club in the exclusive Athens suburb of Glyfada, is finally getting going. All evening, Porsches, Mercedes and BMWs have been rolling up to the door, disgorging men in coats and women teetering on stiletto heels. Inside, the queen of Greek pop, 40-year-old Despina Vandi, sings onstage. The cost of admission is a bottle of whisky per table — at a minimum of €170, about $200 — and patrons shower the entertainers with pricey white carnations, bought by the basketful from young women working the floor.
Behind Thalassa’s doors, and those of dozens of other bouzouki clubs dotted around Athens, Greeks can still spend big — if only for one night. But outside, reality is bleak. Flush with wealth only a decade ago, Greece is now drowning in debt, and has been forced to go begging to Europe for help. In return, the government has promised a range of cuts, sending outraged citizens onto to the streets. On May 20 the city saw its second major protest — this one peaceful, unlike the one on May 5 in which five died — along with a 24-hour strike that shut down schools, businesses and public transportation. (See photos of the protests in Greece.)
If someone were looking for a symbol of the excesses that lead to the country’s financial crisis, they need look no further than the culture of bouzoukia, a uniquely Greek celebration of the good life. As the crowd in Thalassa cheers the thumping, high-wattage show, a mix of local pop and international hits (with only a token bouzouki, the mandolin-like traditional instrument that gives the clubs their name), Greece’s economic woes seem far away. That’s precisely why people come.
Giorgos Papadapoulos, 28 is a bouzouki regular. He used to come to the clubs three or four times a month, but in April he lost his job as a bus driver ferrying people to a local casino. “A month ago I had €2,500 ($3,000), now all I’ve got is this,” he says, pulling €5 out of his pocket. “I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow.” (Read if the crisis in Greece can be contained.)
Tonight he can’t afford a table, so he’s standing in the back with his platinum blond girlfriend on a €15 ($19) bar ticket. But he says has no regrets about spending his euros on entertainment, adding with a wry grin that he realizes it’s this attitude that got Greece into trouble. “It’s because we don’t save,” he says. “Whatever we have, we spend.” more …
