Greece
Lives of luxury for Sparta’s women
History is full of ‘ifs’ and the Spartan story fuller than most. If the 300 had not made their famous…
The way Greece has conducted itself in this pandemic is an example to us all
Aristophanes was a comic genius long before the Marx Brothers, but he also gave good advice to the Athenians: stop…
My bid to boost my carbon footprint
Inspired by Harry and Meghan I decided to get on a plane. I hadn’t been anywhere for so long it…
How Athenians would have broken the Brexit deadlock
It is said that our political system is ‘broken’ simply because the passions aroused by Brexit have effectively created a…
Standing on the Acropolis brings out the Greek in me
Athens I am struggling up the slippery marble steps of the Acropolis with the Geldofs and the Bismarcks. We gaze…
Lunch on Leonard Cohen Island: The Pirate Bar reviewed
The Pirate Bar is an oddity, even for this column: a bar and restaurant themed in homage to a pirate,…
Let’s choose our politicians by random selection
Athens Standing right below the Acropolis, where pure democracy began because public officials were elected by lot, I try to…
Tantrums and a top-notch tabbouleh: Ergon House in Athens reviewed
Ergon House is an epicurean boutique hotel in downtown Athens. (I quote the blurb — I never write ‘boutique’ willingly.)…
A Greek tragedy: how the EU is destroying a country
‘Now Greece can finally turn the page in a crisis that has lasted too long. The worst is over.’ With…
The joy of a Greek summer
Some jerk know-nothing writes in an unreadable American newspaper that Greece is back — Athens, actually. He would, he’s an…
Greece Notebook
I have come to Greece in search of sanity over Brexit. Ostensibly it is a symposium to discuss relations between…
High life
I’ve stayed far away from the new barbarians with their choppers, tank-like cars, home theatres on board, and fridge-shaped super…
Smokers are paying for your pension
Axa will no longer invest in the tobacco industry: the French insurance giant will sell €184 million of shares and…
What the people-smugglers of Istanbul make of the EU’s deal with Turkey
The Turkey-EU deal will do nothing to fix the migrant crisis. Just ask the people-smugglers in Istanbul
Athens today makes me long for an EU bigwig to strangle
Athens I am walking around downtown Athens watching as thousands of migrants field pitches from smugglers offering alternative routes…
Why the World Service is worth every penny
What makes the World Service so different from the rest of the BBC? I asked Mary Hockaday, the controller of…
Moral sainthood is a bore; sinners are much more fun
Gstaad I had the rather subversive idea of offering a six-figure sum to Oriel College, Oxford. On one condition: that…
The King of Greece tells it like it really was
Athens Viewed from Mars, this is a sunny, peaceful city. Up close, however, things ain’t what they used to be.…
It’ll be me vs Jean-Claude Juncker at the Judo World Championships
Gstaad Jeremy Clarke has wiped me out again, for a change. His accounts of the high jinks on board the…
Portrait of the week
Home Andrew Burnham described calls from Yvette Cooper, a rival candidate for the Labour leadership, for him to withdraw from…
Outdoor piano bars can be dangerous things — especially when one is under the influence
These are the languid, sensuous days of summer, and I’ve had another birthday, which is the bad news. But it’s…
Portrait of the week
Home The Metropolitan Police encouraged people to celebrate VJ Day despite reports in the Mail on Sunday (picked up from…
Mykonos has turned into hell (I still blame Jackie Kennedy)
The wind is maddening and constant, and gets stronger as the sun falls below the horizon. The streets are lined…
What Greece needs is less Europe and more entrepreneurship
Nestled under the Acropolis, snug and safe among the ancient ruins of a long-ago grandeur, Plaka is the only remaining…
I remember Nikkei’s journalistic values – and I’m not sure they’re much like the FT’s
It’s nearly 30 years since I worked in Japan, but I still have a few words of the language and…
