Any regular holiday visitor to the Greek Islands will know how hard most Greeks work to make a living, contrary to the stereotype of feckless layabouts wallowing in comfort on Euro loans. Most Greeks I know need more than one job to make ends meet and work hard for their low wages and poor pensions. Now, with Greek unemployment touching 20% many are leaving the cities and heading home to family farms to survive the current economic crisis.

Once upon a time Christmas was not much of a holiday in Greece, not compared with Easter anyway. Rampant consumerism and western-style gluttony is slowly taking over. Nowadays Christmas in Greece is wrapped up in with gaudy decorations, tinsel, winking lights and as many expensive presents as can be shoved into a seasonal sack.

Strike weary Greeks have greeted new demonstrations over austerity measures with a stifled yawn. A walk-out by Greek government workers on December 1 shut down many services in Athens and other major cities but had little effect on those taking their winter holidays in the Greek islands. There was none of the violence that has marred previous Greek strikes. After 18 months of street protests, Greeks seem resigned to a new wave of wage cuts and tax hikes.

When Britons on a Greek Island holiday phoned up the British Consulate to ask where was the best place for fishing, staff decided enough was enough. The Foreign Office has now posted a note on its website to tell holiday travellers that they are not a trivial holiday help service for Brits abroad. And they have listed a selection of inane and trivial questioned that have been posed by the British to Consulate staff when on holiday in Greece and other countries.

Strike weary Greeks have greeted new demonstrations over austerity measures with a stifled yawn. A walk-out by Greek government workers on December 1 shut down many services in Athens and other major cities but had little effect on those taking their winter holidays in the Greek islands. There was none of the violence that has marred previous Greek strikes. After 18 months of street protests, Greeks seem resigned to a new wave of wage cuts and tax hikes.

Greece could be set to sell its holiday sunshine in a bid to clear the country's multi-billion euro debt mountain. The Helios project, named after the ancient sun god, aims to erect enough solar panel across the country to create 10 gigawatts of solar power. Greek holiday sunshine energy could then be sold to Greece's north European neighbours such as Germany and the UK. Not only will the sunshine sell-off raise

A new Greek Island emergency property tax looks set to leave thousands of UK holidaymakers out of pocket. Holiday Brits who have brought property in Greece have been caught up in a new emergency tax aimed at plugging a €2billion shortfall in the budget this year.
Property experts estimate it could cost up to €1,000 a year for Greek holiday Brits who have bought holiday homes on the islands.

The new Greek property

Motorbike hire is hugely popular with youngsters on Greek island holidays - but they should be aware of the dangers. By August this year 203 motorcyclists had died on Greek roads, by far the worst death rate in the whole of Europe. Most deaths were on the mainland but the Greek islands claimed 37 lives, mostly on Crete, Corfu, Kos and Rhodes. According to Greek island traffic police a high percentage of motorcycle fatalities involve young people.

WIld seagulls are under threat as breeding numbers drop sharply throughout the Greek islands, warn Greek bird lovers. The latest 2010 census of seagull nests by the Greek Ornithological Society estimated 350-500 breeding pairs of Audouin's Gull compared to the 700-900 pairs found in 2009. The wild sea bird, the Audouin's Gull, is a symbol of the Greek islands and a noted sighting for enthusiastic birdwatchers on Greek Island holidays.

An evening meal beneath the stars while sitting in a Greek island taverna is many people's idea of what a Greek island holiday is all about. But the future of Greek tavernas looks under threat as economic hardships bites and Greeks can no longer afford the rising price of menu favourites. The Greek taverna has been part and parcel of the Greek way of life. Whole families would often decamp to their favourite taverna.