It seems that almost everyone I know from the Australian creative industry is in Greece for the Mediterranean summer.
Jennifer Barry, an arts leader, and former Footscray Community Arts Centre Director, with a CV that stretches almost to Greece, posted on her Facebook on Tuesday:
“Is absolutely everyone I know in Greece right now?”
Yes, Jen, they are, except you and me.
Jade Lillie, the former CEO of Footscray Arts Centre, was just there.
Jade Lillie had the audacity to SMS me, “Hello there. How are you going? Just back… Greece really is the best but I don’t need to tell you that!”
No, Jade you don’t. But you did, and I am now crouched in the corner of the room wandering where my life went wrong.
Vallejo Gantner, former head of PS122, in New York and curator for the Onassis Foundation, and former associate director of the Melbourne Festival (RISE), is there – well, he’s always there, and everywhere.
Deb Hatton, educator and lighting engineer, and a former student of mine, is there, as are others like, Tai Snaith, visual artist and podcaster. The list seems endless.
They keep posting pics on their social media of them wandering around the ancient ruins and theatres, taking in the sight of the Parthenon while having cocktails, then in some cute town or island beach, or by the waterfront, in restaurants, and cafes.
Sheer cruelty. Deb Hatton has been populating her posts of Monastiraki, Delphi, moonlit bays in Therma Ikaria… way too superb.
Hatton writes in one of her posts: “In Monastiraki, Athens, Greece — Thanks so much to Athens and surrounds. We have had a monumental time so far! We will be back in a couple of weeks – but it is nearly time to seek the sea. Hail to Athena; Ares; Hermes; Dionysis; Apollo; Daphne; Icarus…”
Yeah right…hail Dionysis… and here it’s more like when is hail going to pelt down? If not hail then just rain and icy breezes.
If that’s not enough one of my rock idols from my youth as a Cold Chisel’s tragic, Jimmy Barnes, and an established solo artist, is also in Greece.
Worse, he has posted on his Facebook about his “enthusiasm” about being there along with photos of him and the family strolling in Athens.
“Yasas! We arrived last night with the full moonlight shining on the Acropolis. Here we are soaking in our view and heading off in search of Greek delights”, Barnsey wrote.
https://www.facebook.com/jimmybarnesofficial/posts/815308759964625?ref=embed_post
This needs to stop now ! It’s very triggering for a Greek Australian journalist at Neos Kosmos.
I cannot be in the middle of a bitter Melbourne winter, facing 4 degrees Celsius every morning and spending the day under a leaden sky, avoiding a blanket of drizzle, as my Vitamin D depletes.
I can no longer bear to see posts of bathing in the Aegean, sipping back ouzo, eating Greek salad and grills, and whittling away the wee hours at restaurants, bars, and clubs in balmy Greek summer nights. Stop!
In July 2022, Greece experienced close to 40 million tourists, an extraordinary number for a nation with a population of approximately 10.5 million.
The Greek government, local businesses, and the creative and tourism sectors loved it. Greece’s tourism industry attracted a staggering AUD $68.18 billion in revenue, as disclosed in the macrotrends site, and drove the country’s GDP growth to 7.5 per cent.
That’s all well and good, but it does nothing for my current mood and deep FOMO.
So, all of you, stop posting your pics of Greece and come back now, so we can all be miserable together in Melbourne’s winter – like it should be.
