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anti amerianism? Perhaps your "friends" should focus on training instead of demonstrating their ignorance. Having spent significant times there for pleasure and business, I can tell you the people are most assuridly NOT anti-american. You may see some of the leftist students or albanians marching and the CNN types pick that up BUT that is just leftist media.

Greece is a TOURIST dependent country. They can not afford to be anti-american. Even when the socialist were in power they were careful. No one spends like the american tourist. Even now, they want dollars because the euro is causing inflation.

Greece went through a communist incursion after WWII people died to keep the commies out. (far different from a cold war) During WWII Jewish people went to Athens to get away from hitler. Many of them STILL LIVE THERE. Their children went to school and have families there.

As for lax security, perhaps thirty years ago, but on recent trips I can tell you that greek police are carrying heavier arms and are much much more agressive. I saw them chase down a shoplifter and openly throw in a few extra punches on the thief as he was caught. Security is give wide latitude. (a sad note considering the laid back lifestyle they used to have) The Greeks have been dealing with the illegal immigrants from albania and bosnia.

Before you go shooting out your aquaintances opinions based on ignorance think. (if you aquaintance hates it that much, tell them not to go. Otherwise I will save you an Ouzo at the Taverna.)

Actually, he based his observation on a recent (last fall) visit to Athens when he and his fencing Master were scoping out some pre-Olympic training facilities. Many of the Greeks that they met gave them a hard time regarding the evil president Bush and how America had no business in Iraq. They were flabbergasted by how students would walk up to them (knowing that they were American) and, in perfect English, tell them how they don't want a McDonalds or Starbucks coffee in their country, that the US should not support the evil Israel and should support the brave Palestinian "freedom-fighters," etc...

Maybe my friend and his comrade ran into a spate of bad luck and timing, but their impression of that city (Athens) was far from friendly.

They did, however, do some touring outside of Athens and were treated better by the locals and their guide. Their guide warned them to "lay low" and not "flaunt" their being from the US since some of the state-run TV was running programming that blamed the US for some of Greece's and the world's problems and it angered the socialist scum that dominated the city. (The guide was very anti-socialist and thought that they caused most of his countries' problems way more than American Globilization and culture did.)

The guide also warned them about the Athens police, some of whom were known for harassing young tourists that they thought were in Athens for drugs. (The guide also spit on the Albanians who he said were the main drug-runners and had made the situation intolerable in that area.) I can understand police being suspicious of kids (from Europe and America) coming to Athens for cheap and plentiful drugs, but apparently the guide said that there was a scam going wherein the police would "plant" drugs on unsuspecting tourists and demand a bribe or else risk arrest/jail. (Hmmm. I'll bet that some of those drugs weren't planted, but who knows?)

Yeah, my friend said that outside of Athens, things were very pleasant. But inside the city (at least last fall) they were bothered by the anti-American attitudes of many of the people that they met and that the place was crawling with sullen-faced Muslim-types.

I doubt that my friend made any of this up. He and his fencing Master were looking forward to visiting Greece. They were seriously disappointed by the mood (at least what they encountered) in Athens.