WELCOME to Greece in 2008. The most famous thing to do to Greece nowadays is to be in a cruise ship that will take you to the Greek mainland as well as to the islands that are part of this old civilization. In a Greek cruise ship, you will find different varieties of food of course like deboned red snapper, hotdog, sausage, hamburger, potato fries, enchilada, pasta, rice, the Greek special moussaka, zucchini and Greek gyros. Moussaka is of course tomato paste salad served with meat while Greek gyros is something fancy that a visit to Greece is not complete without tasting it. Of course, gyros is imported from nearby Turkey and it is more of the Turkish version of moussaka. So if you can’t afford moussaka in an elegant Greek restaurant, then try gyros.

The aim this year for Greece is to make friends with other nations for peaceful and trade purposes. Making friends with other nations is after all always good to one’s country as one can have allies not just for military purposes but also for commercial purposes. Take for example this piece of news that I have encountered earlier – Greece is recently exploring ties with Iran. In fact, the deputy foreign minister of Iran himself, Ali Baqeri, is currently in Greece to forge ties with Iran. And it is not without words. They are exploring on possibilities of commercial exchanges between the two countries. Even Greek political and socio-economic analysts outside of the government that Iran is a very strong country to be allied with since it plays a key role in Middle East politics of which Greece is a neighbor.

Another country that Greece has forged ties with is Malta. This time, it is not economic or political cooperation that Greece and Malta are working together on, it is about search and rescue operations because Greece and Malta are only bordered together with one sea that is the Mediterranean Sea.

And while Iranian and Malta representatives are busy visiting Greece, the prime minister of Greece himself, Kostas Karamanlis, is busy visiting India to have some major agreements in the socio-economic arena signed. Of course, Greek companies are investing in India while Indian companies are investing in Greece so this is the essence of mutual cooperation in its truest and most literal sense.

But it is not just fellow governments that Greece has forged ties with. Just last Monday, Karamanlis met with representatives from Transparency International in his office. Greece is expected some more help to Transparency International in all its human rights concerns worldwide.

Now let’s take a tour at the typical accommodation of a Greek hotel. A Greek hotel has its own state-of-the-art nursery. This nursery is intended for young couples who are out on their second honeymoon and who need to have the intimacy. The nursery is open 24 hours and it is staffed with child psychologists and equipped with modern playthings.