Price of gas/petrol in Greece

June 30, 2008 at 20:40 · Filed under Shopping in Greece, Travel

© Copyrighted image from CC, from Greece Instructions for Use

Planning to rent a car in Greece, or are you a resident addicted to your car? Gas/petrol prices vary greatly throughout the country depending on the neighborhood, brand and gas station owner, with Greek islands always higher.

In February and March 2010, consecutive fuel tax increases were imposed to raise money for the debt-stricken economy and gas station owners saw this as an opportunity to exploit drivers by raising prices ahead of the effective date, resulting in an extra €40 million profit in one week. Unfortunately, profiteering is not uncommon and the government must often set ceilings.

Prices are now between €1.20-€1.62/liter and still rising.

Prices are updated daily at gasprice.gr (multilingual) and the Ministry of Development’s Web site (Greek only).

* Article last updated March 15, 2010

Liters to gallons & euro conversion

For those of you who don’t speak metric, a liter is significantly smaller than a gallon, so one (1) gallon = 3.85 liters. Therefore, a gallon of gas would be 3.85 liters x 1.40 euros = 5.39 euros/gallon. For those of you who don’t speak euro, that’s approximately US $8.46/gallon. When gas/petrol drivers are on strike, prices can reach 1.75 euro/liter (US $10.58/gallon) as stations run low on fuel and charge a premium.

If you would like to calculate a figure in dollars/gallon, take the figure from the table and multiply the price by 3.85. For example, for Pallini: 1.25 x 3.85 = 4.8125 euros/gallon. Now convert that to dollars: 4.8125 x 1.57 (US$ exchange rate) = US $7.56/gallon.

If you like liters just fine and only need to convert it to your currency, take the figure directly off of the table and go to www.xe.com, plug the figure in the QuickConverter and choose your currency from the drop-down menu. Exchange rates change daily, especially with the U.S. dollar being vulnerable.

I provided you with the tools to make the calculations yourself not only because my audience is global and it’s impossible to satisfy everyone, but also to empower you with knowledge you can use in the future.

The Table

Below is a table compiled from the kind participation of 20 readers (big thank you!) and figures taken from the Ministry of Development’s Web site in 2008.

It is impossible to update and code this table on a daily basis, as prices change quickly and constantly. But it illustrates the range of prices by region, so you can plan your vacation budget accordingly.

* If the figures differed greatly between the Ministry of Development and readers in Greece, I favored those provided by live people on the ground who took the time to survey prices today.

In the News

“Who is to blame for the high cost of fuel in Greece?” (link broken) – Athens News
“Oligopoly in the Greek fuel market” – Kathimerini
“Greece to reform petrol/gas stations to curb deficit” – Reuters
“Self-service gas stations coming to Greece” – Kathimerini

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Photo by CC, used with her permission for my book, Greece Instructions for Use

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Greek ferry accidents 2008

June 28, 2008 at 23:29 · Filed under Travel

NEL’s ‘Theofilos‘ overnight ferry to Mytilini, Lesbos has run aground near Inousses with 478 passengers on board. At this time, there are no reported injuries, but helicopters, boats and planes have been sent to the scene as a precautionary measure.

Timing of this incident comes on the heels of a heated debate between ferry operators claiming a 70 percent increase in expenses due to rising fuel costs and the Ministry calling for restraint to stave off a decease in tourism. It is also dangerously close to the beginning of high season. Only Minoan and Blue Star said they would keep prices stable until the end of summer 2008 or cut fares, but the majority of carriers have raised ticket prices by 10-33 percent.

Louis Cruises’ Sea Diamond that sank off the coast of Santorini on April 5, 2007 has still not been recovered and salvaged, despite the protests of environmental groups. Stricter legislation on maintenance and aging ferries to insure the safety of passengers after the Express Samina killed 78 in 2000, in addition to a number of other accidents that same year, was eased in 2006.

* Note: Everyone was safe, but obviously someone took a shortcut (as cretan runner says in his comment) and didn’t consult a map to understand it wouldn’t work. It was a narrow pass, and there was a reef. “Crew gives different accounts”

Other accidents at sea in Greece

“Two ferryboats collide in Andros” (link broken) — July 23, 2008
“Passenger ferry hits reef in Kythera”
“Two cruise ships collide in Piraeus”
“Crystal cruise ship rams Lissos ferry”
“Smashed window injures passenger on Greek hydrofoil”
“Problem with Flying Cat sends 110 passengers to transfer 2-3 times over 24 hours”
“Pleasure boat to Spetses sinks”
“Prevelis rams Despotiko islet off of Karpathos” – Sept 6, 2009

Photo from AP

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O klimatismo dude no cometh

June 25, 2008 at 03:38 · Filed under Personal

Each time I move, I face the enviable task of changing all the bills to my name, updating my address at the eforia, waiting in vain for OTE and getting the air conditioning guy to install and give freon to my hace frio friend.

We thought we were ready to go this summer, since my fiancé had a man install and service the unit when we moved last winter. Apparently not. I turned it on and found nothing but warm air, which only caused me to wilt further under this uninsulated top-floor apartment house registering 39C in the shade. For those of you that don’t speak Celsius, that’s 102F. At night, it only gets down to 31C or 88F, and it’s humid.

Needless to say, I’ve not slept well for several days in a row, usually waking up in a terrible panic from sweating in my sleep and not being able to breathe. The outer door of the bedroom faces the now noisy-all-night-club-until-dawn-blast-my-music-because-I-don’t-work beach access road, and it isn’t constructed properly so light floods in at 5:00. But even if it were quiet, we can’t leave the door open because mosquitos want to show their love for me in spite of two tablet/liquid machines and being doused in DEET, plus the house is covered in dust and dirt within a few hours when the wind blows. Sleeping in a bathtub full of cold water wrinkles my skin after an hour and makes me feel like white trash, so I try to make do with a fan blowing hot air on me while I cook, clean and work.

Add to this our water being turned off in the morning and afternoon, throw in some power cuts and that’s my “affluent” southern suburb Athenian life. You want to be me, don’t you?

I waited eagerly for the klimatismo dude to show up today sometime after noon, looking forward to a full evening of sleep and restoring my sanity by morning. Well, it’s after midnight and he no cometh. Never mind that I waited all day in the house, sweating myself to a sticky, salty anxiety. Never mind that there was no wind. Never mind that there was no phone call to reschedule. It’s not the first time.

It once took me nine appointments, three different services and nine days off from work over 40 days to get a man to come out five years ago, and it was only upon befriending someone who ran a heating/cooling shop according to business etiquette he learned in America that I finally got it done. Too bad we now live in an area that is some distance away, or I’d call him.

Tomorrow my fiancé is going to find me a portable air conditioner. If he doesn’t, I’m thinking of sleeping on the marble floor like I did in desperation five years ago. Is that crazy? Maybe not since I told this story to Tino’s modern Greek-American mom, and she told me she did the same thing when she lived in Greece.

Plakakia slumber party anyone?

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Photo from cartoonstock.com

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