Soon, we met up with Athens flower shop owner Spiros Koloniadis to talk about his dissatisfaction with the current state of the country, and his thoughts about Greece’s future.

“I’m angry with myself. My hope is being violated,” Koloniadis said.

Yet despite the frustration many Greek citizens are experiencing, some still remain optimistic. Olga opened her bakery in Athens one year into the Greece debt crisis. She has yet to turn a profit, but is still full of hope for her business. She says food is the one thing people will always need.

July 12, 2015

Waking up in Athens

A view from Lycabettus Hill

During our second day in Greece, we ascended Mount Lycabettus, a 908-foot limestone hill in Athens. Here are some snapshots from the top.

Anti-German graffiti on the walk up to Lycabettus Hill. The relationship between Greece and Germany is strained because of the debt crisis, but still three out of four Greeks want to stay in the eurozone.

A young couple shares a moment while tourists around them snap photos from atop Mt. Lycabettus. The crest is the home to St. George church, built in the 19th century.

One more view from Mt. Lycabettus in Athens. Beautiful.

Cash grabs

ATM lines are long in the Kypseli neighborhood of Athens. There are few tourists to buoy the economy in this part of town, so the crisis has hit residents here extra hard. Still, residents are cheerful.

Smile Restaurant in Athens sees a business opportunity in all that struggle. This is their “Crisis Menu” ad on the back of a tourist map we got from our cab driver:

Graffiti lines a wall in a Greek neighborhood:

July 13, 2015

Euro Summit talks

On Sunday, European leaders met with Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to try and reach a Greek debt deal.

We were there to ponder the important things.

The talks in Brussels lasted 17 hours, the longest summit on record.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the bailout:

Anticipated reaction to the proposed deal:

This year, only the tourists are shopping near Syntagma Square in Athens. Locals are holding onto their money in the midst of the financial crisis.

Back in the “studio”

(Soundproofing courtesy of Christos Karanatsis, our translator and producer.)

There is a mix of resignation and relief among the Greek people after a marathon eurozone summit resulted in a third bailout.

On Monday’s show, we told stories about Greek citizens and how they’re coping.

Flower-shop owner Spiros Koloniadis was disheartened by the outcome.

“I don’t think we have a sovereign nation anymore. I think the historians of the future will have to write many pages about what actually happened in Greece,” he said.

Restaurant worker Vassilis Anastassopoulos, 32, says he’s — simply put — given up.

“I hoped to make a future for my son, because I don’t have a chance anymore,” he said.

At the ATM lines, we spoke with Corinna Kozala, who was waiting to withdraw money for her rent.

“No matter what the government says about dignity, this is not dignity either,” Kozala said.

Jewelry store owner Marianne Le Clere Papalexis said that while sales initially stalled after the banks closed, business eventually picked up after the first several days.

“We had people rushing to us, asking for good value for their money they couldn’t get out of the bank,” she says.

July 14, 2015

Public radio, Greece style. We promise there’s no filter on this.

Anastasios Pinakoulakis grew up in Athens with dreams of being a public school teacher, but the jobs just aren’t there. He’s now back in school studying theater even though he knows he has no better chance at finding work in the arts.

Twenty-year-old Efie Garavela says she is running out of options in Greece where youth unemployment is at 50 percent. “I have no other option then to leave my home country. It breaks my heart but I have no choice if things get worse,” Garavela says.