Exploring Europe, exploring travel as a political act

“My Life in Ruins” landed on DVD last week, and I picked up a copy to check it out. A follow-up flick from Nia Vardalos of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” fame,  it tells the story of an uptight Greek-American tour guide who learns to let loose, and I was cautiously optimistic when I first heard about it. I’m happy to report that my confidence was rewarded with an enjoyable lightweight flick—with a couple of caveats.

First, anyone looking for unexpected plot twists will be disappointed: This is a safe, predictable comfort-food type of movie. Second, the jokes are a lot like the storyline; pardon the pun but this is well-traveled comedic territory. Still, Vardalos and co-star Richard Dreyfuss are charming enough to keep things together, the titular Greek ruins are gorgeous, and hey, do jokes about tourist stereotypes ever really get old?

If your answer to that question is yes, then “My Life in Ruins” probably isn’t for you. But if you can appreciate a sunny little story peppered with travelers’ inside jokes and some lovely Greek landscapes? Then I’d say it’s worth the five bucks and two hours of your time.

The deep, clean dive into the sea off southwestern Greece probably sealed my lifelong attachment to the pristine in places. I was nine years old and, until then, had only swam in chlorinated swimming pools and muddy river water in landlocked North Dakota. My father had grown up swimming in a secluded beach near the village of Kyparissia as a young orphan and had associated its salty breath and blue-green water with a wanderlust that would turn him dreamy-eyed even as a middle-aged man. To him, travel at its most elemental was about the unadorned land, enlivened by tides and breeze and hulking mountains. He described his childhood beach so lovingly that it almost sounded human.

Today's a big day in the world of Greek antiquities, as the massive New Acropolis Museum in Athens opens its doors to the public for the first time. The fancy new building was designed by architect Bernard Tschumi, and incorporates classic and contemporary elements to display 4,000 artifacts, more than ten times the number of the inadequate old museum it replaces. The New York Times has a nifty article and slide show of the $200 million museum, which it calls "one of the highest-profile cultural projects undertaken in Europe in this decade."

We blogged about one writer’s sneak peek at the New Acropolis Museum last summer, and now opening day has finally arrived—predictably, not without controversy.

The museum was designed both to pressure Britain for the return of the Elgin Marbles, and to provide a worthy home for them after their (eventual, theoretical) return. With that context in mind, it’s no surprise that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the director of the British Museum—where the marbles are currently held—have all declined invitations to the grand opening on Saturday.

My Life in Ruins, a new rom-com in theaters today, stars Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) as a tour guide in Athens who accidentally falls in love. The plot is as dull as it sounds, but Vardalos' character's chosen profession does provide some great vistas of the city. Taking a cue from Nia, here is our guide to the best of all that Athens has to offer:

Is “Mamma Mia!” helping to buffer the Greek tourism industry from a broader travel downturn? Yes, according to the Telegraph’s Charles Starmer-Smith. He writes of the Greece-set summer blockbuster: “While travel companies and airlines have reported a marked shift away from Eurozone countries in recent months due to the continued weakness of the pound against the euro, Greece has bucked the trend. Sales of easyJet flights to Athens have risen by 13 per cent since the film was released in July, and the low-cost airline has attributed the surge to the film’s rosy depiction of Greek island life.”

We gave “Mamma Mia!” the World Hum Travel Movie Club treatment back in January.

On March 25, Greece celebrates its independence as won from the Ottoman Empire as won between 1821 and 1829. The occasion is typically celebrated with military parades; New York's Greek population is even having one, albeit not until April 26th.

In the Athens airport, you can celebrate your independence every day with free WiFi via the Wiz portal. We hear you're limited to 45 minutes, though, so make sure to take full advantage (or wait to log on if you've got a long layover).

Feel free to share your airport WiFi experiences.

Related Stories:
· Independence Day in Greece [ExploreCrete.com]
· From Bengal to Nepal, Happy Diwali [Jaunted]
· Airport WiFi Map [Jaunted]

A tourist takes pictures of his family in front of the closed ancient theater of Herod Atticus at Acropolis hill in Athens.

Revelers celebrate Clean Monday by participating in a colorful "flour-war", a traditional activity marking the end of the carnival season, in the port town of Galaxidi, some 125 miles northwest of Athens.