Millions of municipal workers are on strike in Athens, leading to the cancellation of dozens of flights and a temporary hold on public services that include trash removal. During a nationwide walkout today, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in the country's capital; some rioted. Socialist opposition leader and former Foreign Minister George Papandreou told AP Television news that they're "marching for a socially just pension system." Service workers argue their pensions and rights are being robbed and that women are especially victimized by the system. This comes a day after a 24-hour strike by transit workers brought Athens' transportation to a standstill. [CNN]

Our far-flung correspondent Monica Guy has once again slapped together a guide to city we have only dreamed about visiting. This time, she's summing up Athens, Greek. Got a tip, question or suggestion about Athens? Send it our way.

Chaos. It's a Greek word originally, and it's exactly what you'll find in Greece's capital of Athens.

Chaotic driving, chaotic shopping, chaotic, hot, throbbing nightlife. It's good chaos - especially if you need a break from the boring predictability of an office - and one of the most fun and alive places to visit in southern Europe.

The hotel scene is as chaotic as the rest of the city. We've had the quintessential English hotel,

Here's some fresh news about the Fresh Hotel in Athens, Greece. It labels itself an urban resort and boasts "subtle luxury", as well as pretty amazing views from the deck on top of the hotel (they stretch even to the Parthenon).

Recent guests have had lots of positive things to say about their stay at Fresh. They speak of helpful staff, a tasty breakfast with lots of alternatives to choose from and an impressive pool on the rooftop. The major downside seems to be that Fresh is located in a slightly seedy area and not everyone will feel safe walking back here at night; plus in true designer style, some rooms have those showers which looking

We just heard (via Design Spotter) of a conceptual show starting next week at the Milch & Zucker Gallery in Berlin called "Athens vs. Berlin, From the Ex to the Next: A Capital Design Crash." The name alone sounds exciting whether you're a design freak or not. The gist of the show is this: three big time designers, two from Berlin and one from Athens had worked together years ago. They split up and are converging once again in Berlin to show off their design ideas inspired by their respective cultural capitals. The reunited the designers run the studios Greece is For Lovers (Athens), Daniel Weilder Product + Interior Design (Berlin), and Moritz Böttcher Produktdesign (Berlin).

Athens vs. Berlin [Official Site]
Athens vs. Berlin [Design Spotter]

-- Amanda Kludt

The name of the Baby Grand Hotel alone conjures up elegant kind of jazz-on-a-Sunday evening images ... but that's not exactly what you'll find if you check into this Athens hotel. While it has some relatively normal guestrooms and suites, there are also 55 graffiti rooms, that the hotel itself describes in this way:

Each room is an individual piece of art... From fantastic street and Japanese art to simply spaced out fantasies. Running waters, mountains, forests, flowers, true fairytales, dreaming creatures, and legendary cartoon heroes decorate in the most unique way our 55 graffiti rooms.

This week, a UK Guardian review explained it in a slightly different way:

The result is a hotchpotch of wacky installations such

This weekend there will simultaneous partying involving parades, masked mischief, beads, babes, and drinking going on all over the nominally catholic world. To get the skinny, take a gander at the latest episode of The Map, where Liza runs down some of the world’s top Carnival spots, and hits up a German “Karneval” party right here in New York. For some extra goodness, take a look at other carnival videos from our archive. Here’s a clip about Rio’s Samba school parade, and a list of the cities most famed for their pre-Lent madness:



– Basel, Switzerland
– Binche, Belgium
– Cologne, Germany
– Mobile, Alabama
– New Orleans, Louisiana
– Patras, Greece
– Port of Spain, Trinidad
– Rijeka, Croatia
– Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
– Sitges, Spain
– Viareggio, Italy
– Venice, Italy

In honor of the coming New Year, the jet-setting folks at Condé Nast Traveler have rounded up a list of how 12:00 am, January 1 will be met in nine different places around the globe. From a night of Buddhist meditation in Tokyo, to Edinburgh’s three-night Hogmanay bender involving gallons of alcohol, and men in skirts and no underwear, there’s bound to be a celebration to suit your style.

Worldchanging designer Karim Rashid is at it again. Last night we spotted him hawking his new Dirt Devil Kone--it is the new shape of clean y'all.  

Of course, the design guru was dressed in his trademark white suite for the Dirt Devil spot, which eerily reminded us of the Dyson vacuum ads.

While Karim toils in the Dirt Devil lab, across the globe at his Semiramis Hotel Athens, some question his choice of palette. A recent French guest critiques Semiramis (read the following tip in a Jean Girard over-the-top accent for added amusement):

We are big fan of design hotel, however this one is not what we like. I will recommend visiting the

2008 Beijing Olympics
- “To bet or not to bet on Beijing Games” (SF Chronicle)

Chinatown Buses, safe or not?
- “‘Chinatown Buses’: What You Need to Know” (Washington Post)

Dijon, France
- “A Little Dijon on the Side” (Washington Post)

Ethiopia
- “Ethiopia Opens Its Doors, Slowly” (NYT)

New York
- “The healthy side of the Big Apple” (LA Times)

Paros, Greece
- “Paros, Greece, Is a Jam-Packed Island That’s an Open Secret” (NYT)

Albania
- ‘Albania’s ancient history surfaces’ (LA Times)

Monemvasia, Greece
- ‘Next Stop: Monemvasia, Greece’ (NYT)

Budapest
- ‘Budapest Is Stealing Some of Prague’s Spotlight’ (NYT)

Lake Tahoe for Foodies
- ‘Wine, and art, to flow freely at Lake Tahoe’ (SF Chronicle)

Holistic Mount Shasta
- ‘Soaking up Shasta’ (SF Chronicle)

Semi-Affordable SF Hotels
- ‘Cents and an S.F. sensibility’ (LA Times)

Newfoundland
- ‘The Age of Argument hits the outports’ (Globe and Mail)