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RE: Ρετσίνα: Greek sarcasm?
What @amadeus said. Also, whatever the Greeks may have done wrong, they were truly effed over by Europe and the troika. European monetary and economic policies, based on flawed economic theory, have pushed Greece further down, not helped it recover. Most of the money earmarked to help Greece went straight back into German banks, and the forced privatisations and austerity measures broke the back of what was left of the Greek economy.
Greece celebrating Europe is a sick joke all by itself, even without the Retsina 8-).
You are right, but a weak currency can wreak havoc as well - let's not forget that after Bulgaria's hyperinflation in 1997, the Lev was pegged to the Euro. Effectively, we've been using the euro for 19 years now.
Hmm... I'm more of a red wine fan. Bulgaria produces both one of the best and worst wines in the world. As a general rule, never buy any Bulgarian wine under 10 euro. There are a few exceptions - try to find Terra Tangra wines - the 2012 selection of Malbec & Cabernet Sauvignon, currently on the market, is excellent at around 6 euro per bottle. Enira (Brass Valley), Stallion, Nimbus and Twins wines are quite good as well, although pricier.
That's me off to the off-licence then. I prefer red wine too.
Cheers!
I didn't see @amadeus's post, for some reason. That's a long topic - Greeks mismanaged their country for a long time, hence their economic crisis. As a Bulgarian, whose country is also led by corrupt politicians, I'm pretty much aware what austerity means - Greeks haven't even began to feel its effects.
Can't disagree with that (bummer 8-). My point is, that the enforced austerity only makes things worse and the Euro makes a tailored monetary response impossible. That is how the economic suffering of the Greek (and Bulgarian) people is being prolonged and deepened by European and troika measures. However much it is their governments' and their cronies' fault for getting into this mess, the man on the street suffers unnecessarily because Europe blocks all possible economic and monetary escape routes.
And all that over a carton of retsina 8-).
It's true that the Euro limits the available tools to control a country's economy, but on the other hand, it's stronger than the Drachma and the Lev. You can very well imagine what will happen to both economies, by combining money printing, corrupt politicians and foreign exchange speculations with these two weak currencies. Add to that the requirements of the free European market, which means that the country will still have no control over its imports and exports (unless it leaves the EU).
So, is that Retsina any good? :)
I don't think strong currencies are what struggling countries need, on the contrary, but that may be the retsina talking 8-). I did buy a carton as a sort of apology on behalf of many Dutch people for our mr. Dijsselbloem's lack of economic knowledge and general behaviour, and yes, it's quite good. What Bulgarian specialty do you recommend?