Election day drinking
We were in Amorgos on election day in Autumn 1993, and saw many people going back to Athens to vote. In the evening the word PASOK was lit in large red letters on the hillside above Katapola. There is a law against drinking alcohol on election day - but no one seemed too sure what the law was. We knew nothing about it and ordered drinks as usual - then every place we went to seemed to have a different interpretation of the law.
I can see that in Athens and the other big cities there might be a problem with people getting drunk and disrupting the election, but surely not on Amorgos?
We first tried to order a beer in the bar in the square up in the Chora. We did order the beer and the owner went in as though he was going in for the beer. Then he came out again and very apologetically said he couldn't serve beer on election day. We ordered frappes instead. We naively assumed that the law only applied to drinking without food - we assumed that we could drink with a meal. At lunch time we went to the restaurant in the main street. We had eaten there a number of times, and always helped ourselves to wine and glasses, and opened the bottle ourselves. So there we were in full view of the whole village, waiting for our dinners to arrive with a full bottle of red wine on the table! There was another tourist at the next table - a German I think - and of course she saw the wine on our table. I could see her thinking 'if they can I can' and she went in and came out with a bottle of wine as well!"
We wondered if drinking wine with our lunch could affect the outcome of the election, and what the penalty was for contravening the law! We could have had an extended stay in Greece at the expense of the Greek government. Later in the afternoon we came back to Lefteri's Lefteri said that if we were eating a meal we could have a beer or wine with it, but if we wanted a drink without having a meal, we would have to go inside to drink it so that we could not be seen. We had a frappe outside. That night we ate at Gavalas. Mrs. Gavalas wouldn't serve alcohol indoors or out. We had a bottle of water with our meal. After dinner we went to the cafe in the square by the Skopelitis and had no problem buying a Metaxa - with the usual free assortment of nuts, but no meal. We sat outside in the square as usual. it may be that by that time of night the polling stations had shut and the drinking laws were back to normal. I wondered what the nuisance is that the law is trying to prevent. Corruption at elections or drunkenness and disorder on the streets. It is strange when the Greeks are usually so relaxed and sensible about drinking.
We were in Amorgos on election day in Autumn 1993, and saw many people going back to Athens to vote. In the evening the word PASOK was lit in large red letters on the hillside above Katapola. There is a law against drinking alcohol on election day - but no one seemed too sure what the law was. We knew nothing about it and ordered drinks as usual - then every place we went to seemed to have a different interpretation of the law.
I can see that in Athens and the other big cities there might be a problem with people getting drunk and disrupting the election, but surely not on Amorgos?
We first tried to order a beer in the bar in the square up in the Chora. We did order the beer and the owner went in as though he was going in for the beer. Then he came out again and very apologetically said he couldn't serve beer on election day. We ordered frappes instead. We naively assumed that the law only applied to drinking without food - we assumed that we could drink with a meal. At lunch time we went to the restaurant in the main street. We had eaten there a number of times, and always helped ourselves to wine and glasses, and opened the bottle ourselves. So there we were in full view of the whole village, waiting for our dinners to arrive with a full bottle of red wine on the table! There was another tourist at the next table - a German I think - and of course she saw the wine on our table. I could see her thinking 'if they can I can' and she went in and came out with a bottle of wine as well!"
We wondered if drinking wine with our lunch could affect the outcome of the election, and what the penalty was for contravening the law! We could have had an extended stay in Greece at the expense of the Greek government. Later in the afternoon we came back to Lefteri's Lefteri said that if we were eating a meal we could have a beer or wine with it, but if we wanted a drink without having a meal, we would have to go inside to drink it so that we could not be seen. We had a frappe outside. That night we ate at Gavalas. Mrs. Gavalas wouldn't serve alcohol indoors or out. We had a bottle of water with our meal. After dinner we went to the cafe in the square by the Skopelitis and had no problem buying a Metaxa - with the usual free assortment of nuts, but no meal. We sat outside in the square as usual. it may be that by that time of night the polling stations had shut and the drinking laws were back to normal. I wondered what the nuisance is that the law is trying to prevent. Corruption at elections or drunkenness and disorder on the streets. It is strange when the Greeks are usually so relaxed and sensible about drinking.
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