www.theflorencenewspaper.com
28 oct - 11 nov 2011, Suppl. N.24
Discovering the Secret Bakeries
Tourism... from a Local’s Perspective
Dove... Football Americano?
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Occupy Rome Occupy Wall Street Movement spreads to Italian capital Joy Huang On September 17, 2011, roughly 2,000 individuals gathered in Lower Manhattan, New York at Zuccotti Park to protest against the unchecked power of Wall Street in Washington and the greed of corporate businesses that has been unjustly influencing and impacting the way government is run in the United States. In just a little over a month, the Occupy Wall Street Movement has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and has inspired over 1,500 cities around the world to rise up and speak out against the injustices committed by their financial and political leaders. Because the Occupy Wall Street Movement is leaderless and open ended, it has been able to adapt to different contexts in various countries and cultures. It has quickly become a cultural phenomenon and has spread like wildfire across the world.
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Greek Instability Halts Travel Plans Transportation strikes and violent riots force Florence tour groups to cancel trips to Greece Despite the economic and political instability in Greece, the country has, until quite recently, remained a premier tourist destination for study abroad students living in Europe. But as instability has given way to riots and protests have become violent, several large tourism groups were forced to cancel their planned programs to Greece. Travel is often made difficult and sometimes even impossible during
transportation strikes by workers’ unions here in Europe. Such was the case during the last two weeks as all of Florence’s major student tour companies canceled trips to Greece. According to owner of FlorenceForFun Anna McNiel, the group’ trip was initially scheduled around the transportation strikes by delaying the group’s departure by a day so as to avoid times when adequate transpor-
tation could not be guaranteed. “We have to deal with transportation strikes all the time in Italy,” says McNiel. “Some are announced and others sneak up on you. In any case, it means that you have to be resourceful and quick on your feet in order to find alternatives so as not to cancel trips.” McNiel continued by saying that by the Wednesday before the group was scheduled to depart, additional strikes
Erich Schrader
were being announced, forcing the company to cancel the trip because there was no guarantee when transportation would be possible. The difficulties of traveling during strikes were not the only problems, as the social unrest has resulted in increased rioting and violence in Greece. Eventually, safety became a concern.
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