rfbk50

I know, I know. The world is a scary place. I will run from unattended bags and loud sounds. I will carry my St. Christopher medal at all times. I say a prayer at takeoff and landing. But darn it, Cnn, don't put a photo of Parthenon tourists attached to the travel warning article when I am leaving for Greece in one week! It's making our travel companions start to freak out..

latedaytraveler

rfbk50, I hear you! Safe travels...

travelerjan

CNN and BBC were the 2 broadcasters tellilng the entire world about GReece "Riots" last spring when Greek employees were demonstrating with placards, you would have thought they were bayonets ... BBC/CNN love to use greeece as their whipping boy.

If you've been looking at the papers the past 2 weeks, who's beeen having big demonstrations and work stoppages?? France .... Portugal... unrest in SPain. But of course, let's pick on Greece again.

Heimdall

The U.S. State Department Travel Alert was for Europe in general, not mentioning any specific countries. Unless I am mistaken the countries intelligence reports found to be most at risk were Germany, France, and the UK (where I live, although I am American). Apparently CNN needs a geography lesson.

The UK Foreign Office has just followed suit with similar travel advice for France and Germany. Reassure your travel companions that these are simply travel alerts, and not travel warnings (there is a difference). No one is saying "don't travel in Europe". Putting things in perspective, the Homeland Security threat level for the United States itself is currently 'Elevated' or Yellow.

RJD

The travel alert is a CYA move by the State Department. It has no practical effect except to scare gullible tourists. No one can define what in this case "being alert" means. Do you run from groups of bearded men? Walk away from women with baby carriages? Don't visit the sites you came to see?
Its greatest effect will be to stifle tourism in Europe partially achieving the goals of the terrorists.

persimmondeb

DH was given the impression by Google News that Americans should not travel to major cities in Europe. He wants to go to Ireland in March and was highly concerned. I initially thought it must have been an internet rumour, since it was so vague, and seemed designed to cripple tourism.

Heimdall

The travel alert says "U.S. citizens should take every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and to adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling." If you want to read the full statement, it is here: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p...pa_europe.html

I see nothing in the statement which seeks to discourage Americans from travelling to major cities in Europe.

persimmondeb

Nor do I. Google news may have embroidered a little. DH clearly got the "major city" from somewhere, and he swore it was not a chain e-mail sent by one of his relatives.

colduphere

By the time terrorists get up to the Parthenon they will be too tired to hurt anyone.

Dukey1

When I was in Italy a few weeks ago there were no lack of "tourists" from EUROPEAN nations so I kinda doubt this warning is going to stifle a lot of people, especially those people who are sitting on NON-REFUNDABLE airline tickets.

And as to that "it's a CYA move"...I can almost guarantee that if something DOES happen then there'll be this outcry about "Why didn't you TELL us?"

I'd rather hear the warning, evaluate it, and then make a decision and one that I'm not whining about and blaming somebody ELSE for.

jdc26

Dukey1 wrote: "And as to that "it's a CYA move"...I can almost guarantee that if something DOES happen then there'll be this outcry about "Why didn't you TELL us?"

I'd rather hear the warning, evaluate it, and then make a decision and one that I'm not whining about and blaming somebody ELSE for."

Totally agree with these statements.

Happy travels!

jdc

Josser

Risk assessment is one of those areas where logic goes out of the window.
It's no use telling somebody that they are more likely to be killed on the way to the airport or as likely to win the lottery as to be caught up in a terrorist atrocity.
You just need to take the precautions that Britons have been taking for decades, such as avoiding and reporting suspect packages and cars parked in unauthorised places.
Just to cheer up the person going to Ireland
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11431673

MissPrism

I was a bit perturbed to discover on Facebook that there are still organisations in the US devoted to the promotion of Irish unification.
If they are not terrorist supporters I hope that they check very carefully where their money is going.

persimmondeb

That's probably not going to make DH terribly nervous, since he is aware that there is always some risk inherent in travel, and he knows that we'd be unlikely to be deliberate targets of "Republican Dissidents". OTOH, one of DS's classmates told him that there was a civil war going on in Ireland, and I have had some trouble persuading him that it has been going off and on for 300+ years, and is not terribly active at the moment. All I need is for him to see that and he'll be a nervous wreck.

joday

"U.S. citizens should take every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and to adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling."

Always a good idea every time you travel or walk out the door. I've seen the same advice repeated on this forum to avoid pickpockets, etc. Please everyone, enjoy your European vacations!

travelerjan

OK, folks, we can close down this thread now, at least for awhile. Arrests have been made in FRANCE and GERMANY of French and German "nationals" (whether German-born or naturalized has not been revealed yet). The BBC announce that these persons apparently were training in the "Pakistani-Afghanistan area" for some kind of "Mumbai-type" showy incident (remember the big hotel take-over??). The persons, not identified, were said to be linked with Al Quaeda recruitment of people who have European passports.

More will emerge in coming days/weeks no doubt ... the radical Islamic sects seem to be targeting people who have the right passport but roots in the near East.

What remains unexplained is what excuse CNN or BBC had for using stock fotos of tourists around the Parthenon as the visual backgrounder for the first announcement.

Something that all first-time travellers to Greece should understand is that Greece has probably the SMALLEST percentage of residents from Arab/Middle Eastern countries -- certainly compared to Britain, France and Germany. Probably in part due to history (the 1,000+ years of various invasions and subjection to foreign powers such as Turkey).

rfbk50

travelerjan: That was my point - why use Greece when it was never mentioned in the CNN article.

flanneruk

"on Facebook that there are still organisations in the US devoted to the promotion of Irish unification"

Well, Irish unification might be the most fatheaded political objective you can imagine (except for us, of course, as it'd pass the headache onto the gombeen men in Dublin, who'd finally have to take some responsibility). But it's no more illegitimate than Scottish nationalism.

No doubt some of the Plastic Paddies supporting the idea are still fired by the racist bile that's been giving moral support to mass murder in Ireland for the past 150 years.

But since the WTC bombings, most of the green beer brigade have come round to understanding just what giving money to terrorist front organisations means. And an astonishing number of former genocide supporters (led by Ted "send the Protestants home" Kennedy) have become useful advocates of pragmatic, peaceful solutions. Doing so while occasionally mouthing the old gibberish probably increases their credibility among the Falls Rd dinosaurs.

And as long as they help make sure those dinosaurs do nothing more than croon rebel songs over more Paddy than's good for them, they're actually batting for our side.

If Paris was worth a Mass, an almost peaceful Ulster is well worth putting up with a few dickheads singing Kevin Barry.

PLUS: we get the fun of watching their lunatic fringe lay into Martin McGuinness for being an anglophile. Couldn't happen to a nicer little toerag.

seafox

I'm still trying to figure out why the alert was even issued. Isn't that which they suggested just good common sense when travelling. Especially in most major US cities.

Christina

A lot of tourists don't have good common sense, though. They post on Fodors all the time about things they are doing that lack common sense. So maybe it will be a reminder.

I have no problem with the State Dept doing their job and actually giving the public information. People can do with it what they will. The alternative is worse, I can only imagine what would happen then if they never issued alerts or warnings. Some people just like to complain IMO