Since then there has been a common Nordic stand at the Thessaloniki Book Festival. Also, the Nafplion Music Festival was a joint Nordic event this year. The two main Norwegian performances were the Grieg Piano Trio and the Trondheim Soloists. Both were very successful, as was also the pianist Sveinung Bjelland who played with the Royal Danish Orchestra. Such outstanding performances for mainly Greek audiences makes one proud to be Norwegian in Greece.
One of the embassy's main objectives is to give appropriate assistance to Norwegian citizens who are in urgent need of help. The annual number of Norwegian visitors to Greece and Cyprus exceeds 300.000. We do not know yet how big an impact, if any, the "financial crisis" will have on that number this year. It goes without saying that some visitors will need assistance. Experienced tour operators help their clients with many problems that arise. We are also fortunate to have active, competent honorary consulates in the most popular tourist destinations. Their experience and local knowledge and network is of great value. The embassy therefore becomes some kind of "last resort" for help. Fortunately, most travellers have private insurance. I can not strongly enough recommend everyone to have insurance! It can save a lot of unpleasant trouble and money. Accidents do not only strike others - you or I may be the next victim.
The Trondheim Soloists with Gjermund Larsen. The ensemble is in the forefront of classical music, and has among others been praised for their recordings of Vivalidi "Four Seasons" with Anne-Sophie Mutter on Deutsche Grammofon.
With the high number of tourists in Greece and Cyprus, emergency preparedness is important. The embassy does its best to be prepared. At the same time, we have to realise that the size of our staff and other resources is limited. We therefore have a joint contingency plan with the other Nordic embassies in Athens. Also, members of the Norwegian community have offered to be so-called volunteers, for which we are very grateful. In Cyprus we have our honorary Consulate General, and also a close cooperation with the Swedish embassy.
Let me finally express gratitude to the core organising group of the Norwegian community, and to Gro Reistad in particular, for the very successful National Day celebration on 17 May.
I wish all readers a nice summer.
Sverre Stub