For many young Greeks, summer is all work for a bit of play

Yannis Rossopoulos boards the last ship leaving Piraeus' Gate E8 for the islands of the Saronic Gulf on the evening of July 6. His destination is Ermioni, a small port town on the Argolida peninsula, where he will spend the entire summer season working as a cook in a five-star hotel. He rolls a cigarette on the small deck, before the ship sets sail. This is the first time he will be working in the summer season. He is doing it mainly for the experience - he is studying cooking in Athens - and also for the money. But there is a third reason for his decision. Finding a job on an island was the only way he could spend the summer by the sea.

"I couldn't go on holiday because of money - the accommodation, tickets, entertainment and travel were all too expensive. If I could, I would have gone. I had searched a bit in Paros, Mykonos, Ios and Samos, but they were very expensive," he...