Greece

Did you see that German Chancellor Angela Merkel took a nice trip south Tuesday to Greece?  Went really well; 30,000 or so Greeks turned out to greet her.  OK, well, "greet" might not be the right word. The Greeks can be fun-loving and laid back, but not when it comes to the leader whom, as The Times reported , “they blame for pushing Greece down the road to economic ruin through her relentless emphasis on austerity in exchange for emergency aid.” So it was kind of like President Obama going to a tea party rally.

ATHENS - With a new batch of budget cuts looming, Greek officials have made it clear that they must target the state's nearly 1-million-strong army of civil servants, shaving salaries, benefits and bonuses for the third time in three years. "We're doomed," says social worker Dmitra, 44, who asked that her last name not be printed for fear of reprisals. "Whoever said we were privileged and protected?" And yet, many Greeks emphatically contend that government workers are protected.

The National Football League referees are back on the field, replacing their replacements from the Lingerie League. But the lockout strategy lives on. A number of towns and institutions across the country - indeed, the globe - are using the NFL owners as their guide, convinced that the bottom line is the bottom line. Here is a selection of lockout dispatches from hither and yon. Replacement children On the eve of the new school year, the parents of Encino declared a lockout of their children.

HYDRA, Greece - With its whitewashed walls and brightly blooming bougainvillea, Hydra hardly conjures up scenes of confrontation, and certainly not the revolutionary spirit of the Boston Tea Party. Yet not too long ago, a spontaneous exercise of civil disobedience reminiscent of that by enraged Bostonians, ripped through the harbor of this jagged Greek island, laying claim to anti-tax and libertarian principles and awakening a recession-weary public to an autumn of anger. In late August, a team of newly recruited tax marshals - three men and two women - moved to arrest the 54-year-old owner of Hydra's iconic tavern Psaropoula.

ATHENS - During Greece's three-year financial drama,Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg, has proffered a sympathetic ear to the near-bankrupt nation as it seeks to fix its broken economy. But on a vital visit to Athens on Wednesday, the usually mild-mannered policymaker, who also chairs the meetings of the 17-nation Eurozone's finance ministers, sounded a stern warning. "I am totally opposed to a Greek exit from the euro," Juncker said after two hours of talks with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and members of his precarious coalition.

Stillness is a powerful teacher. I'm a bad student. I just can't seem to sit still. Travel, especially immersive experiences, is where I find much of the magic of this world. Today latimes.com/travel and I begin a video series called "Ultimate Daycation . " In it, I take viewers on a whirlwind tour of the Greek island of Mykonos, a beautiful, charming place with plenty of nightlife (besides the day life). I spend 24 hours experiencing everything under the scorching Greek sun. OK, maybe not everything, but lots.  You can see the introduction to this adventure above, and the first episode in the video player below the Travel Blog.

THE BEST WAY TO ATHENS From LAX, Air France, KLM, British, Lufthansa, Alitalia, Turkish, US Airways, Delta and Swiss offer connecting service (change of plane) to Athens. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $984, including fees and taxes. TELEPHONES To call the numbers below from the U.S., dial 011 (the international dialing code), 30 (the country code for Greece) and the local number. WHERE TO STAY Monopati Rooms & Apartments . Kastro Monemvasia; 2732-061-772, http://www.byzantine-escapade.com . Doubles from about $88 to $107.

Stocks opened lower Monday on Wall Street as Greece's election results failed to ease investors' concerns over Europe's continuing financial turmoil. Major U.S. indexes were in negative territory shortly after the opening bell, following a slide by European stock markets that were initially up sharply after Greece's pro-austerity New Democracy party won in that country's elections Sunday. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 49 points, or 0.4%, to 12,718 in early trading.