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The day I arrived it was a holiday on the Greek island of Corfu, marking the unification of the Ionian Islands with Greece in 1864. You'd have thought the Corfiots would be rueing such an event, in the current circumstances. But next to the car hire office near Corfu airport lunch was spread out beneath an awning.
"We are celebrating," said one of the staff. "Would you like wine?"
"This - this, my friend - is why Greece is in such a pickle," I retorted. "Drinking instead of working. Feasting instead of grafting. And, no doubt, fiddling - if you know what I mean - while Athens burns." Of course, I didn't say this - but I did think it, briefly.
The stereotype of the lazy, cheating Greek has permeated European perceptions of this benighted country in the past nine months and even a Grecophile such as myself would have to admit there may be some truth in it.
Many in the tourism business will tell you that, even before its current woes, Greece was resting on its laurels, that having hiked its tourist prices when it joined the euro in 2001 it was in some cases content to preside over increasingly shabby hotels and infrastructure while rival destinations such as Turkey and even Egypt were investing.
Nevertheless, as a sucker for the unique, laid-back charm of Greek holidays, I feel enormous sympathy for the country's current plight.
As Greece braces itself for tomorrow's do-or-die vote on their European future, there has been a dramatic drop in visitor numbers in the early season period. According to figures just released by the airport operator, BAA, the number of travellers flying from Heathrow to Greece and Portugal in May was 11 per cent down on last year. In some places in Greece, the drop-off has been much greater - as much as 50 per cent. In the course of a week spent touring Corfu and Paxos, I saw many beaches covered in empty sun loungers and stared into the sad eyes of the owners of many empty tavernas.
I lost count of how many times people said, "What will be will be," or variants of the phrase. I listened to mea culpas regarding Greece's traditional cash culture...