It's all gone quiet

Whilst not as bad as made out by some slightly hysterical and inaccurate reporting in the UK press (reports of 3,000 abandoned cars, for example, at the airport are complete nonsense and local media put the number at 11), it has definitely got much quieter. There is less traffic on the roads and I've noticed normally busy places obviously doing less business. Rents and property prices have also dropped sharply and reportedly half of all projects are now on hold. For me, this is not a bad thing as the rate of development, and the problems it brings, was unsustainable.

In spite of all the gloom in the world, business is still being done and, although I do know of people who have left (of their own free will or otherwise) there still seems a generally optimistic outlook and a view that things are better here than elsewhere in the world.