This is a second-hand story as i was actually in the London protest. If you just want to read the report, skip the paragraphs in brackets. These are just my accounts of MayDay and a similar protest in Salonica last year. Well worth a read if you ask me ;-)

(For the record we arrived to the centre of London marching down Portland Pl.together with the Rhythms of Resistance samba band. The beat attracted about 700 people who came late to the Oxford Circus meeting and didnt make it in. We tried to progress to Oxford Circus but ended up trapped by the coppers in Holles Rd outside John Lewis. It was a bit frustrating standing under the rain, but the band kept playing and the spirits were high. We finally managed to escape together with approximately half the people, when, around 8:00, we started pushing back the already physically exhausted riot police towards Cavendish square. Great day anyway, great sense of empowerment despite the adversites.)

After the march I got in touch with my mates in my hometown Salonica, a large city in the north of Greece. They told me about a Reclaim the Streets-style event in the city centre which attracted about 500 people. The traffic was blocked for hours and it all evolved into a big street party with drums and dancing. Trouble started much later when a handful of people started smashing things up. The police replied by blind attacks, beating and arresting random people. Most of them were released later on.

(As this is a second-hand report, i do not know details about this event. However i was in the previous RTS in Salonica that took place last September. A very colourful lot marched through the centre with loud drums and cheers, waving a Chinese dragon and dancing in the streets. The police couldnt direct or contain us, as we kept changing direction. After a short break for more traditionaly anarchist slogans outside the American Consul that was protected by hordes of domesticated guard-pigs, we moved on to a central square where a sound system was set up, playing everything from punk to techno. Dozens of buckets of paint, a few hundred paintbrushes and as many DIY artists transformed a gray and dull square into an colourful, organic piece of art. Surprizingly no trouble from the (notoriously brutal) Greek Police.)

There is definitely something going on there, attracting young protesters disillusioned by the protest-now-party-after-the-revolution attitude of the Holy Communist Party of Greece, as well as the burn-everything-to-the-ground hardcore anarchist strategies.
Groups of anti-authoritarian youths with a good sense of humour are holding regular meetings discussing strategies for self-organization and self-empowerment. "Group for Everyday Life in the City" i think is the name of one such crew. If anyone from this group is reading this, please take the time to network through indymedia, as i am too far away to have fresh information.

Take care,
Theodore