This weekend, the runner-up party in the recent Greek election, Syriza, seemed to rule out joining with New Democracy and PASOK to give them a majority in parliament. Instead, Syriza cheekily invited a smaller rival left-wing party, Democratic Left, to drink from that poisoned chalice in their place.

At least in the short term, this looks like excellent political hardball on the part of Syriza. They either get to go into opposition in the new parliament while their opponents further discredit themselves. Or there will be another election in June, in which Syriza seems positioned to make further gains -- perhaps enough to form a government.

Syriza then proposes to apply the same hardball approach to the European Union and to the International Monetary Fund.

I was in Athens over the long weekend attending some meetings. Here are some further notes from a beautiful but deeply troubled country.

July 2, 2011: A discussion over lunch with a senior adviser to the Greek government.

On how long it will take for Greece to recover from the current debt crisis: "It is going to take us 10 to 12 years to work our way out of this. And then we'll be okay."