Amidst the economic crisis which has hit all sectors of the local economy in recent years, the company founded in 1861 by the Bavarian Gustav Clauss and run by Greek entrepreneurs for decades today looks to the future going East, as far away as China, said tour guide Tonia Rapti during a visit Saturday.

With a 6-million-liter annual production and 70% exports in over 40 countries and regions worldwide so far, the vast Chinese market seems the next reasonable step for the winery, the retired PR officer explained.

"We are currently making efforts to export to China. Our future undoubtedly lies there," she stressed.

Rapti talks like she is still working at the stone, castle-like facilities set up in 1861 by Clauss, who is considered as a pioneer in the industrialization of wine production in Greece.

After a business trip he fell in love with the beauty of the natural landscape and a local girl. He created a company and a big family.

After 33 years working at the winery, Rapti feels like a retired member of this extended family. Her younger colleague Yorgos is a fourth generation employee at Achaia Clauss.

One of his predecessors worked for the production of the first wine produced in modern Greece in 1873: Mavrodaphne, she explained while showing us the barrel which still contains it.

A liquor with a red ruby color, named after Daphne, Gustav's late fiance, Mavrodaphne is one of the company's best selling products. It is the wine used in the Holy Communion at the Greek Orthodox Church.

The 1873 wine is not for sale, but a bottle containing a few drops of the 1896 production, the year of the first modern Olympics, reaches up to €1,500 (US$2,055), while a three-year-old wine costs about €5 (US$7.50).

In one of the big oak carved barrels at the Imperial Cellar, Athena, the goddess of wisdom in ancient Greek mythology, is depicted offering wine to Hercules.

At the end of the tour, after taking a look at the two biggest barrels in Greece manufactured in 1882 in Trieste and each containing 13,195 liters of Mavrodaphne, Rapti and her colleagues offer visitors a unique opportunity to taste some of the excellent quality wine.

The winery, located among the vineyards, is one of the topmost tourist sites in the region, attracting some 100,000 visitors per year. Before the crisis, the numbers were double. Still visitors leave the site impressed.

"I feel as if I discovered a treasure today. This winery is part of our history. We need to work to preserve it and promote it," said Yorgos Kontos, an engineer who was visiting a friend in a nearby village, while posing in front of a barrel containing the production of 1940, when Greece entered World War II.

Among dignitaries who have visited the winery are the empress Sissy of Austria, German chancellor Otto von Bismarck and Hungarian composer Franz Liszt in the 19th century.

wantchinatimes.com

Souvlakia on a stick continue to be the one very affordable food offered in Greece. However, recently the food has undergone a metamorphosis: souvlaki shop owners have tried to dress it up (as in the case of Piatsa Kalamaki) or stand it up (as it’s being offered in interesting stands in other restaurants) in an effort to make the food seem more exciting and competitive. Surely the price and the taste alone would accomplish that? I recently went to Piatsa Kalamaki in Vouliagmeni , and found that it won out in every way: good service, great atmosphere, excellent portions, and quality food! Piatsa Kalamaki offers simple and few choices, but you will enjoy it all. If you order a salad, we recommend the Roka and Anthotiro Cheese with a lemon-honey vinaigrette. Your meat will come served in what looks like a silver shovel, to match the silver pots and pans hanging on the wall.

You will enjoy everything on the menu, but XpatAthens recommends these dishes in particular:

From the appetizers, the grilled mastello cheese and fried zucchini sticks. From the foods, try the “manti” or the “lahmajoun”, and the fillets in moschato (a sweet wine) sauce with mushrooms and mashed potatoes. You must also order (and share) the chicken “payidakia”. From the variety of kebabs, we especially enjoy the spicy kebab adana. And of course, don’t forget an extra order of french fries! Finish off your satisfying meal with the “Loukoumades” (the closest description would be to say it resembles a little donut) accompanied by mastic ice-cream, and the “mosaiko.”

To Berdema in Kifissia
Vasilissis Amalias 20, 145 61 Kifissia
210 8013853
info@berdema.gr
Daily 7:30pm to 12:30 a.m.
Sunday 13:30pm to 5:30pm (closed on Sunday evenings)

Google released interesting date with regard to the way travelers worldwide research their trips.

During an event that was organized by Google to announce the expansion of its innovative “Grow Greek Tourism Online” program, the powerful company released interesting data with regard to the way travelers worldwide research their trips.

According to the data presented by Google, most travelers that search Greek destinations online come from UK, Germany and USA.

Moreover, the 20 most googled regions in Greece include the country’s two biggest cities, namely Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as popular islands such as Mykonos, Santorini, Paros and Crete.

See the full list below:

1. Athens

2. Thessaloniki

3. Thessaly

4. Peloponnese

5. Corfu

6. Lefkada

7. Zakynthos

8. Skiathos

9. Lesbos

10. Chios

11. Andros

12. Mykonos

13. Paros

14. Naxos

15. Patmos

16. Kos

17. Santorini

18 Rodos

19. Karpathos

20. Crete

To read more please visit: Protothema

Delos is ancient Greece's most sacred island and one of the most visited archaeological sites in the country. The legacy of Delos is inversely proportional to its size; in fact, the tiny island is barely 5km long by 1.5km wide. Apart from being the birthplace of the ancient gods Apollo and Artemis, it was also one of the greatest ancient Greek sanctuaries.

Today, remarkably preserved ancient remains such as votive offerings, sculptures, and temples stand next to relics from the period when Delos was an important commercial center, attracting thousands of visitors each year!

It is on this unspoilt island that Greek authorities have undertaken an exciting and ambitious experiment. Sir Anthony Gormley, the famous British sculptor, has placed 'inhabitants' back on Delos. He has created 29 iron 'bodyforms', that are to be the first artworks to be erected on Delos since it was populated–more than 5,000 years ago!

"If this works, our hope is it will help change how people approach ancient monuments," says Dr Demetrios Athanasoulis, who heads the department of antiquities in the Cyclades. "There is no past without the present, and we live in times where there are any number of windows through which to view the past."

Before visitors even disembark from the ferry from Mykonos, they are greeted by one of Gormley's 'bodyforms'. On a rock at the water's edge stands a mysterious, lonesome figure, gazing toward the horizon. The invitation to exhibit his work in a place where no artist has set foot for thousands of years was both "an amazing privilege and extraordinary responsibility", "It's been a huge challenge but what a place to think about the human project," he says.

For Dr Athanasoulis, only time will tell whether the experiment has worked. "It's only natural that some won't like what they see in Sight," he quips. "It will end in October, and only then will we really know how successful this has been."

To read this article in full, please visit: The Guardian

Image Credit: The Guardian