It’s one of those words that comes with too much emotion and can’t be translated into any other language. It refers to a lifestyle, a person’s values, morals, and so much more. Even Greeks can’t agree on the meaning! Here, BBC travels to Greece and shares what they learned about the Greek word ‘Philotimo.’

‘In his second summer in the lonesome Greek village of Tolo on the east coast of the Peloponnese, German senior civil servant and writer Andreas Deffner committed a cultural blunder that led him to the celebrated concept of Greek philotimo.’

 

‘The exact meaning of philotimo is hotly debated, given that the word belongs to the pantheon of Greek lexical items that defy easy explanation. ‘Love of honour’, its official translation, is a utilitarian yet insufficient attempt to convey the constellation of virtues squeezed into the word’s four syllables. When I asked various Greeks about their own perception of philotimo, I received very different responses.’

To read this article in full, please visit: BBC Travel

XpatAthens has been connecting the English speaking community of Athens and Greece for 10 amazing years. We are proud to call Athens our home city and absolutely love the work we do to connect people near and far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1) A Cape Sounion Day-Trip Transfer Service from YK Executive Transfers

Take a 4-5 hour trip along the Athens Riviera to the Temple of Sounion. Relax and enjoy as your local driver Giannis takes you for a lovely drive along the coast of Athens. Note, tour guide & lunch are not included, but may be added at an additional cost.

2) 1 spa voucher for a GB Collection Exclusive Massage at the GB Spa

Relish in the serene surroundings of the awarded GB Spa in Athens. Enjoy an exclusive massage at Athens' best spa!

3) Dinner for 2 at Chefi Restaurant

The summer garden is a refreshing city oasis and the food is divine! Enjoy dinner for two at one of Athens' finest restaurants.

4) Dinner for 2 at Dinner In The Sky

Head up above the city for a once-in-a-lifetime dining experience in central Athens that will take your breath away!

5) 2 nights accommodation at the King George Hotel Athens

Relax and unwind for two nights in central Athens at one of the city's best Luxury Collection hotels.

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Aiming to tap into the potential of its vast coastline, the Region of Attica signed a 150 million euro agreement this summer with construction firm Aktor for the redevelopment of the Faliro Delta.

According to authorities, the upgraded area is expected to attract major investments in real estate and tourism along the coast from Piraeus to Cape Sounio.

Under the deal, 21 months after construction works begin, the first part of the revamped coastal front will be ready. Projects include transferring Posidonos Avenue closer to the sea, altering Syngrou and Kifissos avenues, installing a biological cleaning system for Kifissos River, enhancing anti-flood works, constructing a new natural gas pipeline under Poseidonos Avenue, relocating the existing water supply pipeline and creating parks, green spaces and recreation areas.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

 

Photo Credit: Greek Travel Pages

Cafes, bars, and restaurants are just a few of the reasons to go out and explore Athens. There are many places to choose from so Olive Magazine narrows it down for you ~ Here are the best places to and drink in Athens!

Your Weekend Guide

Afoi Asimakopouloi

Pastry shop Afoi Asimakopouli opened in 1915 and was operating as a dairy bar until 1950. Today it still uses its own milk and butter to make wonderful creams, scented tsoureki (brioche), galaktompoureko, truffles and eclairs (from €2.50 each). It also sells some of the best ice cream in town.

Address: Charilaou Trikoupi 82

Taf Coffee

If you are a coffee lover, Taf Coffee, is the place to head for. Its coffee is purchased directly from certified producers and the baristas are expertly trained. Cappuccino from €2.40.

Address: Emmanouil Benaki 7-9

The Gin Joint

The Gin Joint is one of the hottest cocktail bars in Athens and with good reason. Its cocktail list offers a range of finessed classics as well as some imaginative signatures. Everything is made in-house, including homemade bitters. The aged negroni, €11, is definitely one to try.

Address: Christou Lada 1

To read this article in full, please visit: Olive Magazine

The biggest facelift in the 16 years of AIA’s operation was completed just this June 2017. Costing 35 million euros, interior refurbishments both in Intra Schengen and Extra Schengen zones transformed the airport terminal for the better.

Mr. Giannis Eleftherakis, Development CEO of the Airport, emphasized that these changes will bring a major improvement of the passenger’s experience in the Airport, “The passenger will now be able to reach the airplane, without having to talk to anybody in the meantime,” he added regarding the automatization of several procedures.

A new philosophy was introduced with regard to its interior design, with larger spaces, futuristic lighting and revamped passengers’ lobbies in a dominating, white colour, inspiring harmony combined with a touch of elegant contemporary elements.

A “Greeker” Airport with more Greek stores than ever, featuring even a souvlaki restaurant for the very first time is another result of the facelift. Extra Schengen zone aesthetically refers to the ancient Arcades whereas the Intra Schengen Zone draws parallels with the Agora and the “Platia”, the Square always with a unique feeling of Greek-ness in them.

To read this article in full, please visit: Ypodomes

 

Article Source: Wikipedia 

Santorini is one of the most popular destinations in the world for couples and honeymooners looking for a romantic getaway. It’s not a place that comes to mind for a lot of families, but thanks to Santorini Dave’s fantastic guide, you can feel confident about traveling to Santorini with your kids!

These are 2 wonderful historical towns with a maze of walkways and alleys. Pyrgos is built on a hill with an old castle on top. Emborio is flat and smaller, but both offer plenty of opportunities to get happily lost.

Santorini’s unique beaches can be enchanting or disappointing, or both, depending on your tastes. On one hand the dark black sand is cool to look at and makes for a very unique beach experience.

There is a simple but fun water park at Perissa beach with 3 pools, 3 water slides, and a kids’ play area. It’s the only truly kid-friendly attraction on the island so make use of it.

To read this article in full, please visit: Santorini Dave

The Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) announced that it expects a record-breaking 30 million international visitors to Greece for 2017. This represents a growth rate of 7%, or an additional 2 million additional visitors over the previous year.

The World Travel & Tourism Council estimates that tourism in 2017 will help boost the Greek economy by 6.9 percent, and will boost employment by 6.3 percent, supporting nearly 1 million jobs and representing 20% of the country's GDP. One in five jobs created in Greece is related to the tourism sector. Tourism is essential to Greece's effort for recovery and prosperity. Every 30 or more tourists visiting Greece, creates one new job for a Greek.

A distinctive and unique characteristic of Greece, "philotimo" represents a sacred honor, promise and the spirit of its people. The word, which has no real translation, conveys tolerance, open arms, and open-mindedness to all visitors, and transcends religion, race, color or creed.

To read this article in full, please visit: Travel Daily News

Source: Windy City Greek

Fulbright Greece is celebrating 70 years of educational and cultural exchanges between the Unites States and Greece!

The Fulbright Program is the premier international educational exchange program in the world. It was established in the United States in 1946 by Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. The Fulbright Foundation in Greece offers scholarships to Greek and American citizens – students, teachers, scholars, and artists – to pursue a wide variety of educational projects. Since 1948, more than 5,000 Greek and American citizens have received scholarships from the Fulbright Foundation in Greece to participate in US-Greece educational and cultural exchanges.

The Foundation awards grants to Greek and US citizens to study, teach, lecture, or conduct research in the United States and Greece respectively. Fulbright Greece collaborated with filmmaker, alumna Eirini Steirou and cinematographer Antonis Katrakazis to produce a series of portraits of US and Greek scholars, who share their Fulbright experience.

“Education is life-changing, I‘ve seen it change lives. It changed my own”.

Breiana, with a background in psychology and experience in incarcerated youth education came to teach English in Greece, out of her love for Greek mythology. She believes that education has the power to change lives.

“Education is about opening your heart, opening your eyes, going into places, into thoughts, into experiences that are new”.

Elizabeth came to Greece with her teenage son, to teach American Studies in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and research on how the humanities and academy can deal with real issues people are facing today. She believes education has the power to make people and the world better.

To read this article in full and to watch the videos, please visit: Greek TV

In this week's newsletter find out everything you need to know about the best Greek superfoods, the reasons why an American woman loves living in Greece and discover the coolest events that are taking place in Athens!

 

Up to 50% discount and an extra ferry route on Thursday (29/6) from Blue Star Ferries!

Athens, June 8, 2017 – “Patmos Revelation” continues its intensive preparations for the sports tourism event that will be held in the sacred island between June 30 and July 2, 2017. Registrations continue with undiminished interest as a lot of athletes from different places of Greece and abroad have already registered.

The Municipality of Patmos, in cooperation with the South Aegean Region and Active Media, aim to develop the sports tourism field, by attracting as many tourists as possible to participate in the event and by showing to the participants a part of the island’s history.

The program of “Patmos Revelation” includes Kids’ Athletics by the Olympic and World Champion, Periklis Iakovakis on Friday (30/6) at 09:00 at the football stadium of Patmos. The activity aims at getting children acquainted with the track and field sports, as it has been developed and established by a special panel of scientists from IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation) and is officially implemented in Greece by the Hellenic Athletics Federation (SEGAS) in cooperation with the Ministry of Education.

On Saturday (1/7), at 11:00 in the morning, the open water swimming race will be held at Grikos bay. Swimmers will cover the distance of the 1 mile (1.6km) swimming route. Right before the start of the race a warm-up will be held by the team of the pilates instructor, Mandy Persaki. The safety of athletes will be taken care of by Katerini’s Lifeguard School, Lifeguard Patrol.

On Sunday (2/7), morning, running races will be held having Skala as the starting point. The 15km route (starts at 08:15am), passes through two UNESCO World Heritage Sites (historic center of Chora, Holy Monastery of St. John the Theologian and Sacred Cave of the Apocalypse). The 5km route starts at 09:00am while the 1km route for children starts at 10:55am at the seaside of Skala.

Rania Rempouli will also be present in the running races. The Greek athlete is one of the of the most promising runners, who represented Greece at the Rio Olympics in 2016, and in December 2015 was the 1st Greek woman who completed the Athens Marathon the Authentic.

You may see the detailed schedule of the event HERE.

Such major events would not be successful without the support from significant sponsors. “Vikos” is one of these companies, which will offer the opportunity to all athletes participating in the event to quench their thirst with the natural mineral water “Vikos” that contributes to the good functioning of the body during sports.

The event has ensured special ferry routes through Blue Star Ferries to facilitate the audience and offer them direct access to the “sacred” island of the Dodecanese. All those attending “Patmos Revelation” will be able to travel with the safely and comfort of the top Greek shipping company. With an additional ferry route on Thursday (29/6) at 15:00, aiming to provide the best possible service, Blue Star Ferries offers a 50% discount on ferry tickets to the participant athletes, as well as a 30% discount to their escorts/family members and their vehicles to those wishing to visit the event and the island between June 26 to July 6.

At the same time, the event will be supported by Sixt rent a car, which will cover the event and all visitors’ car rental needs with its fleet.

The event has also taken care of those wishing to stay in Patmos while participating at “Patmos Revelation”, since attractive packages with several privileges are offered. VitaNTravel, as the official travel agent of the event, will take care and assist all athletes and escorts with information about the ferry routes, ferry tickets, car rentals and accommodation in the island.

For more information visit: http://vitantravel.gr/home/

If you wish to register for the event click HERE!

Watch Patmos Revelation 2017 teaser video HERE!

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Hashtag: #patmosrevelation

Official Sponsors: Blue Star Ferries, “Vikos” Natural Mineral Water
Official Supporters: Patmos Aktis Suites & Spa, Sixt rent a car, 1001 flights
Official Travel Agent: VitaNTravel

Photo Credit: Patmos Aktis Suites & Spa