Men and women have often argued about what constitutes the perfect way to flirt. There are several cultures where flirting comes naturally while others appear to be more aggressive and go to extremes, often scaring off their potential dates.

Thrillist posted questions to Reddit and Quora users, asking them to share their extreme flirting stories and then used the statistical data to determine which countries flirt more aggressively.

Greece came first on Thrillist’s list, showing that the financial crisis and the country’s overall situation has not affected Greeks’ confidence levels. “Not only has Athens been named the world’s most flirtatious city, but Greece as a country was dubbed the most sexually active nation,” noted the website.

Furthermore, Thrillist added that according to Dr. Simon Hardy, author of the “The Greeks, Eroticism and Ourselves,” Greeks may have perfected their flirting skills in antiquity during the “ultra-sexual symposiums.”

To read more, and to find out which counties came in second, third and fourth, please visit: Greek Reporter

In October some of the most promising entrepreneurs in Greece, finalists from Industry Disruptor's 4 cross sectoral competitions (Future Agro Challenge, Get In The Ring, Creative Business Cup and CleanTech Open Global Ideas), impressed the entrepreneurial ecosystem at The Pitching Battle by pitching in front of investors, foreign startups and other local startup industry experts.

The event opened with the Athens Founder Institute Graduates’ Showcase, where the world’s largest tech entrepreneur training and startup launch program, introduced its Athens Graduates to the Greek entrepreneurial scene.

Then the “battle” began and the ring was on fire! The pitches were breathtaking, the rounds were dazzling, the judges’ job was really challenging. And The Winners are…

Ava’s Farm for The Future Agro Challenge Competition. Ava’s Farm will represent Greece to the International Finals that will be held in Colombia during the Global Entrepreneurship Congress. Ava’s Farm is a business-to-peer (B2P) e-commerce website, focused on small-scale productions of food products. Visit their website here.

Giaola@home for Get In The Ring. Giaola@home will proceed to participate in the Regional Finals and claim a spot at the International Finals for a chance to compete in front of a jury panel, international investors and a live audience to claim an investment of up to €1,000,000. Giaola@home “gets in the ring” with a one-two punch combo comprising of a) a do-it-yourself (DIY) TV show offering advice for everyday problems and b) a complementing two-sided services marketplace. Visit their website here. (In Greek)

Spark Inspirations for the Creative Business Cup, the world championship for creative entrepreneurs. Spark Inspirations will compete in the International Creative Business Cup Finals and pitch in front of 400 investors from the European Business Angel Network that will attend the event this year on November 17th-19th, 2015, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Spark Inspirations is a cloud-based multiplatform game engine that allows anyone to make any type of game they want, with or without coding. For more information, click here.

BIO2CHP, for the CleanTech Open Global Ideas Competition. BIO2CHP will progress to the Global Finals that will take place in San Francisco during the Cleantech Open Global Forum in November. They will present their idea in front of a crowd of 1,000 investors, entrepreneurs, sponsoring companies, corporations and press and will participate in additional activities designed to connect them to customers and investors from Silicon Valley and around the world. BIO2CHP offers to industries with organic waste, who face high energy and waste disposal costs, a stand-alone and modular energy production unit that provides the means for an integrated use of raw material throughout the production process cycle, utilizing the generated by-products for on-site heat and power production. Visit their website here.

For the Social Media Award that was running on the ID-GC’s Facebook Page, the online audience voted for Glonatech. Glonatech is a nanotechnology company that specializes in raw & intermediate nanomaterial production, best nanotech products and applications. Visit their website here.

Read more about Kathara Deftera or ‘Clean Monday,’ learn how to make a Cretan-style fish for lent, sign up for the Cyclades Trail Cup, and celebrate 40 years of living in Greece with Greeker than the Greeks writer as she shares 40 things she learned!

 

Air Mediterranean has recently announced the launch of seven new international flights out of Athens that will be flying to, London, Stockholm, Jeddah, Casablanca, Khartoum and Iraq (Baghdad and Erbil), starting November 1, 2017.

Ticket prices for all European destinations will start from 85 euros, including airport taxes and other fees.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Reporter

Photo Credit: Air Mediterranean

Summer may be coming to an end but news is still hot! What's around the corner for Greece after the Bailout? How can you help EU's plastic reduction campaign? Which neighbourhood of Athens was named ''The Coolest in the World''? Discover all the answers in this week's newsletter!

The Municipality of Athens, through Develop Athens (EATA), has joined forces with the Greek National Tourism Organization (EOT) in order to promote the city of Athens as a global competitive tourism destination. 

With the tourism industry largely affected by the pandemic's devastating consequences, the two sectors work together with the aim of strengthening the local economy and helping businesses recover. 

The strategic plan includes actions for the promotion of Athens as: 

• An ideal year-round city-break destination. 
• A standard destination for conferences and large events.
• A top destination for digital nomads. 
• A top destination for young travelers, senior travelers, gastronomy lovers, etc. 

The two sectors undertake a joint initiative for the development of a single destination brand, by creating original promotional material for special sectors of tourism, thus maximizing the popularity of Athens.

Check the video below, promoting Athens as a modern city whose daily life is inherent in contemporary artistic creation and expression. 

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XpatAthens extends a warm thank you to This Is Athens and the City Of Athens for sharing news and inspiring stories about how Athens aspires to be a clean, friendly, and welcoming city to live in.

Preparations for the most historic swimming route continue as the Authentic Marathon Swim is expected to welcome amateur and professional swimmers from around the world for the 3rd consecutive year, on July 1-3, 2022, at Artemision. The participants will enjoy unique open water swimming routes at Pefki of Evia in the Municipality of Istiea - Edipsos.

World-class names with Olympic distinctions and unique records will visit Pefki, Evia to participate in this historic event. Two years after his first participation, the Bulgarian Olympian Petar Stoychev with 4 participations in Olympics, 11 consecutive titles in major international open water marathon swimming FINA series and his impressive position at the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame returns once again to Greece.

For the first time, the German world champion and marathon swimming Hall of Famer Christof Wandratsch, who holds the speed record in the English Channel with 7:02 hours as well as many world championships, cups and records will also take part in the event. 

Moreover, the English Hall of Famer Kate Steels, will visit Greece for the first time. She was named the Woman of the Year 2021 at the WOWSA Awards of the World Open Water Swimming Association.

 

From Greece, the open water masters’ world champion, Vicky Kouveli, the three-time Greek champion and two-time English Channel marathon swimmer, Sofia Psilolignou and the English Channel marathon swimmer, Giannis Kotsiopoulos will swim in the event along with Greek champions such as Stellina Aplanti, Ilectra Lebl, Dimitris Negris, Panagiotis Bolanos, George Skotadis who competes with the colors of the Dutch national team, while Olga Ntalla also returns to the event.

On Saturday, July 2, 2022, at 08:15am the authentic 14.5km route “Skylias & Hydna” will be held allowing swimmers from around the world to swim over the shipwrecks of the naval battle of Artemision that took place in 480 B.C., for the first time. Athletes will follow the example of Skyllias and his daughter Hydna, the very first “marathon swimmers”, according to the Father of History Herodotus (8.8) and other historians, who helped the Greek forces in the historic naval battle of Artemision against the Persian fleet. The swimmers will cover 80 stadia, the equivalent of 14.5km. On the same day, the 5km route and the 3km route, will also be carried out at 10:00am and 16:00pm respectively. On Sunday, July 3, 2022, the 10km marathon at 08:15am, the 1.5km race at 09:00am, as well as the children’s 500m race at 09:00am will take place. The routes of 5km, 3km, 1.5km and 500m. have Pefki beach as their starting and finishing point. Check the event's races & parallel actions schedule HERE!

 

Participants can now register and take part in the impressive open water swimming routes of 14.5km, 10km, 5km, 3km, 1.5km. All citizens of Istiea-Edipsos and people with disabilities can take part in the 5km, 3km and 1.5km routes, completely free of charge. Registrations for the 500m children’s race are also free. Register now here: https://bit.ly/3jRw20t 

 

The certified and experienced South Evian Gulf team that was founded in the Southern Gulf of Evia from its deep love for the sea and nautical travel, will not only accompany swimmers in the 5km, 3km and 1.5km races, but will also offer lessons on the basic techniques of open water sea kayaking, while getting participants acquainted with the boats on land and then allowing them to puddle at the straits of Artemision. You may register here now, as there is a limited number of entries.

Local products festival

As part of the Authentic Marathon Swim, an exhibition of local food products and tasting will also be held in collaboration with Evia’s Federation of Trade and Entrepreneurship “Evia Epichirin”.

 

Music Concert by the Hellenic Navy Music Band

Moreover, on Saturday July 2, activities will include the presence of a Music Convention with the participation of the Hellenic Navy Music Band, connecting the historic naval battle of Artemision with the present and honoring the naval feat. The Hellenic Navy’s Music Department will hold a music concert in honor of the Artemision naval battle and the Authentic Marathon Swim.  

Book you room at the Municipality of Istiea-Edipsos

The Authentic Marathon Swim already collaborates with hotels in the region, with the aim of revitalizing North Evia and strengthening the Greek tourism product. Up to this point, this year’s event is enormously supported with special prices starting from 40 euros, by the following hospitality sponsors: Altamar Hotel, Maria Louiza Apartments, Island, Mirtia Hotel, Hydna Studios, Villa Anastasia, Artemis Rooms Pefki, Arethousa Hotel, Ellaeon Throesma, Prigkipessa Studios, Sunset Pefki, Viki Studios, Galini Hotel Pefki, Apolonio, Lito Hotel, Kerasiotis Apartments, Asimina Rooms. 

Participants and visitors can take advantage of the special offers, providing reduced accommodation prices and late check out while discovering beautiful hotels in the areas of Pefki, Loutra Edipsos, Artemision, Istiea, Kanatadika, Neos Pyrgos, Orei and Agiokampos.

Visit the event’s specially designed page and discover the hospitality options and the special offers that apply to the participants.

 

Just an hour and a half from Athens, participants can take a ferry boat with itineraries that serve from 07:00 am to 23:00 pm. The itineraries Arkitsa-Edipsos better serve visitors coming from Southern Greece, while the itineraries Glyfa-Agiokampos serve participants traveling from Northern and Central Greece. Learn how to get directly and quickly to Pefki and take advantage of the ferry boat offers that will be valid during the races. 

 

For the safety of all races, the event will be held in accordance with FINA regulations, in order to ensure the health of all athletes and attendees. The event will provide once again everyone with a safety lifeguard buoy since its use by professional and amateur athletes is mandatory. For each participant in the 14.5km and 10km routes there will be an escort-boat and its cost is included in the registration price.

                                                                                        

NP Insurance and Philosofish are the event’s Official Sponsors.

Luanvi is the event’s Official Clothing Partner.

South Evian Gulf Team is the event’s Athletic Partner. 

The event is assisted by Hellenic Red Cross with Chalkida’s Regional Department.

The event is organized by the Municipality of Istiea-Edipsos and the entire Local Government with the Region of Central Greece, the Organization of Cultural Development for Central Greece (O.P.A.S.T.E.) and the Regional Union of Municipalities of Central Greece. The Authentic Marathon Swim is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism. 

 

Use the event’s official hashtag #authenticmarathonswim and upload on social media the unique images and exciting moments you experienced in the previous years in the Municipality of Istiea-Edipsos as you prepare for the 3rd and most exciting year.

Piraeus just keeps getting more and more interesting. This year saw the opening of three new metro stations in Athens’ bustling port town, while last year, a section of the coastal tram line that follows a circular route around Piraeus was inaugurated. Now, a web-based cultural project called “Piraeus ArchWalks” aims to inform and engage the broader public in the architectural capital of the bustling port. Soon, the walks will also be shared in the form of a downloadable mobile app that connects with GPS.

“The main purpose is to highlight and promote the architecture of Piraeus as a new tourism product, as a cultural route,” write the project’s creators (namely the Municipality of Piraeus with Aegean Solutions SA and the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation), on the ArchWalks website. ArchWalks presents a comprehensive view of the city’s neoclassical heritage of the 19th century as part of the Virtual Tours of Piraeus program. The digitally interactive initiative includes four architectural walks starting at key locations that offer access to Piraeus, such as the ISAP metro station (green line).

“Piraeus has a rich offering of Architectural buildings and history and is the ideal place for developing a project like this,” says Alexandros Tzortzakakis, CEO of Aegean Solutions SA, located in Heraklion Crete. The company has established itself as a leading provider of “holistic solutions” in digital culture, social development and tourism, and was recently awarded the Gold Medal for Digital Tourism at the “Tourism Awards 2022” for the design and development of incrediblecrete.gr. “Similar projects have been developed in the past,” says Tzortzakakis, “but ArchWalks is different and innovative because it consists of 3D representations of selected buildings.”

The four walks cover four different zones, with photographs and informative texts for every architectural stop along the walk: the northeastern districts (with 32 architectural stops), northwest and west districts (37 architectural stops), south and southwest districts (37 architectural stops), and east districts (10 architectural stops).

Even without the app, by simply following the information on the website, architecture aficionados can traipse entire routes, or even just sections of them, regarding the buildings and landmarks listed. Apart from observing the architectural features of the included buildings, visitors can learn about Piraeus’ and Athens’ history, social culture, and industrial development.

The website also includes a Timeline of Piraeus that classifies the major historical phases and turning points represented by the town’s landmarks. It is described as “an interactive timeline about the port city that began to be built in the early 19th century on deserted ancient ruins, matured, reached its peak, declined towards the end of the 20th century, and seeks its rebirth in the early 21st century.” The Timeline begins with a map depicting “Long walls, 462-458 BC”, followed by “Ancient ship sheds of Zea, 4th century BC,” and concludes with “The port 1970 – 1985 AD”. (See the Timeline here.)

The “Piraeus ArchWalks” app is expected to be available within the next few weeks. For upcoming information on the app, check the Municipality of Piraeus website

To read this article in full, please visit: greece-is.com