XpatAthens

XpatAthens

Thursday, 05 February 2015 14:22

In the News...

Apparently this crisis is over. And apparently the whole thing was one giant mistake made by the ‘troika’. And apparently the US government is secretly monitoring every kilobyte of data that leaves our computers. And apparently everyone is shooting everyone over there too. Apparently the world’s largest crocodile was found in someone’s backyard in Thailand. Oh, and apparently it’s going to rain in Athens this week – in June!

Not sure what to believe these days. Not sure if I should believe anything – or maybe everything? I turned on the TV news this week – unusually - and found the same ‘talking heads’, yelling about the same hot issues, shaking their fingers at the same names and throwing around familiar accusations. Even the good news sounds like bad news.

I’m not a TV news watcher - I tend to get my news from a ‘carefully selected’ and ‘broad range’ (or so I like to think) set of online news feeds. I scan the major headlines in the morning, and click on those that are interesting.

What I love the most are those social media sites that share and highlight the good news, the positive stuff, the happy little details of this or that group, or this or that initiative, that are going on everywhere (everywhere!) around Greece. XpatAthens, GoodChannel, ReThink Athens, Startup Greece, Human Grid, The Collective – the list goes on and on...

I imagine I am not alone in admitting that I am decidedly tired of hearing bad news, and have chosen instead to increase my daily dose of good news. After all, if even the ‘good’ mainstream news sounds like bad news, then what difference does it make that I know all about it? As it turns out, there is more than enough really fantastic news out there to keep us occupied for every one of those post-breakfast, pre-workday minutes we spend clicking around for information…

But I do wonder about the rain in the forecast. Maybe I’ll see what my smartphone has to say…

Until next week,

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…

Monday, 27 May 2019 12:00

GiGi Burger

Located in the northern suburb Drosia, GiGi Meat Lab has been a local favorite since 2012. It is where you come to laugh, relax, see friends and most of all eat great food! Everything from the music and cocktails to the interior decor and warm hospitality welcomes you at any time of the day.

During the summer GiGi offers its lovely outdoor patio for a daytime coffee, lunch or an unforgettable evening under the star-filled sky, while in the winter the welcoming indoor space is ideal for after dinner drinks and socializing with friends.

Even though GiGi Meat Lab started out as a neighborhood hang-out, its great food and friendly atmosphere made it a favorite spot among Athenians from all around the city.

Gigi Meat Lab is one of the most versatile eateries in Athens, it is an excellent choice for the younger crowds and couples as well as for families with young kids. In fact, it is popular among families, for Sunday lunches because of its child-friendly atmosphere, great location, and great food.

Some of our favorite dishes are the mama style fried meatballs with spearmint, the alternative beef carpaccio with gorgonzola, harissa, and almonds, and the decadent gigiplex– a signature dish with fresh cut french fries, ground beef, cheese, and egg.

Obviously, you shouldn't leave without tasting one of Gigi's succulent burgers; there are a few options to choose from, and they all taste delicious. Our personal favorites are the bacon mushroom melt and the classic hamburger with its juicy patty, crunchy pickles, and yummy mayonnaise dressing.

Gigi Meat Lab tends to get very busy during the weekends, so we strongly suggest you make a reservation beforehand!

 
Address: 1 Stratigou Petriti, Drosia
Telephone: 210 8133326

Price Point: $$
Dress Code: Casual

For more info, please visit: GiGi Burger
Photo by: GiGi Burger


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Thursday, 19 February 2015 11:42

Piraeus Port Reloaded

An agreement between Piraeus Port Organisation (OLP) and the Chinese-owned Cosco subsidiary Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) which was recently ratified by the Greek Parliament (end of 2014), paves the way for Cosco to proceed with the construction and  exploitation of West Pier III of the Piraeus port container terminal by PCT, the construction on behalf of OLP of a new Oil Terminal, as well as the refitting of Pier II and East Pier Container Terminal III with new machinery.

The works are expected to be completed by 2021. The new business plan will ensure the growth prospects of Piraeus' port as a gateway into Europe for Asian products. Piraeus port now ranks 43rd among the world’s largest and among the top 10 European.

It is estimated that by 2016, Piraeus port will be handling 4.7 million TEUs (containers), from 3 million it handled in 2012. This increase in volume could place Piraeus at the top of all Mediterranean ports.

To read more, please visit greeknewsagenda.gr

Friday, 20 February 2015 22:56

Hazelnut Praline With Chocolate

A lovely hazelnut praline you can spread over warm bread. You may also use it as a filling for sponge cakes, biscuit sandwiches and other sweet treats.

Ingredients

100g dark chocolate, finely chopped
125g margarine, at room temperature
1 teaspoon cocoa powder, sieved
200g condensed sweetened milk
2 tablespoons roasted and ground hazelnuts

Method

Place the hazelnuts in a baking pan. Bake at 200ºC for 10 minutes. Spread them on a towel and rub them to remove their skin. When they cool completely pop them into the food processor and pulse until they are ground. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bain-marie. Remove from heat and add the sieved cocoa powder, milk and ground nuts. Combine everything very well.

Place the mixture inside a 400g jar while still warm. Set it aside to cool. Cover and keep it refrigerated.

argyro.com.gr

Thursday, 26 March 2015 09:26

Greece Says No To Racism

Greece marked the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination with a number of events over the weekend, across the country.

Thousands took to the streets this weekend with at least three separate events held in the Greek capital, and many more around the country.

A walk against discrimination in central Athens was organised by the Greek forum for migrants with the participations of many NGOs, civil society groups and migrant communities. The march was well attended, and culminated in the delivery of a letter to the Greek parliament which was co-signed by all the participating groups, laying out their demands on migration policy.

Banners included "Shut down the concentration camps", "Solidarity to refugees",  "Citizenship for all the children". Greece's new government have pledged to close the 'closed hospitality centres' operated by previous governments where migrants were detained for up to 18 months, as well as to grant citizenship to migrants born and brought up in Greece.


To read more please visit: ThePressProject.

Friday, 29 May 2015 07:00

The Greek Behind Bulgari

Sotirios Voulgaris (1857-1932) was the Greek creator of Bulgari, one of the world's most famous jewellery brands today. Born in the Greek village of Kalarites in March of 1857, Sotirios began his career as a jeweller in his home village of Paramythia (Epirus, Greece), his parents were George Voulgaris and Eleni Strougari.  Of the eleven children of the family, Sotiris Voulgaris was the only one who survived and managed to continue the family tradition. The passion with jewellery started from his grandfather Constantine, who was a street vendor in the villages of Epirus. The talent to create jewellery was inherited by Sotiris, who along with his father opened a jewellery shop in Paramythia.

At that time, Paramythia and other villages in the region were facing problems from the Turks. Continuous burning of the village and serious damage to the shop, forced the Bulgari family to move to Corfu and then to Naples, Italy. In Naples, the family opened their first gold jewellery shop. The city crime posed a major problem for their valuable jewellery. So, after several burglaries, they were forced to close.

In 1881, Sotirios Voulgaris and his family moved to Rome. Three years later, in 1884, he founded his company and opened his second shop in Via Sistina. The store in Via Sistina was then replaced by the current flagship store in Via dei Condotti opened in 1905 by Bulgari with the help of his two sons, Constantino (1889–1973) and Giorgio (1890–1966).

After Giorgio's death in 1966, his son Gianni led the company as co-chief executive with his cousin Marina. As chairman and CEO of Bulgari in the early 1970s. Bulgari opened its first international locations in New York City, Paris, Geneva, and Monte Carlo in the 1970s.

To read more, please visit: Greek Getaway
Greece is enforcing its option of an opt-out law that is included in a U.S.-EU deal that allows the US mega grower access to European crops.

Under a law signed in March individual EU countries can seek exclusion from any approval request for genetically modified cultivation across the EU. Specifically, Monsanto sought approval to grow its MON810, a type of pest-resistant corn.

But Greece said no way.

The EU law allows member states to decide themselves, a stipulation that has angered the United States, which wants Europe to open its doors fully to American GM crops as part of a planned EU-U.S. free trade deal.

In a statement this week, the European Commission confirmed that so far only Latvia and Greece had asked for opt-outs from Monsanto’s request to grow their GM crops.

To read more, please visit: Pappas Post
Monday, 03 January 2022 07:00

Epiphany In Greece

On the 6th of January, the Christmas season in Greece officially comes to an end with the 'festival of light' ('ton foton' in Greek), also known as Epiphany.

This feast day in the Greek Orthodox Church is known as 'Theophania' which means 'a vision of God' or 'Christ shining through'. It is considered a very important day for the Greek Orthodox Church. In the Western Church, it is also known as "Three Kings Day",  a celebration of the 3 magi visiting baby Jesus.

In the Greek Orthodox Church, Epiphany is celebrated as the revelation of Christ as the messiah and second person of the trinity, at his baptism, by John the Baptist, in the River Jordan. Another cause for celebration in the Greek Orthodox Church on this day is that Christ's baptism was only one of two occasions when all three persons of the trinity revealed themselves, at the same time, to humanity: God the Father, speaking from the clouds, God the Son, being baptized in the River Jordan, and God the Holy Spirit, revealed as a dove, descending from heaven.

On Epiphany, the Greek Orthodox Church performs the 'Great Blessing of the Waters'. This ceremony is usually performed twice, once on the eve of Epiphany which is performed in the church, and then again on the actual day outdoors with priests blessing large bodies of water, sea, rivers, lakes etc.

The tradition is that a priest, surrounded by brave young men and boys, throws a cross into the sea, either from the harbour or from a boat at sea; the minute the cross leaves the priest’s hand, the divers jump into the freezing water to catch the cross. The lucky one who finds and returns the cross is blessed by the priest. As the cross is victoriously brought back, the priest releases a white dove, as a symbol of the holy spirit. This tradition is carried out to commemorate the baptism of Christ and to bless the waters.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greeker Than The Greeks
Wednesday, 09 March 2016 11:13

ReGeneration: Halting Greece's Brain Drain

In September 2012 two friends meet up on the rooftop of a building in New York. Panagiotis Madamopoulos-Moraris is in town for business and Nikos Koumettis is an already successful senior executive at The Coca-Cola Company. They are discussing the difficult circumstances in Greece and the high number of Greek scientists looking for work in the US. The two friends decide to do something to stop the brain drain in Greece. This is how ReGeneration was born – an initiative that aims to become the catalyst of internship culture in Greece.

ReGeneration is an initiative of the Global Shapers Athens Hub, a program of the World Economic Forum. As Spiros Milonas, ReGeneration’s project manager, explained, “Our aim is to give high-caliber young graduates with little or no work experience the opportunity to kick-start their career at a company in Greece, and in a job relevant to their studies and in a position that fits their personality.”

Designed by experts in human resources management, the program assists participants in discovering their capabilities and career path by combining academic background and talent through five stages. “This is how companies that participate in the program recruit the best minds and those who will evolve into the ideal business partner,” said Madamopoulos-Moraris, first curator of the Global Shapers Athens Hub.

ReGeneration is funded by The Hellenic Initiative (THI) and The Coca-Cola Company. The program’s success after just two years validates the “experiment,” Michael Printzos, program director at THI, told Kathimerini. He said that during 2014, the program’s first year, some 3,000 applications were received for positions at 21 participating companies, both Greek and multinational. A total of 55 paid internship positions were created and filled thanks to the program, and, at the end of the internship period, 80 percent of the interns renewed their contracts.

To read more, please visit: eKathimerini
Wednesday, 07 December 2016 02:35

November 15 - Faces Of Greece

Discover the many different faces of Greece from filmmakers to musicians to bloggers with these interesting articles and interviews!

Please click HERE to view this issue of our newsletter!
 
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