More than 140 events are expected to take place at dozens of archaeological sites, monuments and museums across Greece on Saturday, August 29 – the night of the full moon. The special events and activities include music and theater performances, puppet theater productions, guided tours, exhibitions and film screenings as well as stargazing. A number of sites and museums will offer free admission on the day and in many cases visitors will be welcomed up until 1 a.m.

Although there are no events taking place at the Acropolis in Athens (the site will be open during its regular opening hours, until 8 p.m.), the archaeological site of Sounio will welcome visitors with free admission until midnight!

There will also be an event from 8pm at the Acropolis Museum - Tango At The Acropolis

To read this article in full, please visit: eKathimerini

Greece is the most popular luxury travel destintion in the world, according to an index for 2015 drawn up by global booking engine Switchfly.

According to the booking engine, the country ranks as the most popular with three cities in the top 15: Athens, coming in at the fourth most popular luxury travel destination, whilst Crete and Mykonos come in at numbers 12 and 13 respectively.
 

Switchfly notes that Greece's popularity is no doubt due to its dramatic isles and historical interest, but also to the economic crisis that, whilst creating hardship for local people, "also made travel to the country more affordable - extending the opportunity for luxury travel to those travelers who might otherwise go economy, and incentivizing luxury travelers who like to save a buck."

To read more, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

October is the ever-important olive harvest in Greece and many of the country’s entrepreneurs see a tremendous opportunity for growth and a rare opportunity to take a chunk out of Number 1 Spain and Number 2 Italy— the word’s top two olive oil producing nations.

Italy’s crop has been decimated by a fruit fly that eats olives and a rare tree disease. Nearly a million trees in the Puglia region alone have been infected with a disease dubbed by locals as “olive ebola” which slowly kills trees. And this is coming from a 1/3 decrease in production from the 2014-15 season, according to data from the Madrid-based International Olive Council (IOC).

Things are so bad that the Italian government has declared a “state of calamity” in the provinces of Lecce and Brindisi on the heel of the country.

The same organization points to a 50% decrease in production in Spain due to a drought that has effected much of the Iberian peninsula.

But resilient Greece has seen its olive oil output double since last season to just over 300,000 tons and the problems Italy and Spain are facing are making Greece’s wholesale prices competitive. According to a June report from the council, wholesale prices for extra-virgin categories from Italy and Spain have surged 114 percent and 84 percent this year, respectively, to €5.66 ($6.25) per kilo and €3.59 per kilo. In contrast, prices for Greek oil have climbed just 24 percent, to €3.09 per kilo.

The IOC reports Greek exports from the most recent harvest to the U.S., now the world’s top olive oil consumer, rose 28 percent from October 2014 through June of this year, while exports from Spain and Italy both dropped more than 50 percent.

Costco Wholesale is one company that recently got on the Greek olive oil bandwagon in a major way.

To read more, please visit: Pappas Post

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

Just in time for fall, get ready for a heatwave with temperatures up to 40C!

Sun and high tempartures are in the forecast for the next few days throughout Greece. Northern and eastern parts of the country will experience temperatures up to 36C, while eastern parts will reach up to 38C. The Aegean islands and Crete can expect temperatures up to 37C. In Athens it will reach up to 39C and in Thessaloniki up to 37C.

Here's what to expect for the next few days in Athens:

Thursday: 35C

Friday: 37C

Saturday: 38C

Sunday: 39C

Sources: Protothema & The Weather Channel

The second World Duchenne Awareness Day is set to take place on Monday, September 7, and is being marked at the offices of Greece’s Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA Hellas) in Victoria Square, downtown Athens. The event, organized by parent and patient associations, aims to spread awareness about this devastating form of muscular dystrophy.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is one of the most common fatal genetic disorders, which affects on average one in every 3,500 newborn boys worldwide. It is caused by errors in the dystrophin gene, the longest gene in the human body. Boys with DMD gradually lose mobility and are wheelchair-bound by the age of 12. In the next period it destroys breathing and heart muscles. The condition carries a life expectancy of 25-30 years and has no current cure.

To mark the day, 500 red balloons will be released after 7 p.m. to represent the 500 boys and men currently living with DMD in Greece.

To read more, please visit: ekathimerini

Greece is steadily growing into a leading destination for those ready to tie the knot, with all the more resorts and boutique hotels across the country and on its isles ready to offer everything from legal arrangements, booking the officiant/venue/priest/, finding the church, arranging the flowers, dinner and reception, organizing the cake, music, dancers, fireworks, photographer and videographer, accommodation, transport, excursions, and much more.

The latest feature in British daily The Telegraph is saying that “wedding fantasies do not come more idyllic than those you can plan in Greece”.

In a recent story titled “Weddings in Greece: Romantic Locations to say ‘I Do’”, Greece is a “nuptial paradise” where unique destinations offer everything from stunning locations and perfect ceremonies to delectable confectionery and, what else? Seclusion, whether on a hideaway island, on the beach, in a vineyard, aboard a boat or in a fairytale castle.

To read more, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

Ryanair has announced improvements to its flight times on the Athens–Santorini route, aiming to offer a much more comfortable experience to Greeks and visitors from abroad.

The airline’s winter schedule will offer two daily flights from Athens to Santorini, a morning flight at 7am and an evening flight at 6:25pm (instead of the current 10:35pm flight).

To read more, please visit: Greek Travel Pages.

Just days ahead of the snap elections that has called Greek voters to the polls for a second time this year on Sunday September 20th, 2015, the latest opinion polls suggest that the result is still neck and neck between the two major parties Syriza and New Democracy. The outgoing Syriza party holds a faint lead which leader Alexis Tsipras had hoped to convert into a stronger ruling majority.

According to the Interior Ministry, Sunday’s snap elections will cost taxpayers 33.2 million euros, which is substantially less than the 51.1 million euros spent on the early elections in January, but more than the 26.7 million that the referendum cost in July. According to the ministry, of the 33.2 million euros to be paid for Sunday’s vote, some 27 million euros will be spent on wages.

A8inea, a free daily newsletter that supplies Athenians with their dose of news just in time for their lunch break, has prepared an interesting infographic of some facts and figures relative to recent elections in Greece. Take a look HERE!

Sources: eKathimerini, Euronews, A8inea

Four revolutionary driverless busses have successfully completed their first trial runs in the Greek city of Trikala in central Greece; the first of five European cities to introduce the automated transportation. The driverless bus is due to become fully operational in October.

The initiative is the combined effort of the CityMobil2 Program, a multi-stakeholder project co-funded by the EU’s Seventh Framework Program for Research and Technological Development.

This small futuristic vehicle will make a 2.4 km route on a daily basis from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 to 14:00 and then again from 16:00 to 20:00. The first six days of its operation (until September 17), the bus circulated the city of Trikala without carrying any passengers. Passengers were welcomed to join the experience starting on Friday September 18.

Built by French manufacturer Robosoft, the buses are electric, silent and non-polluting. They are 5 meters long, 1.5 meters wide, carry 10-12 people, and do not exceed 20 km/h. The vehicles are equipped with an advanced GPS and a laser mapping system for localization and movement control. Laser and ultrasound technologies are used to detect obstacles in front of and around the bus.

Similar automated road transport systems are expected to be implemented in a number of urban environments across Europe.

Sources: PappasPost & Greek Reporter & eKathimerini