XpatAthens

XpatAthens

Tuesday, 05 September 2017 06:53

Athens Public Transport Announces Discount

The Athens Public Transport Organization (OASA) has recently announced a buy-10-get-one-free deal for its paper tickets in a bid to boost sales. The offer is valid for regular 1.40-euro tickets and discounted 0.60-cent tickets.

The offer aims to raise awareness for the introduction of electronic ticket technology that will replace paper tickets on buses, trolleys, trams, the metro and ISAP trains.

Article source: Ekathimerini
Monday, 27 August 2018 07:00

A Foodie Haven In Kerameikos, Athens

Known as a new foodie haven, Kerameikos is home to unique restaurants, interesting neo-tavernas, and ethnic hangouts. Greece Is explores the neighborhood for food lovers and shares the best places to eat and relax.

Aleria

Aleria is now the home of modern Greek cuisine and is based on the triptych of good ingredients, high technology and modern ideas. You can select the food based on the wine you like – the wine list is long and the staff is knowledgeable. Try the beef tartare with yogurt, wasabi cream and ouzo jelly.

Address: 57 M. Alexandrou
Telephone: 210 522 2633
Athiri

The salon for the winter has 50 seats, while the outer space accommodates twice as many. The food is modern Greek cuisine with a traditional base. The menu changes twice a month. It’s small, with about 12 appetizers and salads and seven mains. They make their own bread daily and their food has a nice Greek character.

Address: 15 Plateon
Telephone: 210 346 2983
To read this article in full, please visit: Greece Is

Photo Credit: Greece Is
New regulations easing capital controls and raising the maximum monthly cash withdrawal limit to 1800 euros came into effect on September 1st, 2017. The measure was announced and passed as an act of legislative content in early August.

In addition, sums transferred to a bank account from abroad after September 1, 2017 can be taken out of the country once again in full, though only half can be withdrawn as cash.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Reporter
Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:10

The DON'Ts Of Visiting Greece

Video blogger, who is married to a  Greek, shares his expert tips for what NOT to do while you’re in Greece. From showing up empty-handed to a Greek’s house or not trying the local specialities, Wolter’s World gives us his suggestions for everything not to do in Greece, with of course some To Do’s!



For more videos, please visit: Wolter's World

Source: Greek Reporter 
Even today, a lot of Athenians don’t know how the squares and neighborhoods of Athens received their names! Now, Greek Reporter teaches us the meaning of the most popular squares and neighborhoods of Athens!

America Square today is deteriorating as the whole Kypseli neighborhood is downgrading. Yet, the busy square was named in 1927, as the municipal council wanted to show its appreciation for the philhellenism shown by the United States. Until then it was Agamon Square, or Square of the unwed. It was named so in 1887 after three middle-aged Athenians who had a café in the square and were all unmarried.

Anafiotika is an Athenian neighborhood on the north slope of the Acropolis Hill. Particularly picturesque, with tiny houses and narrow streets resembling a Greek island, it was created around 1860 by craftsmen and laborers who had come from the island of Anafi to work in the excavations of the Acropolis, but also to build the capital, which was a relatively new city then. One of them, on the pretense of building a small church, gathered materials and with the help of a carpenter, he made a house in one night and settled in. In a few days (or nights …) the builder, helped the carpenter to get his own home. Thus, Anafiotika was born from these two builders from Anafi.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Reporter
Tuesday, 29 August 2017 09:51

Greek Tourism Ranks 14th Worldwide

Greece has managed to attract up to nine million more tourists (not counting cruise ship arrivals) over the past five years, bringing the country to 14th place on the World Tourism Organization’s list for 2016.

In absolute terms, 15.5 million tourism arrivals were recorded in 2012, which by 2016 reached 24.8 million, the biggest percentage rise of any country in the specific time period.

Mexico followed in second place, with an increase of 49.5% in tourist arrivals between 2012 and 2016, and Thailand in third (45.5%).

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Travel Pages
Thursday, 24 August 2017 14:57

Messinia Pro-Am Returns To Costa Navarino

The international golf tournament will return for the second year on 21-24 February 2018 with 50,000EUR prize fund
Monday, 7 August 2017 – Costa Navarino, the award-winning golf destination in Greece will host the second Messinia ProAm on 21-24 February 2018.

The event follows the inaugural ProAm in February 2017, which saw participants from 14 countries.

2018’s tournament is expected to attract 50 teams of golf professionals and aficionados from all over the world. The total prize fund on offer to the winning team will be 50,000EUR, making it the second highest to be offered in a European tournament.

The destination’s multi-awarded signature golf courses ‘The Dunes Course’ and the ‘The Bay Course’ will offer an unparalleled golf experience with views of the seaside Messinian landscape. Alongside a thrilling golf spectacle, the event will also provide a rich programme of events and entertainment for attendees, including thematic gastronomy nights.

The ProAm is sanctioned by the PGAs of Europe and is held under the auspices of the PGAs of Greece, the Hellenic Golf Federation and the Hellenic Olympic Academy. Professionals and amateurs alike will join together to compete at Costa Navarino, selected by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO) as ‘European Golf Resort of the Year 2017’.

Aegean Airlines, a member of Star Alliance, is the official airline partner of the event. The company was awarded for the seventh consecutive year and for the eighth time in nine years, as "Best Regional Airline in Europe" at the Skytrax World Airline Awards.

Kyvernitis Travel is the official travel partner of the second Messinia Pro-Am. With over 40 years of experience in the travel industry, the agency will coordinate and ensure a smooth registration process.

Registration is now open via the website: messiniaproam.costanavarino.com.

Those registered by 30 September will receive a 10% ‘early bird’ discount.

Special accommodation packages are available at The Westin Resort Costa Navarino.

Click to view the Messinia Pro-Am Video HERE!

Organizer: Costa Navarino
Official Airline Partner: Aegean Airlines
Official Travel Partner: Kyvernitis Travel Website: messiniaproam.costanavarino.com
Hashtag: #messiniaproam
Monday, 28 August 2017 10:01

New Wave Cafes In Downtown Athens

Autumn is right around the corner and enjoying a hot cup of coffee is even more enjoyable with a crisp in the air. Culinary Backstreets gives us a tour of the new wave cafes in downtown Athens with trendy aesthetics and hip baristas!

Despite (or perhaps because of) Greece’s ongoing economic crisis, the number of quality coffee shops in Athens has mushroomed in recent years, and a rising cadre of professional baristas – a trendy title to hold nowadays – is taking pleasure in sharing their knowledge of coffee making and drinking.

Regardless of what kind of coffee you like to drink, make sure to head first to Kaya, without a doubt the best espresso bar in the city. Located in Stoa Bolani, an arcade close to Syntagma Square that hides some of central Athens’ best secret spots, this tiny coffee workshop is always teeming with locals.

To Dentro tou Cafe (The Coffee Tree) in Exarchia doubles as a cozy coffee shop and a retailer of freshly roasted and freshly ground coffee sourced from all over the world.

To read this article in full, please visit: Culinary Backstreets
Monday, 28 August 2017 09:32

Perseid Meteor Shower Seen Over Greece

Just a couple of weeks ago in mid-August 2017, Greece got to witness the annual Perseid meteor shower lighting of the starry skies. The video below from The Guardian shows the shower near the archaeological site of Mesimvria outside Alexandroupoli in northern Greece.

“As the meteors burn up, they can appear as green, white or orange streaks across the sky.”



To view more in pictures, please visit: The Guardian
Thursday, 24 August 2017 09:18

Modern family - Greece With Grown-Up Kids

Going on a holiday with your kids can take on a new meaning when they are (almost) grown up. Martin from The Guardian, having first visited Greece with his family 10 years ago, goes back to the beautiful country and stays in Paxos with his kids who are soon to be on their own in the world. What’s a family vacation like in Greece with your 3 (almost) grown kids?

Greece holds a special place in the list of our “favourite family holidays”. More than 10 years ago we went there on our first “proper” trip. We rented a house in Lefkada with a cool pool and drove around in a knackered old car. The kids were 12, 10 and five. Every night we dined in a different taverna. With burnt shoulders and washed hair, we’d sit at pretty tables, ordering grown-up food and then, when the children didn’t like it, feed it to the stray cats. And here we were again – a decade later, with the kids on the cusp of adulthood and almost off our hands.

To say the pace is unhurried would be an exaggeration – even a gang of lethargic sloths would get fidgety here. But you soon adapt to the relaxed starts, long lunches and afternoon snoozes. What’s the rush, anyway? Other than the dazzling blue sea, the first thing that strikes you about the island are the olive trees. They are everywhere.

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