Author and blogger, Marissa Tejada, from Travel Greece Travel Europe, travels to Nafpaktos and shares her favourite things to do!

The Venetian Castle of Nafpaktos is one very large and incredibly preserved structure that you simply can’t miss. It can be seen from the harbor and from many points in town. The castle is what gives this place – set on a sparkling aqua blue corner of the Corinthian Gulf – its defining charm.

The Botsari Museum is part of the Venetian Tower of Botsaris. It is a historic landmark that is run by the charitable Botsaris Foundation. It is worth a stop to view a collection replica paintings and engravings that give insight into the great Battle of Lepanto of 1571.

Every coastal town, big or small, in Greece has beautiful beaches and Nafpaktos is no exception. The names of the two city beaches are known as Psani and Gribovo and have been accredited with Blue Flag status.

To read this article in full, please visit: Travel Greece Travel Europe

For the 12th consecutive year, the esteemed NY Times put together its annual ‘Places To Go’ article by receiving feedback from regular contributors, many of whom live overseas, as well as having ‘marathon-length’ meetings to narrow down their suggestions. This year, Athens was recognized for its art scene and put on the ’52 Places To Go In 2017’ list!

 

Coming in at number 28, Athens is described as ‘a post-crisis art boom in an ancient capital.’

‘Prices have dropped, but the Greek debt crisis has not dampened Athens’s thriving arts scene. Recent years have seen a surge of galleries, collectives and nonprofit art organizations built for leaner times, like Radio Athènes, which hosts pop-up lectures and performances, and the immigration-focused Nomadic Architecture Network.’

A few notable and up-and-coming destinations also made the list including Tijuana, Mexico, Detroit, Michigan, and Greenville, South Carolina. And of course, classic cities like Madrid in Spain, Osaka in Japan, and Napa Valley in California were also listed among the top places to go in 2017.

To view the NY Times list of ’52 Places To Go In 2017’ in full, please visit: NY Times

In Greece, evidence of Orthodoxy Christianity, whose roots are intertwined with those of the nation, is everywhere: Countless churches, chapels and shrines, in squares, on mountain tops, in caves, carved into the rock, as if crafted by invisible, all-powerful hands, by the sea or in private spaces. Official figures point to a total of 9,792 parish and monastery churches, but this figure does not include the hundreds of privately owned places of worship and chapels in cemeteries. Many have been declared World Heritage sites.

Most churches are dedicated to the Virgin Mary (Theotokos, Panaghia etc), Saint Demetrios (Aghios Dimitrios), Saint Nicholas (Aghios Nikolaos), Saints Constantine and Helen (Aghioi Konstantinos kai Eleni) and the Holy Trinity (Aghia Triada). Most island churches are dedicated to Aghios Nikolaos, patron saint of sailors and fishermen, due to the fact that traditionally, most island families relied to a greater or lesser degree on the sea – which could of course be deadly – for a living.

In Greece, numerous Byzantine era (330-1453) churches have been preserved. Many were built on ancient temples and shrines in an effort to purge the region of its pagan past.

In total, 350 Christian places of worship are considered cultural monuments and, as such, are protected. Unfortunately, a significant number of the Byzantine churches and monasteries of Athens were destroyed and looted over the centuries.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greece Is

Aggeliki Pappa, founder of i love dyslexia, was nominated for the 2nd time as a finalist for the 2017 Global Teacher Prize!

The Varkey Foundation, which is in charge of the Global Teacher Prize for 2017, recently announced the list of the 50 distinguished teachers who were selected out of 20,000 candidates from 179 countries.

Pappa was listed for her accomplishments as the founder of ILD as well, as her experience as a researcher of special education.

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

Elena Syraka created her first pieces of jewellery while at school, without realising this would ultimately be her calling. After studying at the Veloudakis Fashion School in Athens, she went on to ESMOD in Paris, where she decided to focus on jewellery design. Her official debut into the field was in 1995 and about a decade later, she decided to focus exclusively on fine jewellery. Her designs balance between opposite elements, such as the masculine and the feminine, the strict and the fluid.

With a passion for ancient civilisations and a deep interest in Greek history and heritage, Elena offers a contemporary interpretation of classical symbols.

Elena’s jewellery is handcrafted in Athens and various collections come in limited edition numbered pieces. She has now reached her 20th anniversary as a jewellery designer and is proud to see her Nour collection being exhibited in major museums around the world.

To read this article in full, please visit: Why Athens

We are thrilled that XpatAthens was picked by The Culture Trip as a 2016 Athens local favorite, as mentioned in their article ‘Moving To Greece? Here Are Some Practical Tip You Should Know.’ The Culture Trip is a a media platform that shares personalized content and recommendations from destinations all over the world.

XpatAthens was listed as an excellent resource to ‘meet like-minded people or other expats living near you.’ We agree that having a support network is vital to acclimating as an expat and feeling at home in a new city. Be sure to check out our Practical Information page for other useful articles on how to adjust to life in Greece!

Please click HERE to read The Culture Trip's article about 'Moving To Greece.'

Oinoscent was founded in 2008 by two wine passionate brothers in their early 20s. For a brief period, it worked as a wine cellar, but was only a matter of time before it evolved into the first wine bar of Athens.

In the Oinoscent cellar you will find more than 700 labels from all over the world and their dishes are specially selected to pair wonderfully with the wines.

The two brothers also regularly host wine tastings with local and foreign producers in order to learn, taste, and (hopefully) find out their secrets in the art of wine making.

To read this article in full, please visit: Living Postcards

You may have seen blue blocks around Athens and have wondered, what are those? Jessica from Athens Coast sits down with Renee Belousis, the founder of PlayCanDo, and tells us what those blue blocks are and how children can use them!

Jessica: How did you get the idea of starting PlayCanDo?

Renee: Last summer we were at our favourite playground in Vouliagmeni. To our disappointment, they had ripped out the slides and other play equipment leaving big gaping holes. I was very annoyed and angry as our children had even less choice of playgrounds to play in.

When we got home I started researching playgrounds and came across the Imagination Playground. The Imagination Playground consists of life size foam blocks, called Blue Blocks. These looked very familiar to me. As it turns out, we had encountered the big Blue Blocks a couple of years earlier, at a children’s museum on a trip to San Francisco.

That’s when I thought wouldn’t it be great if children in Greece had the opportunity to play with these blocks too. I started discussions with Imagination Playground and through this became the Representative Sales Agent in Greece. In order to import the Blue Blocks I started the company, PlayCanDo.

To read this article in full, please visit: Athens Coast

Please click HERE for more information on PlayCanDo.

While it’s not rare for Athens to get snow, it usually melts before we know it! Luckily, this video captures the few pristine moments the city was blanketed in a fresh white coat. Check it out!

Source: Greek Reporter

One of ancient Greeks’ main diet ingredients was Zea flour or Triticum Dicoccum, known as the scientific name. They wouldn’t eat food containing wheat and they used wheat as animals' food. The grain of Zea is probably the oldest in the world.

Zea is two times richer in dietary fiber than wheat, two times richer in protein with a high amount of vitamins A, B, C and E. It is also high in magnesium and very low in gluten.

Until about 100 years ago, Zea was the most popular grain in Greece. But in 1928, according to Santorini Food Lovers, its cultivation was banned for financial reasons as the imported cereals crops of rice and wheat were more profitable. The revival of the ancient Zea grain has lately been taking place in few areas of Greece’s mainland.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greece by a Greek