Mark your calendars for Tuesday, November 24, at 7pm at Syntagma Square. Athens' Mayor Giorgos Kaminis will give the signal for the official illumination of the city center and welcome the holiday season!

Festivities will kick off at 5:30 pm with a music tour by two groups of the Athens Municipality Philharmonic Orchestra that will start from Ethnikis Antistasis Square (former Kotzias Square) and Monastiraki metro station. The groups will then meet at Syntagma Square to welcome Athenians and visitors.

At 7pm, Athens Big Band will feature Greek singer Sakis Rouvas who will make a special appearance at Syntagma Square and perform songs dedicated to Paris.

To read more, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

This week I made a great discovery – one of those little things that makes daily routine just a bit easier, just a bit more ‘modern’. And the fact that this all about Athens made me equally surprised and excited. Maybe this is a sign of things to come…? Granted I’m a few months late, but I really hadn’t heard much until now – great apps need great marketing too.

TfA Tickets is a mobile app that allows you to purchase tickets for all Athens public transportation, right from your mobile device. The app displays the tickets, in count-down time, so you (and any ticket inspector) are totally clear on your ticket status.

 

The app is available for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch (iOS 7.0+) via the App Store, or for Android via GooglePlay. Tickets are purchased directly via the app on your phone, payable by stored credit card, and activate 2 minutes after purchase.

 

You can buy all regular timed tickets, airport tickets and even multi-day tourist tickets. You can buy multiple tickets at once, in case you're traveling with friends, and purchased tickets will still be visible on your phone even if you lose data signal.

 

I think this is just great! I’ve already used it several times, and – to be honest – it’s about time. Now if I could only explain to the onlookers as I waltz past the tickets machines that I am carrying a legitimate ticket…

 

But there was more to my week than apps! On my weekend wander around town, I came across a gem in Kerameikos. Rakor is an easy, cool, affordable, delicious, vegetarian-friendly place to eat. It is a stone’s throw from both Thiseio and Gazi, and is really worth the walk over. This is fresh food – with meat, fish and vegetarian options – an interesting wine and beer list, and relaxed friendly service, in an airy, hipster-esque space that is very welcoming. A new favourite.

 

And with your new TfA app, getting there will be a breeze.

 

Until next week,

 

Jack

 

Plataion 10, Kerameikos

+30 211 710 8877 

Facebook & TripAdvisor Reviews

 

After weeks of wrangling over revenue sources to replace an unpopular education tax that was scrapped, the government is expected to announce an automobile registration fee hike based on CO2 emissions and the age of the vehicle.

Firstly, the exemption from registration fees will be narrowed from the current exemption for vehicles with emissions of 100 grams CO2/km, and will only apply to cars with emissions of up to 90 grams. The change will apply to vehicles acquired after October 1, 2010.

Under the current regime, 200,000 vehicles were exempt from fees, with most of these being in the 90-100 gram range. The government will reportedly impose a fee of nine cents per gram in this category. Hence, a car with emissions of 98 grams will now be charged with an 88 euro fee.

Secondly, all vehicles registered after 1 November 2010 will be saddled with fee hikes. This covers approximately 480,000 vehicles, which currently are charged between nine cents and 3.4 euros per gram. This is expected to be hiked by between 10 and 30 cents per gram, with cars that have low CO2 emissions paying less.

To read more, please visit: The TOC

Traditional Greek cuisine is based on the pure products from Greek Mother Nature to form a balanced nutritional model that can ensure a better quality of life and physical health.  Products with unique quality and unsurpassable nutritional values include; olive and extra virgin olive oil, dairy products, honey, ouzo, fish, juices, water, nuts, wines, mastic from Chios, crocus from Kozani and much more  These products have blended together and created a noble cuisine rich in nutritional ingredients, which can satisfy the high gusatory and nutritional needs of modern man.

Let's take a look at some of the highly regarded Greek products:

As the basis of every recipe found in traditional cuisine, olive oil plays a dominant role in Greek nutritional habits. Greek olive oil is known worldwide for its purity, exceptional taste and high nutritional value.  You will find it everywhere - in glass or plastic containers with the words "visrgin" and "extra virgin" printed on them.

You will find unique cheeses of exceptional quality in the market, and you should make the effort to try these cheeses, such as kaseri, graviera, kefalotiri, myzithraand metsovone. These cheeses vary according to their origin, taste and name. Some of these cheeses are found throughout the country, while others are locally produced for local consumption. The most famous is of course Greek feta cheese. This is a white semi-soft, heavily salted cheese which is the basic ingredient for the Greek or Horiatiko salad, but it is also used in many other recipes.

Greece is not only the birthplace of Dionysus (God of Wine), but also the birthplace of wine making.  This wine came from the islands of Chios and Thassos and was famous throughout the Ancient world.  Historical and social reasons, as well as various natural disasters, were the main reasons why the art of wine making was neglected from the middle of the 19th century up tot he beginning of the 60's.  Greek winds are produced from a variety of grapes, many of which are unknown to Western wine lovers.

To read more, please visit: Visit Greece

As reported by London's Independent Newspaper, archaeologists unearthing the lost ancient city of Selinunte on Sicily's southwest coast have found a city frozen in time, little different from the day 2,500 years ago when it was suddenly attacked and its residents massacred and enslaved.

The allure of Sicily's beauty is nothing new.  Around 650 B.C. the Mediterranean island seduced a band of colonists from the port of Megara in ancient Greece who settled near the mouth of a small river on the southwest coast.  The colony - names for the wild celery ("selinon" in Greek) that grew in the surrounding hills overlooking the sea - grew into a prosperous trading port.  Ships from across the ancient world sailed into its harbor.  Residents of the city of 30,000 at the far western edge of anceint Greece purchased good from Egypt, Tirkey and France with coins imprinted with images of celery leaves.  With its commercial wealth, the city erected mighty temples to a pantheon of Greek deities.

Approximately 2,500 years ago, however, the glory days of the city the Greeks called Selinus came to an abrupt end,  In 409 B.C., an estimated force of 100,000 troops from Carthage traveled across the sea from modern-day Tunisia and laid siege to the city.  After Selinunte held out for 10 day, the Carthaginian invaders breached the city's walls and massacred approximately 16,000 residents and soldiers who tried to defend the city.  Another 5,000 residents, mostly women and children, were taken as slaves,  The once-thriving city became a ghost town after the attack.  Carthage's attempts to repopulate Selinunte never took hold, and it finally razed the city around 250 B.C. during the First Punic War.

To read more, please visit: History.com

The Athens Polytechnic Uprising in 1973 was a massive demonstration of the popular rejection of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974. The uprising began on November 14, 1973, escalated to an open anti-junta revolt, and ended in bloodshed in the early morning of November 17 after a series of events starting with a tank crashing through the gates of the Polytechnic.

What Happened In History

Since April 21, 1967, Greece had been under the dictatorial rule of the military, a regime that abolished civil rights, dissolved political parties, and exiled, imprisoned and tortured politicians and citizens based on their political beliefs.

The junta, trying to control every aspect of politics, had interfered with student syndicalism since 1967, by banning student elections in universities, forcibly drafting students, and imposing non-elected student union leaders in the national student's union. These actions eventually created anti-junta sentiments among students, such as geology student Kostas Georgakis who committed suicide in 1970 in Genoa, Italy as an act of protest against the junta. With that exception, the first massive public action against the junta came from students on February 21, 1973.

On February 21, 1973, law students went on strike and barricaded themselves inside the buildings of the Law School of the University of Athens in the centre of Athens, demanding repeal of the law that imposed forcible drafting of "subversive youths", as 88 of their peers had been forcibly drafted. The police were ordered to intervene and many students were reportedly subjected to police brutality. The events at the Law School are often cited as the prelude to the Polytechnic uprising.

On November 14th of 1973 students gather at the Athens Polytechnic to demonstrate against the Junta. This demonstration which is coordinated with occupations of campuses in Patras and Thessaloniki turns into a student rebellion that gathers strength every day as more and more people join. On the 16th, the students and fellow demonstrators attempt to march from the Polytechnic to Syntagma square but they are halted by the police.

As more people gather at the Polytechnic, there are already plans for ending the student rebellion, using tanks from the nearby bases in and around Athens. The students are preparing for a siege, collecting food and medical supplies, building barricades, and broadcasting on a clandestine radio station that the time is right to overthrow the junta and calling for their countrymen to join them in central Athens. Anti-Junta and anti-American graffiti are painted on buildings and passing buses which spread their message throughout the city.

At 2 am on November 17th, tanks are ordered to crush the student rebellion at the Polytechnic. At 2:15 a group of students comes out to negotiate a surrender asking for half an hour to evacuate the campus. The officers in charge will only give them fifteen minutes but don't even wait for ten. At 3 am a tank crashes through the gate of the polytechnic and police and military storm the campus. As the gate crashes to the ground students rush out to escape and are beaten with clubs and arrested. At least 34 demonstrators are killed though there are rumors that the number is much higher. Several hundred are injured and almost a thousand are detained at the school and at the Ministry of Public Order which had been under siege by demonstrators.

For the next two days, crowds attempting to gather in central Athens are broken up by police and soldiers who are everywhere. Tanks are parked in squares around the city and surround the Parliament building.  The rebellion at the Polytechnic is over and the country is put under martial law for the next week. Groups larger than four people are not permitted to gather and there is a curfew between 7 pm and 5 am. 

How This Day Is Commemorated In Greece

November 17 is observed as a holiday in Greece for all educational establishments. Commemorative services are held and students attend school only for these, while some schools and all universities stay closed on this day. The central location for the commemoration is the campus of the Polytechneio. The campus is closed on the 15th (the day the students first occupied the campus in 1973). The commemoration day ends traditionally with a demonstration that begins from the campus of the Polytechneio and ends at the United States embassy.

Practical Information About This Day

Police security is always on high alert on November 17th. Commemorative demonstrations are observed and thus the streets of central Athens are closed - it is recommended that drivers avoid central Athens on this day. Public transportation (buses, trains, trams) in central Athens is also typically affected by the demonstrations.

The Haridimos Shadow Puppet Museum in Athens, is a museum that keeps an important part of Greek cultural history alive. Karagiozis Shadow Puppet Shows were both pre-television era entertainment, and a way for Greeks to subtly poke fun at the ruling Ottoman empire. Anyone from the UK will instantly think of Punch and Judy.

Shadow puppet shows playes a hugely important role for Greeks during the years of Ottoman rule.  They were a way to poke fun at the Ottoman empire, pass on information, recount history and much more.  The main character in these shows was Karagiozis.  He is depicted as having a large nose, a humped-back and one arm longer than the other.  His character was someone who always tried to outwit society, but his attempts normally ended in comical disaster.  This provided the perfect opportunity to create stories around current affairs and the social situation under the Ottomans.  Social and political satire at its finest!

Visitors to the Haridimos Shadow Puppet Museum will notice almost immediately that it is not well signed, as in there is no English signage - this includes the exhibits inside.  It is tucked away to the left hand side of the Melina Mercouri Cultual Centre.

To read more, please visit: Daves Travel Pages

The Haridimos Shadow Puppet Museum in Athens is located in the Melina Mercouri Cultural Centre, 66 Iraklidon & Thessalonikis sts, Thissio.

The closest metro station is at Thissio. Entrance is free.

The general opening hours are 09.00 until 14.00 and 17.00 until 21.00 everyday except Mondays and Sundays. You may wish to call them on  210 3452150, 210 3414466 if you want to make sure they are open when you wish to visit

A total of 162 suspicious transactions were reported and 133 individuals detained earlier this month during a joint operation to combat online fraud in the airline sector, Europol said in a statement last week.

Under the coordination of Europol, the operation included travel and credit card companies such as Visa, MasterCard and American Express, 35 airlines and 32 countries* across 109 airports and targeted criminals suspected of fraudulently purchasing plane tickets online using stolen or fake credit card data.

“This operation was the culmination of many months of meticulous planning between Europol, law enforcement, prosecuting and border control agencies, airlines and credit card companies, and is a perfect example of how our combined forces can track down the criminal syndicates responsible for committing large scale fraud and other offences,” said Europol Director Rob Wainwright.

The rise in internet-facilitated crime — often via fake online “travel agencies” — affects millions of travelers every year with the banking, airline and travel industries suffering massive financial losses in the process. Europol adds that in many cases credit card fraud has been linked to drug trafficking and human trafficking, among others.

To read more, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

Greece, widely known for its ancient art and culture, is increasingly becoming a hub for creative and award-winning international talents in contemporary industrial design. Stimulating, cutting-edge industrial design in Greece portrays diversity, creative evolution, modernity and, most importantly, humour. These are ten of the best contemporary product designers from Greece.

Thanos Karampatsos and Christina Kotsilelou are the inspired, humorous minds behind Greece is for Lovers. Since 2006 they have been passionately designing, producing and promoting novel, high-quality products that put a decidedly irreverent spin on Hellenic heritage. Located under Acropolis in the historical centre of Athens, Greece is for Lovers stubbornly fight the stereotypes of what is widely thought to be Greek along with the idea that ‘Greek people tend to take their culture very seriously’. Combining some of Greece’s spiciest ingredients, such as humour, irony, nonchalance and extravagance, these objects introduce a fresh breeze into contemporary product design. Among their products, which are eye-catching, innovative but deeply rooted in Greek tradition, a brown leather skateboard that incorporates Greek-style sandals into the board unquestionably stands out.

The multi-award-winning designer Constantinos Hoursoglou founded his multi-disciplinary studio in Athens in 2002 and since 2007 he has been productively working in Geneva. Both his Royal College of Art education and professional experience in Athens, London and New York play a key role in his uncompromising effort to foresee the chaotic changes in the world, while designing avant-garde but useful products. With aesthetics, technology and ecology in the spotlight of his creative work, Constantinos Hoursoglou is known for choosing great materials and inventive manufacturing methods. CHD studio provides wide-ranging services, such as graphic and exhibition design and product design and development and has participated – among others – in the St. Etienne Design Biennale and Salone Satellite.

To read more, please viist: The Culture Trip

Couples who choose to sign a so-called cohabitation agreement, including same-sex partners, will have virtually the same rights as those who are married with the exception of the right to adopt a child, according to new legal provisions that were put up for public consultation on Monday 9th November 2015 by the Justice Ministry.

The agreement, which in its current form grants non-married couples similar rights to those who are married, would be extended, giving signatories the favorable tax status enjoyed by married couples and increased inheritance rights. In the case of civil servants, the same benefits granted to married couples would apply.

The bill unveiled by Justice Minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos yesterday also includes provisions aimed at boosting anti-racism legislation. According to the proposed legislation, not only offenses with racist motives will be regarded as crimes, but also those stemming from discrimination based on someone’s sex or religion.

To read more, please visit: ekathimerini