Irini Akritidou, a woman from Thessaloniki— a grand daughter of refugees from Pontos who learned to knit from her grandmother has started a movement to turn her knitting skills that were passed from one generation to the 21st century’s refugees.

The effort was initiated by Irini Akritidou, who used the power of social media— and Facebook in particular— to organize and mobilize thousands of fellow Greek women in a nationwide knitting campaign to produce hats, scarves and gloves for refugees passing through Greece.

In just a few months’ time, several thousand people have joined the Knitting Solidarity Facebook Group and calls to action are sent via Facebook to women throughout Greece— and now the world. To date, thousands of hats, scarves and sets of gloves have been made— “Made with love and solidarity for these people,” Dimitra Fotiadou, one of the group’s organizers, told The Pappas Post in an interview.

The group’s organizers and granddaughters of Greek refugees from Asia Minor said they learned to knit from their own refugee grandmothers so putting their trans-generational skills to use for this generation’s refugees seemed like an appropriate contribution to the Greek cause to help people in need.

When asked what drove the women to start the effort: “Love,” Dimitra Fotiadou responded. “Love for humanity.”

According to Fotiadou, many of the women currently involved live in far away villages and towns and can’t do their part to volunteer or help refugees who are passing through Greece’s islands and big urban centers.

This is yet more proof that the Greek Islands should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. To read more and cast your vote, click here.

To read more, please visit: Pappas Post

Many studies have advocated drinking coffee to receive numerous health benefits – and now a new study suggests that Greek coffee may be the key to living a longer life.

Researchers from the University of Athens Medical School in Greece analyzed the link between Greek coffee and its potential benefits on cardiovascular health and found those who drank boiled Greek coffee had significantly better heart function, Counsel & Heal reported.

According to the study, only 0.1 percent of Europeans live past the age of 90.  However, on an island off the coast of Greece called Ikaria, the number of people living past the age of 89 is 10 times higher than the rest of the European population.  The Athens Medical School researchers were curious to understand if the islanders’ coffee consumption played a role.

To read more, please visit: Fox News

The Club for UNESCO of Piraeus & Islands has slammed Gucci’s Instagram project #Guccigram for “humiliating” the Parthenon sculptures. #Guccigram is a social media campaign of Gucci which invites artists to reimagine works of art by marrying them with the luxury label’s new Gucci Blooms and Gucci Caleido prints.

The artists participating in the project were given total creative freedom and turned their hand to iconic paintings — such as American Gothic and The Kiss — and historical monuments — such as the Parthenon Marbles, embellishing them with Gucci fabrics and accessories.

According to the Club for UNESCO of Piraeus & Islands, Gucci’s project is humiliating symbols that for centuries inspired the world’s greatest minds and artists.

"Attending the childbirth of the goddess Athens, Dionysus, wearin colorful shorts, holding a lady's bag and having a flower on his ear, enjoys himself taking selfie photos with his mobile.  Cecrops, dressedl ie hippies, Ilissos wearing women's accessories and next Kalliroi with her iPhone, are watching the dispute between Poseidon and Athens for the Athens city...The 'gucci party' of the ancient Greek gods is held in the Western and Eastern Parthenon Pediments, challenging every notion of respect to the one of the most memorable sights of the UNESCO World Herritage", the Club said in an announcement.

To read more, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

2015 was a tough year for Greece, but these Greeks managed to distinguish themselves and excel in their professional fields as well as inspire others to continue fighting for their ideals.  Here we present to you the 10 Greeks that left their mark in 2015:

Paul Alivisatos is considered one of the fathers of nanoscience for his ground-breaking research in quantum dots and other artificial nanostructures. In 2015 he was chosen as the recipient of the National Medal of Science by President Obama, America's highest honor for lifetime achievement in fields of scientific research.  The Greek-American is the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and an award-winning chemist.  He has been internationally recognized as an authority ont he fabrication of nanocrystals and their use in solar energy applications. Alivisatos, 56, holds appointments with the University of California Berkeley as the Samsung Distinguished Chair in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.  He is also a scientific founder of two prominent nanotechnology companies; Nanosys and Quantum Dot Corp.

Although John Calamos is known as a financial guru and the CEO and Chairman of the Calamos Investments, the Greek-American from Chicago made sure to bring to the U.S. the largest ever Ancient Greek exhibition in 2015.  Calamos became the biggest benefactor of the exhibit 'The Greeks: From Agamemnon to Alexander the Great" to the United States. The exhibit, presented at the Field Museum of Chicago in collaboration with the National Hellenic Museum, offers the chance to see up close more than 500 artifacts from Ancient Greece.  Calamos is also the biggest donor and Chairman of the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago and countess other organisations that promote Hellenism.

The Greek photojournalist was praised for his coverage of two of the biggest stories of 2015, Europe's Refugee Crisis and the Financial Implosion in his home country.  The Guardian named him its photographer of the year and his photos made it to the covers of some of the world's most important media outlets.  Born in 1960, Behrakis studied photography at the Athens School of Arts and Technology and London's Middlesex University.  He has covered various significant events such as the Libya Crisis in 1989, the funeral of the founder of Iran's Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as well as the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosova, Chechyna, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Afghanistan.

Angeliki Pappa is an eductator that has taught more than 800 students with special educational needs and trained about 1,500 teacher to use her own unique teaching methods.  In 2015 she was included in the list of 50 nominees for hte Varkey Foundation's Global Teacher Award for her work on dyslexia for the prize on one million dollars, also widely known as the Nobel Prize of teaching.  The top 50 candidates were selected from 8,000 entries and applications submitted from 148 countries around the world.  The winner will be announced at the Global Education & Skills Forum, to be held in March 2016 in Dubai.

To read more, please visit: Greek Reporter

The City of Athens has made a crucial step in opening the way for the establishment of crematoria in Greece by issuing an invitation for bids for a building to house the first crematorium.

The building must be no smaller than 2,000 square meters and no bigger than 4,000 square meters, and must be located within Athens city limits. Owners wishing to sell or rent their properties to City Hall have to submit their bid by January 24.

The move is made after the law 4277 for a New Regulatory Plan for Athens was passed in the summer of 2014, at the request of Mayor Giorgos Kaminis. Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris had made the same request.

Until summer 2014, cremation facilities were allowed to be built only within cemeteries. However, that was impossible since there is no space whatsoever in the existing cemeteries within the city of Athens.

To read more, please visit: Greek Reporter

Anyone living in or visiting Athens with young children will find this article very useful! Our friends at Family Goes Out have created an excellent and comprehensive list of free playgrounds around Athens - each one mapped out on Google.

Below are some of the playgrounds included in the list. For a complete guide to public playgrounds and their locations in Athens, please visit: Family Goes Out

Urban park, green with water, ten acres, square with walking lanes, separate playgrounds for younger and older children, skate ramp, cobweb, electronic games, traffic park for cycling.

Public playground at Kountouriotou Square in Koukaki area. Playground and sports field.

Oumplianis & Diocharous St. Public playground in Ilissia area, near Caravel Hotel.  Playground and sports field.

Public playground located in Attiko Park (Attiko Alsos), in Galatsi.  Playground and sports field.

This pizza bar in the centre of Athens has a clever theme, true to its name - School. Seating is available on four separate floors (plus outdoor seating) with a staircase and tables that will surely take you back to your school days.

The menu is rather amusing, with each page offering valuable "lessons". It was quite loud, on account of the Saturday night bustle (also reminiscent of school cafeterias). The only thing that won't remind you of school is the food. School offers the best pizza in Athens, by far! The pizzas are large (8 generous slices), so plan on sharing, especially if you get appetizers. The pizza crust is thin and the amount of cheese is manageable (often not the case with pizza in Greece). We had the Mushroom Pizza (oyster and white mushrooms, smoked Italian pancetta, cherry tomatoes, garlic oil and parsley) which we all agreed was superb.

Appetizers of interest include a very generous charcuterie platter and, what is best described as an alternative take on spanakopita - spinach and cheese mixture wrapped in kadaifi pastry. The dessert selection is nothing out of the ordinary, but Nonna's Cheesecake is promising. The wine selection is average; there are a couple of Italian whites and reds and the rest are Greek wines, all available by the glass or bottle.

Overall, a very positive experience. Can't wait to go again to try another pizza!

Address: Plateia Agias Irinis 8, Athens 105 60
Telephone: 210 32 51 444
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SchoolPizzaBar/

By XpatAthens reader: Eleni Philos

Do you have a review you'd like to share? Get in touch at ideas@xpatathens.com.

With wishes of kali xronia, kalo mina, kali evdomada and xronia polla, one might be forgiven for being confused about how exactly to greet people at the start of the year…! But as the Christmas spirit slowly dwindles, and the ‘Winter Sales’ spirit quickly takes over, one’s mind may start to think about all things shiny and new…

Athens seems to be somehow still ‘buzzing’ – it seems to me that there are plenty of tourists around, judging by the number of people wearing tshirts and shorts. Official sources are estimating tourist numbers around 26million visitors for 2015 – this is simply great! Athens is ‘on the map’ more than ever. Even with our well-known challenges and difficulties, people are still coming. Probably in search of a deal - but they came nonetheless... ;)

And now, AirBNB has named one of our favourite Athens neighbourhoods in their Top 10 must-visit up-and-coming global neighbourhoods. KOUKAKI has has taken the #5 spot on this list – sharing the spotlight with neighbourhoods in Japan, Germany, Thailand and France, among others. Here’s what the Daily Mail had to say:


Koukaki is also home to Mani Mani, a restaurant inspired by the southern Peloponnese's Mani region, and consistently some of the yummiest food on the block. Fodor’s says that Mani Mani “strikes the perfect balance between sophistication and heartiness. Located in a converted neoclassic residence, the decor has the relaxed precision of an upscale home-decor catalog (a gauzy drape or rag rug here, a beautiful glass vase there), but the food and extensive regional wine list quickly take center stage.” I couldn’t agree more.

And Koukaki is also home to Hitchcocktales, a cool, hidden gem of a bar. This is a beautifully designed space that combines industrial with vintage and modern touches. The menu is international, the music is swing, jazz and lounge, the cocktails are great, and the vibe is happy.

Koukaki is a great place to welcome 2016 and think about all the wonderful ‘what ifs’ of 2016.

Kali xronia!

Until next week,

Jack

Falirou 10, Athens


+30 210 921 8180

 

Porinou 10, Athens


https://www.facebook.com/hitchcock.athens/ 


+30 210 921 0023

Although holidays in Greece have mostly been connected with the Greek islands, there are also many nice Greek cities to visit in the mainland.  City tourism in Greece is equally enjoyable and will certainly bring unforgettable experiences to the visitor.

The town of Kalambaka, in northern Greece, is a highly developed toursit town blessed with breathtaking natural surroundings.  One of the most impressive Greek cities to visit, Kalambaka is actually the base to the wonderful region of Meteora, some gigantic rocky pillars, on top of which stand Byzantine monasteries.  Generally Kalambaka is busy year round due to the impressive spots of Meteora.

Monemvasia, a Medieval Castle Town that is still inhabited until today, is one of the most romantic destinations in Greece.  Take a stroll through charming arched alleyways, Byzantine and Venetian churches, and aristocratic mansions and enjoy breathtaking sea views from the top of the Castle.  Outside hte Old Town is the new town of Monemvasia, called Nea Monemvasia.  In close distance are beaches that are both organised or secluded.

Visit Ioannina, a beautiful city in the region of Epirus, built around the beautiful lake of Pamvotida, to experience its multicultural environment and rich history. The culture of the city is strongly connected to this lake and promenading at the borders of the lake is a favoritr thing to do there. In Ioannina, visitors can see the Ottoman Mosque of Veli Pasha and the Byzantine Castle. 

While in town, do not miss the delicious local liqueurs and sweets, as well as the Museum of Historical Wax Figures Pavlos Vrellis and the Cave of Perama. Due to its geographical position, Ioannina is the perfect base for excursions to the picturesque villages of Zagoria and the archaeological site of Ancient Dodona, where the Sanctuary of Zeus and its ancient oracle are found.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greeka

London, Barcelona and Paris are the top three cities to hold meetings in Europe, according to event management software firm Cvent, with Athens coming in 19th on the company’s list of the leading 25 destinations for meetings across the continent.

Amsterdam, Berlin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Rome, Brussels and Dublin complete the Top 10, with four cities in the leading 25 in Germany, and two cities each in England, Spain and Italy.

Cvent said it examined meeting planner engagement levels with hotels and venues between July 2014 and June 2015 in 2,500 European cities in its Supplier Network.

“The macro trend we found is that the competition between cities to attract meetings and events is fierce,” says Kevin Fliess, Cvent Vice President of Marketing.

“We are seeing smaller markets investing to lure meetings away from big cities. Two good examples of that would be Manchester and Birmingham in England.”

To read more, please visit: Greek Travel Pages