The Prefecture's capital is a beautiful city built on the location of ancient Trikki (according to mythology, the nypmph Trikki was the daughter of Ponios).  Asklipios, the most imporant doctor of antiquity, originated from here.  The Lithaios River flows through the city which is distinguished by historical Monuments, excellent urban planning, spacious squares, parks and pedestrian streets.  It's located 331km NW of Athens and 215Kkm SW of Thessaloniki.

We are starting off with the heritage listed traditional neighbourhood of Varoussi, known for its beautiful narrow alleys and the multi-coloured houses of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Most of the oldest churches of the city are here.

Go on with a romantic stroll along the banks of the Lithaios River (the river of Lithi = “forgetfulness” in mythology), which is a tributary of the Pinios. Ten bridges cross the river, the central one made of metal having been constructed by the French in 1886.

Walk up to the fortress towering above the hill north of the city. It is the well preserved Justinian fortress, today featuring a recreational area. On its east side there is the 17th century Clock, the emblem of the city, which has suffered destruction and restoration several times.

Alternatively, you can cycle around the beautiful city through the vast network of bicycle lanes the locals are so fond of and keen on using.

To read more, please visit: Visit Greece

From December 1st 2015, Alonnisos is abolishing the use of plastic bags. The ambitious project is backed by the entire island, which in the last few years has made major leaps forward on issues concerning environmental protection. If it succeeds, the Greek island will become the country's first area to implement such a pivotal change in daily consumption habits.

Protected by the European Union's Natura program and located in the heart of the National Marine Park of the Nothern Sporades, Alonnisos hopes to earn the title of the country's 'greenest' island.

"People here have had environmental concerns for a number of years, regardless of laws and prohibitions," said Alonnisos Mayor Petros Vafinis.  "There is an eco conscience, which the older generation might have referred to in another way, but essentially, it exists."

Vafiinis sounded enthusiastic with regard to the island's recent environmental achievements.  "When we started the recycling program in 2012, I did not expect people, especially older citizens, to participate in the effort.  Grandmothers are now first in line at the recycling bins.  I am very pleased with the progress made."

And now the island has declared war on plastic bags.

To read more, please visit: ekathimerini

by Giorgos Lialios

A 100-million-euro investment project on the Aegean island of Chios for the development of a 5-star 700-room resort complete with museum and educational facility by Kerameia SA has been included in the government’s list of strategic “Fast Track” projects following a Ministerial Committee for Strategic Investments (DESE) decision, Greek financial daily Naftemporiki reports.

The project, budgeted at 100 million euros, includes the construction of a 5-star luxury resort, an apartment complex, a thalassotherapy facility, a conference center, a museum and educational institute, a paleontological theme park, a yacht marina and other relevant infrastructure.

To read more, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

An entirely different museum, digital and dedicated to Plato, the great philosopher of the antiquity, opened at the archaeological site of Plato's Academy in Athens.

The history of Plato and his work dominates the museum's exhibition, which is divided into three sections, unveiled in separate halls. Digital applications, video screening, maps and other material constitute the first museum of philosophy in Greece.

The museum's construction is also a part of the exhibition and its entrance is from the back of the building and works as a time capsule that travels the visitor back to Plato's era.

Another important element is its orientation which is directly connected with the archaeological site, the neighbourhood and the present. Moreover, the material used for the museum's construction is in total harmony with the surrounding environment.

 

The Digital Museum is in a new building in the Academy of Plato and comprises of a series of physical exhibits and multimedia applications with a variety of thematic areas. Through multiple levels of information consisting of texts, multimedia material and images, the visitor will be navigated both in the area (Academy of Plato and greater area) and in the "world of ideas". Beyond the emergence of the region and Platonism, the presentation aims at creating stimuli for discussion within and outside the area. The presentations are bilingual.

The exhibition takes a "step back" in time. It starts from the Academy of Plato in the current Athenian neighborhood. Along the route of the building's exterior, time counts counter clockwise and we see the archeological site's stages of revelation and discovery.

Located at Akadamia Platonos, Athens 10400, one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Athens,  the Plato Academy is a welcome reprieve to an area of Athens not particulalry well known for its beauty.

The museum is open daily from 09:00 - 16:00, except Mondays. Entrance is free. To learn more, please visit: Plato Academy.

The island of Rhodes has been selected as the first European destination to host the Destination Academy with TripAdvisor (DATA) event.

The DATA event is an initiative by E-Tourism Frontiers and TripAdvisor to bring together destination managers, marketing executives and digital media experts at regional events to discuss the growing importance of user-generated content in travel planning. The DATA event was first held in 2014 in Singapore and this year took place in Victoria Falls. This is the first DATA event to be held in the Mediterranean.

The event will take place on Rhodes on February 16-17, 2016, and aim to improve the way destinations use digital tools and content created by travellers. Such events include interactive training sessions, guided discussions, best practices, destination case studies, multimedia, as well as analysis and trends from TripAdvisor.

Chad Shiver, Senior DMO Sales Executive of TripAdvisor, with Marietta Papavasileiou, Vice Governor of Tourism for the Region of South Aegean.

“E-Tourism Frontiers, TripAdvisor and the South Aegean Region are working together to organize the first DATA MEDITERRANEAN event on Rhodes”,Chad Shiver, Senior DMO Sales Executive of TripAdvisor, said in an announcement on Tuesday 26NOV15.

To read more, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

Athens commuters may take it for granted on a day-to-day basis, but for visitors to the Greek capital the metro is one of the sites worth visiting. In fact online travel guide Frommer’s recently ranked the Athens metro among the top 10 subways in the world because of the archaeological exhibitions and contemporary art installations at a number of its stations.

The feature by Charis Atlas Heelan compares different subway systems around the world, asking: “What makes the world’s best subway, Metro, and Tube systems? Other than safety, cleanliness, and cost, it doesn’t hurt to have amenities like great architecture or underground shops and eateries. Bonus points if the transit stations aren’t too crowded or have endless staircases.”

The Athens metro is presented among the world’s top 10 in most flattering terms: “One of the crowning achievements of this city’s Olympic bid was the creation of Attiko Metro, a system with stations housing archaeological exhibits and items that were uncovered while digging (walls, cisterns, urns, and even sarcophagi). Even if you don’t need to get to any of the 50-plus stations, it’s well worth a visit to Syntagma Square or Akropoli stations to see the relics or Ethniki Amyna station for more contemporary art installations. Though the trains aren’t that modern or efficient, the visual surroundings make it all worthwhile,” the writer says.

To read more, please visit: ekathimerini

The stories about Athens and its people are endless. Many of them have faded from memory over time. Others are remembered in fragments that come together at some point for the story to be told. The case of the Yussuroum family is one such Athenian tale. As charming as it is distant, the family name has retained its currency in everyday usage: Yussuroum (also rendered as giousouroum) in Greek has come to mean flea market.

The Athens Jewish community held an event in October in honor of Mois Yussuroum, aged 95, for his voluntary service over the decades. A garden in the community’s synagogue was named after the benefactor and the event, held on the initiative of the Jewish Museum in Athens and the Jewish community, was an occasion to bring back to light the history of the Yussuroum family.

While many Greeks use the term yussuroum when referring to a flea market, few know that it stems from this family and, in particular, from the antique market it created in the Jewish quarter of central Athens. Mois Yussuroum is the descendant of a long line of successful merchants with a presence in Athens. The Yussuroum home on Karaiskaki and Ermou streets was located in the middle of the city center’s commercial district and also housed the capital’s first synagogue. This was the heart of the Jewish quarter, which lay between Aghion Asomaton Square, Sarri and Ermou streets.

To read more, please visit: Ekathimerini

Island hopping – yes, they are open!

The location of a crushing defeat of Sparta by Athens, the ancient city of Kane is mentioned countless times in ancient Greek literature by writers such as Herodotus and Sappho. Yet the exact position of the island on which the city sat has long puzzled archeologists. It now seems, however, that what is a modern-day peninsula jutting out from the Turkish coast used to be isolated from the mainland by sea, forming the fabled lost island.

A team of researchers, led by the German Archaeological Institute, drilled into the ground of the peninsula to examine the rock that formed it. They found that it was made up of loose soil and sediment, which they think was deposited at some point before the Middle Ages, joining the island to the mainland. This theory was corroborated by the discovery of the remains of a submerged ancient harbor, as well as the earlier findings of pottery fragments, which suggested that the region used to form part of an important trade route.

The island was one of three, called the Arginusae, of which two are still separated from the mainland.  It was where the third one had gone that had puzzled the researchers.  They now think that perhaps run off from the agricultural fields on the mainland, or even potenitally an earthquake could have caused the narrow channel, which is a few hundred meters wide, to fill up with soul and sediment, forming the split of land.

To read more, please visit: I Love Science

The standard ticket for public transport in Athens, valid for 70 minutes, will increase in cost from 1.20 to 1.40 euros from New Year’s Day, Transport Minister Christos Spirtzis said on Thursday. He added that the reduced-price ticket, for children, students and the elderly, will increase from 0.60 to 0.70 euros.

Spirtzis, who said that the ministry is hoping to keep the prices of other tickets and travelcards unchanged, made the announcement as he presented plans for the so-called electronic, or e-ticket scheme.

The minister said that the new system may be rolled out earlier than expected, possubly within seven months on the city's buses. 

To read more, please visit: Ekathimerini

To read about Jack's experience of the E-Ticket for Athens, click here.