XpatAthens

XpatAthens

Whatever your preference in food and drinks, these restaurants in Athens serve a variety of meze-style dishes in beautiful courtyards and gardens, perfect for a quick meal and a relaxing evening with friends.

Pyroliki
This garden restaurant in Metaxourgeio offers traditional Greek food with a twist. Friendly and cozy ambiance, an atmospheric backyard, and flavors from all over Greece will travel your mind to Crete and the Greek islands. Start with delicious seafood appetizers along with a glass of ouzo, wine, or Cretan raki, and continue your meal with typical Greek dishes! 

Location: 117 Megalou Alexandrou, Metaxourgeio
Telephone: 210 3420293

Rozalia
Rozalia is a great option for dinner in the Exarcheia neighborhood of Athens. It is a family-run taverna that serves grills and home-style fare. The dishes are brought around on a tray, so you can see, point and pick! Its distinctive character and beautiful garden make it an ideal destination.

Location: Valtetsiou 59, Exarcheia
Telephone: 210 3802725

Metaxou
Metaxou will make you feel just like home! Enjoy their delicious traditional greek appetizers, such as cheese pies, revithokeftedes, soutzoukakia, wine from the island of Ikaria, and occasionally live music.

Location: 10 Pithodorou, Metaxourgeio
Telephone: 210 5229290

Kouvelos
Located in the area of Koukaki, Kouvelos serves traditional Greek food in a romantic garden. Start with the deep-fried cheese pie, a specialty from Skopelos island, and end your meal with homemade hazelnut liqueur. 

Location: Genneou Kolokotroni 66, Athina 
Telephone: 211 4052418
 
Karderina

This garden in the area of Petralona attracts many Athenians and foreigners for its exceptional greek food and mezes, its famous tsipouro, and, of course, its affordable prices!

Location: 67 Kallisthenous, Ano Petralona
Telephone: 210 3454000
 
While surrounded by jewelry designers, archaeologists, entrepreneurs, and historians at the Knossos Palace, Prince Charles was learning about the impact of ancient Minoan civilization on contemporary style.

As Vogue states, "Chiton dress styles, decorative motifs, superfoods and fabric weaves that date back over 3,618 years are part of an ongoing aesthetic dialogue between the Minoan ancients and contemporary designers including Sophia Kokosalaki, Zeus and Dione, Ancient Greek Sandals and fine jewellers, Zolotas and Paulina Ellis."

"There is a strong link between fashion and the Minoans (the civilisation flourished between 3000 and 1200 B.C.) – physical prowess and glamour are entrenched. Back in the 1920s, Mario Fortuny even created a special label marked Knossos for a collection of his densely pleated draped dresses. The surrealists were seduced and published Minotaure magazine in the 1930s. In the 1970s, Cretan designer Yannis Tseklenis became the toast of cocktail society in New York and Paris with his psychedelic image dresses that reprised the fine frescoes and patterned artifacts found in the region. More recently, Chloe and Mary Katrantzou's spring/summer 2017 collections incorporated motifs from the famous Knossos palace fresco "Ladies in Blue" featuring opulent beauties with bejewelled corkscrew curls."

To read this article in full, please visit: Vogue
 
Photo source: Wikipedia
The Friends of Canada network is delighted to invite you to its annual Informal Canada Day Celebration!

Lets get together for an evening full of surprises and enjoy some delicious food, such as risotto, rocket and parmesan salad, grilled pork chops, sausage with roasted potatoes, cake and wine! The cost is 14 euros each person for a set menu.

Dress code is casual and of course all nations are welcomed.

Should you wish to attend, please email the statement ''Friends of Canada has my consent to process my data'', along with your name, mobile phone number and full names of your guests, all by Friday July 6th.

Please allow 24 hours for confirmation.

If possible, kindly bring adult personal hygiene products, like shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, serviettes, razor and shaving gel.
Wednesday, 27 June 2018 09:34

SUP Yoga In Athens

Lynn Roulo, an American Kundalini Yoga and Enneagram instructor living in Athens, Greece, is offering SUP yoga classes this summer!

Q: What is SUP Yoga?

A: SUP Yoga is doing yoga in the sea on a Stand Up Paddleboard. It’s like a regular yoga lesson, but your mat is a SUP Board, and your studio is the sea.

Q: What do you think about Greece as a place for SUP Yoga?

A: I can’t think of a better place than Greece for SUP Yoga! The water is warm, clean and clear, and the conditions are ideal since the sea is usually pretty flat. If there are waves, they are really gentle.

Q: Where do you do SUP Yoga?

A: For the first few years, we were in Alimos with occasional trips to Schinias and Glyfada. This season, we’re moving further south to Voula and Varkiza. And starting on June 29, 2018, we’ll be offering SUP Yoga at Astir Beach in Vouliagmeni!

Q: Who can do SUP Yoga?

A: Anyone who can swim! My lessons are all-levels which means you don’t need experience in SUP or yoga to participate. I’m a Kundalini Yoga teacher so we use a lot of Kundalini Yoga exercises, and I try to make sure there is something for the full range of abilities—absolute beginners to experienced yogis.

Q: How can we learn more?

A: Come to a class! We offer classes every Friday at Astir Beach through July 31 and other weekend classes during the summer.
 
Please click HERE to view Lynn's SUP Yoga schedule, along with other yoga classes.
Still a fairly quiet island, Tinos is only a 20-minute ferry ride from the 'glitz and glitter' of Mykonos, but worlds away when it comes to attitude and appearance. Elizabeth traveled to Tinos recently for a photography workshop and shares her experience of exploring the different beaches, the gastronomy scene, and other things to do, where to stay, and what to eat.

"Near the fairy-tale hamlet of Koumaros, introduced to us by Greece Photo Workshops leader Maria, the rocky cliffs of Kolibithra form a perfect horseshoe-shaped bay cradling a sandy crescent beach. With its reputation for having the best breaks on the island – a rarity in a country better known for its still waters – Kolibithra has become a popular yet laid-back spot among Greek surfers."

"On the beach, a guy with a man bun staffed the bar, a repurposed vintage Volkswagen van, from which emanated the Eagles classic, Hotel California. The surfers hung around hoping for a swell, their boards propped against a thatched roof lean-to. Other beach-goers sipped mojitos by the bar, swam or lounged under quirky mushroom-shaped wicker parasols."

"Since anyone arriving on Tinos has to come through the chora, Tinos is an island whose powers of seduction are not immediately apparent, but venture beyond and you will soon fall under its spell."

To read this article in full, please visit: The Globe and Mail
Tuesday, 26 June 2018 08:31

The Vibrant City Of Athens

As a 24-year old, Charly came to Athens for the first time, unaware that the city would be the setting for a significant period of growth and discovery. As Charly puts it, "There are places we live and places we visit, and then there are the other places. Places we return to, where we put down roots, but not strong enough roots to hold us — places that change us, that we haunt and are haunted by."

Now 12 years later, Charly is back in Athens visiting her old hang-outs, seeing old friends whom she met the first time she was here, and admiring Athens for what it has become, "one of the most vibrant and significant cultural capitals."

Charly writes from her first trip to Athens, "After a week or so bouncing around the Cyclades, I arrived in Athens, planning to stay only a few days before moving on. People had told me the city was ugly and congested, basically a stopover, yet I remember the first romance of its winding, cracked stone alleyways overgrown with jasmine creepers and bitter orange trees, the roving packs of stray dogs, cats sunning on ruins, the smell of leather, honeysuckle and dust.

"One night I wandered into Kinky Bar, where the D.J. was playing obscure postpunk records I happened to love. I drank until I was brave enough to approach him. He introduced me to his friends — Athenians, a bit older than I was — and at the end of the night, they did something I couldn’t imagine happening back home: They invited me to move in with them."

To read this article in full, please visit: The New York Times
Newly open and located in an elegant historic European building in the Chinese metropolis of Shanghai, is the first and only Greek cultural center. Offering a taste of greek cultural heritage, greek gastronomy, hospitality and greek history, Hellas House aspires to become a new landmark in Shanghai's social, cultural, and business life.

The Tourism Minister Ms. Elena Kountoura, who attended the inauguration, said that "Hellas House is the ideal venue for the presentation of the unique treasures of Greece, while at the same time it really entices Chinese travelers to visit our beautiful country while strengthening the relations between Greece and China."

The opening ceremony was attended by many officials from both Greece and China, ambassadors from various countries, leading executives of international companies, businessmen and personalities of culture.

Article Source: ERT International

Photo Source: Hellas Group
Athens, Greece recently celebrated World Music Day, an annual celebration taking place on the summer solstice, at the National Archaeological Museum with a performance by Lyravlos. Using natural materials such as animal shells, bones, hides, and horns, this group of musicians recreated exact replicas of ancient instruments, including string and wind instruments called the phorminx, the kitharis, the krotala, and the aulos.

Panayiotis Stefos, a member of Lyravlos, travels to museums close to home and abroad in order to study ancient Greek antiquities and texts, which help him recreate the instruments. Stefos' son, another member of the musical group, told Reuters, "Music was an integral part of almost every aspect of ancient Greek society, from religious, to social to athletic events. Today only some 60 written scores of ancient Greek music have survived." Both Panayiotis and Michael rely on their interpretation of ancient Greek music to recreate the instruments as best they can.

Their performance included a hymn to the god Apollo, a piece played at the musical festival of the ancient Pythian Games in Delphi and during wine-laden rituals to the god Dionysus. One member of the audience commented that the performance was "inspiring."

Article Source: Reuters
The 8th Athens Open Air Film Festival and the Athens & Epidaurus Festival are happy to organise and present together a unique screening at the Ancient Epidaurus Little Theatre, which opens its doors for the first time to cinephile audiences!

On Saturday, June 30th the little atmospheric theather of Epidaurus invites the public on a fascinating experience with the emblymatic screening of "Electra, 1962" by Michael Cacogiannis.

The theater, which has been hosting events of  the  Athens & Epidaurus Festival for years, is located between orange and olive groves, on a slope overlooking the mountain and the sea and is considered as a favorite destination for friends art.

In the last few years, the theater has hosted many alternative performances of ancient drama, so it was considered as an  ideal place for the venue for this screening, which brings the legend of Euripides' Electra to the big screen!

Summer has arrived, and as we approach the holidays, we also move into the rhythms of “Santorini Experience”, and participants need to book their stay in the breathtaking island of the Cyclades, for October 5-7, 2018, taking advantage of the discounts offered by the hospitality sponsors that apply to this specific period for the event.

Registration and special offers continue with an undiminished pace, with the local community offering its very best, as hospitality sponsors are loyal to their “appointment” this year, offering dynamic support to the island and special accommodation prices to those participating in Santorini Experience.

Hospitality Sponsors are: Santorini Hoteliers Association, Meltemi Hotels & Resorts, Aqua Vista Hotels, Athina Luxury Suites, Santo Maris Oia Luxury Suites & Spa, West East Suites, Desiterra Luxury Suites & Villas, 270 Oia’s View, Central Fira Hotel, Fanouris Condo, Monolithia, Casa Iphigenia, Sienna Resort.

Registrations will close on August 31, 2018. Register now HERE!

For those choosing to travel to the island by plane, Ryanair, the official airline partner of the event for the 3rd consecutive year, will connect Santorini with safety and comfort in privileged fares that will be announced soon.

At the same time, all those wishing to travel to the island by ferry, will be able to enjoy once again this year the safety and comfort of Blue Star Ferries. The top Greek shipping company offers 50% discount on the ferry tickets and vehicles to all those visiting the event and the island from October 1 st to 12 th 2018. Each person who has completed his/her registration is entitled to the same discount for 3 more people (if these are his/her escorts) or for 4 people (if these are family members).

VitaNTravel, as the official travel agent of the event, will take care and assist all athletes and escorts with information about the ferry routes, ferry tickets, car rentals and accommodation in the island while a special accommodation package has been prepared for the period October 5-7, 2018. You may book this special package for a two- night stay that includes your hotel accommodation, ferry tickets with Blue Star Ferries, in economy class for the itineraries: Piraeus - Santorini (5/10), departure: 07.25 am, arrival: 14.55 pm and from Santorini - Piraeus (7/10), departure: 15.30 pm, arrival:

23.25 pm as well as extra transfers from the hotel to the event venues. The privileged package starts from 130€/person. For more information visit VitaNTravel or call +30 2103249070.

In addition, for the 4 th consecutive year Ford Motor Hellas will strengthen Santorini Experience with its presence, with the safety and efficient engines of its cars, as the official sponsor of the event.


For the first time in Santorini Experience, Hellenic Recovery Recycling Corporation (Herrco) will assist the event. In cooperation with the Municipality of Santorini, they aim at a better environmental control of the event and the promotion of recycling in the island. “Vikos” continues on the side of Santorini Experience for the 4 th consecutive year, as an official supporter offering athletes who will take part, the opportunity to quench their thirst with the natural mineral water “Vikos” which contributes to the better functioning of the body.

As far as the open water swimming race is concerned, we must highlight that any event involving an open water swimming race should take place with the approval of the Hellenic Swimming Federation, in accordance with FINA’s safety rules; as is always the case with “Santorini Experience”.

Watch the video teaser of Santorini Experience 2018 HERE!

In addition, official sponsors of the event are once again Alafouzos Sport and Athina Luxury Suites. Official supporters are Avance, Santorini Hoteliers Association, Meltemi Hotels & Resorts, Aqua Vista Hotels, Santo Maris Oia Luxury Suites & Spa and Boatmen Union Santorini. National Geographic is for one more year a Strategic Partner of the event.

“Santorini Experience” is a co-organization of Municipality of Santorini, Municipal Sports Cultural Environmental Organization of Santorini (DAPPOS) and Active Media Group. The event is held for one more year under the auspices of the Greek National Tourism Organization. More info at: www.santorini-experience.com

Official Airline Partner: Ryanair
Official Sponsors: Ford Motor Hellas, Blue Star Ferries, Alafouzos Sport, Athina Luxury Suites
Official Supporters: Natural Mineral Water “Vikos”, Avance Rent A Car, Santorini Hoteliers
Association, Meltemi Hotels & Resorts, Aqua Vista Hotels, Santo Maris Oia Luxury Suites & Spa, Boatmen Union Santorini Assisted by: Lifeguard Patrol, Assyrtico Wine Restaurant Café, Hellenic Recovery Recycling Corporation
Official travel agent: VitaNTravel
Strategic Partner: National Geographic
Official Hashtag: #SantoriniExperience

Photo Credit:  Santorini in October @ Santorini Experience by Elias Lefas

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