With little end to their economic misery in sight, Greeks are finding inventive ways to feed the poor while also fighting waste – a movement that is chipping away at traditional attitudes to food.

Three years ago, Xenia Papastavrou came up with a simple idea: take unsold food from shops and restaurants that was headed for the bin, and use it to feed the growing number of Greeks going hungry as the financial crisis took hold.

"In June, they gave us 3,000 kilos of melons; in August we got 7,200 cartons of milk," the 39-year-old told AFP at her office behind Athens' central market.

Boroume ("We Can"), the organization she founded, matches donated foodstuffs with charities in need -- whether vegetables, bread or "even these 12 tiropita (cheese pies), which weren't sold at the bakery."

These days the food routed through Boroume provides an average of 2,500 meals a day across Greece, from Athens to Thessaloniki in the north.

"Greece is a country that throws a lot away," explained Papastavrou from behind a computer screen covered with data tables and the addresses of charities.

In Greek tavernas, if the plates aren't piled with huge pyramids of food, a meal between friends can be considered a failure, she added.

"There isn't really a mentality of paying attention to this," she said. "Here, it's: 'I've paid for it, so I can do what I want with it.'"

But years of hardship have started to change habits in a country where official figures show a quarter of the population is at risk of poverty.

"In Greece, people used to think that good quality means high prices," said Tonia Katerini, an architect who spends about 10 hours a week working in the Sesoula co-operative grocery store in Exarchia, downtown Athens.

But as Greece slumped into a deep six-year recession after the 2008 financial crisis erupted, people began thinking harder about whether this was really true, she said.

To read more, please visit: ekathimerini

As we head into autumn, this dish is perfect for the season.

Tourlou tourlou, which literally means all mixed up, is really the most wonderfully delicious mix up of vegetables!  Perfect with fresh veggies and a few simple ingredients and you’re on your way to one of the best traditional vegetable meals in all of Greek cooking.

This dish also known as Briam from the Turkish version and is also very similar to the traditional French dish Ratatouille. Full of flavor and so satisfying, you can enjoy tourlou tourlou hot right from the oven or the next day at room temperature. Serve as a filling meal or as a tasty veggie side dish to just about anything and its a great take for lunch option too!

One of the great things about tourlou tourlou is it's amazingly flexible.  This dish can accommodate whatever is in season and can be made with a huge variety of vegetables such as okra, green beans, peas, green peppers, mushrooms - feel free to be creative!

To read more, including how to make Tourlou Tourlou, please visit: The Greek Vegan

A good friend of ours, and perhaps yours too (!), Lynn Roulo put together her top ten (and then some) reasons of why she loves living in Greece. We loved them for all the same reasons and have chosen some of our favourites from her list for you to enjoy too.

• All over my neighborhood, the shopkeepers leave food and water out for the stray dogs and cats.


• The entrance to Filopappou Hill is pretty much what I imagine the entrance to heaven must look like. 

  
  
• Grilled octopus, horta with lemon, loukoumades, cheese saganaki, Greek yogurt, beet greens with olive oil, fresh grilled sea bream, just to name a few….


• While living in an unstable country was never a goal of mine, an unintended consequence is that it makes me feel very alive. I don’t just read the news, I can step outside to see what’s happening…

• What I pay for rent to have an apartment with a roof deck and a view of Acropolis in Athens would get me a tiny basement studio in the Tenderloin in San Francisco.

• The next six months. Because life here is always an adventure…

• I haven’t used a dryer for my clothes in three years. I don’t know why I like that fact so much, but I do.

• I haven’t had a car for three years, and I haven’t missed it at all.


• The mailman knows my travel schedule and where to leave packages when I’m away, without me ever saying a word. It’s part of the neighborhood web of information.


• A woman who was my landlord for a total of 3.5 months over three years ago regularly sends me food she cooks for me. She lives on Chios Island where it can’t possibly be cheap to send food to Athens but she does it because she thinks about me and wants to make sure I’m well fed.

  
  
• I see very elderly people out at bars and cafes late at night. They are part of the social fabric and actively socialize just like everyone else.


• Each time I’ve needed help (and in three years, there have been many times….), there have been a thousand hands outstretched to help me. I find the Greek people to be amazingly kind and generous with their time. This goes especially for my neighbors, who have become like my family.


• When I buy vegetables from the market, they have still have dirt on them.


• Because 7:00 pm is still considered afternoon…

  
  
• At least once a day, I see a motorcycle or scooter driving the wrong way down the street. And no one seems at all concerned.


• Something about the way the sunlight hits the landscape here makes the whole place seem magical.


• My neighbors have become my friends and know and care about the details of my daily life.


• Coffee with a friend lasts two or three hours, and I have never once talked about stock options or liquidity events.


• When I walk down the street, I’m greeted with γεια σου κουκλα μου, γεια σου αγαπη, γεια σου ομορφη (hello darling, hello love, hello beautiful) by old men and women.


• Greek summer.

To read Lynn's complete list, visit: http://www.lynnroulo.com/about/

Lynn is an American Kundalini yoga and Enneagram instructor teaching a unique combination of the two systems, combining the physical benefits of Kundalini yoga with the psychological growth tools of the Enneagram.

Most of her adult life has been as a Certified Public Accountant (US CPA) working in the Silicon Valley/San Francisco technology start up and venture capital industries. In 2012, she decided to move to Athens, Greece for purely intuitive reasons.  She's not Greek by heritage, she did not have a job here, she didn’t speak any Greek (at the time), and there wasn't a Greek man in the picture either! She simply had a really clear feeling that she should go to Greece. And so she did.

 

“I remember getting on the plane to leave San Francisco. My dog and two cats were in cargo below and I had packed a suitcase full of clothes. Almost everything else I had sold or given away. There wasn’t anyone to meet me in Athens because I didn’t know anyone. But it was one of the calmest moments of my life. I was totally sure I was making the right choice.  And I haven’t regretted it at all. I love Greece.”

To learn more about Lynn and all the great things she does in Athens please visit her webiste: http://www.lynnroulo.com/

In July, a creative social media campaign named #LifeOnIos ran in Greece to promote and rebrand Ios from a destination known as a party island for young travellers to a destination with a sustainable luxurious future.

The #LifeOnIos campaign, a first of its kind event for the travel industry, saw video creators from five different countries (UK, Spain, USA, Brazil, Germany) gather on Ios for the whole month of July to create video content to show that the island has a lot more to offer apart from the party scene it is famous for.

#LifeOnX

The #LifeOnIos project is part of #LifeOnX, a new concept in tourism marketing to promote and rebrand a destination, introduced by Simon Lewis, the founder of Travel Concept Solution, a Cape Town-based marketing agency with a global network in travel.

#LifeOnIos was set up in cooperation with the local brand LuxurIOS Island Experience and had the support of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), Lonely Planet and Greek carrier Aegean Airlines.  Also, the global travel industry community Travel Massive was involved and Traveldudes and GTP supported the event as media partners.

To find out more about this campaign, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

The QS website included six Greek Universities in its 2015/2016 World University Rankings.

These six Greek institutions ranked globally known table. Specifically, the National Technical University (NTUA) ranked 376th, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ranked 461-470th, University of Crete 501-550, National and Kapodistrian University and the University of Patra were both placed between the 601st and the 650th position, while the Athens University of Economics and Business ranked above the 701st position.

Kathimerini reports that the National Technical University ranked 238th based on the "citations per facuty area" criteria.  Furthermore, the NTUA's engineering technology faculty ranked withing the world's top 100 of its kind, occupying 67th place.

To read more, please visit: Greek Reporter

Four revolutionary driverless busses have successfully completed their first trial runs in the Greek city of Trikala in central Greece; the first of five European cities to introduce the automated transportation. The driverless bus is due to become fully operational in October.

The initiative is the combined effort of the CityMobil2 Program, a multi-stakeholder project co-funded by the EU’s Seventh Framework Program for Research and Technological Development.

This small futuristic vehicle will make a 2.4 km route on a daily basis from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 to 14:00 and then again from 16:00 to 20:00. The first six days of its operation (until September 17), the bus circulated the city of Trikala without carrying any passengers. Passengers were welcomed to join the experience starting on Friday September 18.

Built by French manufacturer Robosoft, the buses are electric, silent and non-polluting. They are 5 meters long, 1.5 meters wide, carry 10-12 people, and do not exceed 20 km/h. The vehicles are equipped with an advanced GPS and a laser mapping system for localization and movement control. Laser and ultrasound technologies are used to detect obstacles in front of and around the bus.

Similar automated road transport systems are expected to be implemented in a number of urban environments across Europe.

Sources: PappasPost & Greek Reporter & eKathimerini

The economic crisis in Greece has created widespread hunger, over 50 percent unemployment for Greek youth and extreme hardship, all in order to finance exponential profits for the banks. (This is a country that was once referred to as The Cradle of Western Civilization). I do not wish to imply that this is in any way acceptable.  I choose to tell this particular story at a time when the world is hearing only about devastating news and the attention-getting politics of the region.  Sometimes in times of tragedy, pockets of joy can be found.

It's August 2015.  I'm sitting on my coco-mat mattress - made of all natural rubber, coconut husk, and seaweed - in our tiny house in Tinos, Greece.  I'm watching Fifi, the carpenter, give instructions to his 20 year-old son.  Fifi, a native islander, is bushy-eyebrowed and gruff.  Out of nowhere he asks me to make him coffee.

I pick up the Bunsen burner from the tiled floor, find a box of matches in my purse, and go to the bathroom to fill up the stainless steel pot with water.  Fifi happily happily sips the coffee from a glass and lights his cigarette.

I'm so excited about the new white cabinets!  We already have a functional bathroom and soon will have a working kitchen in our 300 square-feet stone house overlooking the Mediterranen sea.

In June my Greek husband, George, and I sold our 1,850 square feet duplex apartment in an international co-housing community in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which we had helped build 17 years earlier.  The move entailed packing 6,800 pounds of accumilated stuff and putting it into storage in New Hampshire.

The Greek economic bank crisis dominated the news.  Geroge had taken $4,000 in one hundered dollar bills from the bank, slipping them into a money belt, in order to pay the workers.  The 60 Euro a day ATM limit was going to make it difficult for us to finish the house.

George, as eager as I was to start a new life, jumped at the idea of moving to his inherited property in the Cycladic Islands.  We had been married on this island, and our son had been baptized here.  After more than 30 years together, we finally could be impulsive and carefree.  We longed for a simpler way of life and hoped to find it in the fishing village of Panormos. 

To read more, please visit: The Huffington Post

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Author Melissa Burch has worked as a filmmaker for CBS and the BBC, was featured in The New York Times, produced a national public television series, co-hosted a radio show on Voice America and has been a spiritual seeker for over thiry years.  Her forthcoming book, My Journey Through War And Peace, describes her adventures in war zones in Afghanistan and the Soviet Union and her peace efforts during the Cold War, as well as her inward spiritual journey.  To read more about Melissa, click HERE.

“Lake Vouliagmeni, on Athens's southern coast, is unique, with a massive cave system, white cliffs and warm waters – which under temperate conditions are also extremely clear – while the colors you see inside from the refraction of the light and the clear waters are really spectacular,” says Spyros Kollas, a professional diving instructor and enthusiast who has spent the past 16 years exploring the world beneath the waves.

In February, under his guidance, the 24-member InnerSpace Explorers Greece diving team – comprising mainly Kollas's students, from Greece, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany and Spain – started the exploring the mysterious lake in Vouliagmeni. The aim was for them to gain experience in how a proper diving expedition works, as well as to chart – for the first time ever – four small caves that lead into the lake's legendary main cave further in.

For some three months, members of the team conducted dives in teams of up to six people – breaking off into pairs – and took measurements, photographs and videos while also collecting other data. They would meet early in the morning to get themselves and all their gear to Vouliagmeni and start the dives. Each dive would last a maximum of 90 minutes – which was how long their oxygen and bodies could last – before packing everything up again and heading back home. It was an arduous and time-consuming process, but they had fun, they learned a lot and they all got hooked. Some team members with demanding jobs had to fit dives in around their busy schedules while others traveled from abroad, but all managed to overcome any kind of of obstacle in order to return to the water.

The first phase of the project was completed a few weeks ago with the mapping of the first of the four small caves.

“It has a length of 70 meters from the entrance, a width of 30 meters, and a height, from the top to the bottom, of 40 meters, exceptionally clear waters and no stalagmites or stalactites. It is stunning,” says Kollas.

The team's discoveries will not remain secret for long as a recent partnership between InnerSpace Explorers Greece and Dutch firm Reef Interactive, which specilizes in 3D imaging, has resulted in the first 3D interactive dive map app, which allows users to take a virtual dive into this particular part of Lake Vouliagmeni, receiving information such as the temperature of the water, the depth and the kinds of rocks found there.

The next phase of the operation, which consists of mapping the antechamber of the lake's main cave, will start in early 2016.

To read more, please visit: ekathimerini

by

Maria Athanasiou

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was the only house of worship destoryed by the September 11th attack in New York.  From the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America: 

"On September 11th 2001, the barbaric attack not only destroyed the majestic Twin Towers but also the tiny yet historic St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, located south of the second tower of the World Trade Centre.  In the aftermath of its destruction, very little survived: two icons, one of St. Dionysios of Zakynthos and the other of the Zoodochos Pege, along with a few liturgical items, a book and some candles.

Within days, the Archbishop travelled personally to Ground Zero, setting foot on the site where the Church of St. Nicholas stood, in order to conduct a memorial service for the victims of those who perished in the attacks and to offer prayers for the families in mourning."

The New York Times, profiled the long road to rebuilding the church:

"Construction has begun in earnest on the St. Nicholas National Shrine, a Greek Orthodox church and the nondenominational bereavement center, designed by Santiago Calatrava, which will overlook the memorial..."

To read more, please visit: Greek Current

Just days ahead of the snap elections that has called Greek voters to the polls for a second time this year on Sunday September 20th, 2015, the latest opinion polls suggest that the result is still neck and neck between the two major parties Syriza and New Democracy. The outgoing Syriza party holds a faint lead which leader Alexis Tsipras had hoped to convert into a stronger ruling majority.

According to the Interior Ministry, Sunday’s snap elections will cost taxpayers 33.2 million euros, which is substantially less than the 51.1 million euros spent on the early elections in January, but more than the 26.7 million that the referendum cost in July. According to the ministry, of the 33.2 million euros to be paid for Sunday’s vote, some 27 million euros will be spent on wages.

A8inea, a free daily newsletter that supplies Athenians with their dose of news just in time for their lunch break, has prepared an interesting infographic of some facts and figures relative to recent elections in Greece. Take a look HERE!

Sources: eKathimerini, Euronews, A8inea