The road leading to the village of Papigo is a feast for the senses.

The feature of this road, crossed by the Voidomatis River, is picturesque, creating great natural scenery that attracts the visitor’s eye. The view of the Vikos gorge is also stunning. However, if you drive, it is important to pay attention on the road, because it is narrow and very zigzagging. Once in Papigo, great strolls around its stone-alleys can be held, as its two-stored mansions have been declared a national historical monument. Their construction materials are mainly stones. In fact, this is the main material on the village and is used almost for everything. These constructions are also unusual because they do not have a balcony.

Another interesting point is the natural fountains –also made of stone, located close to the village. They are ideal for refreshing in the hot days. Another interesting activity that can be held in Papigo, more specifically in Megalo Papigo, is to visit the personal library of Micheal Anagnostopoulos. It includes around 1250 volumes of books –most of them in foreign languages, published between 1750 and 1906.On the other hand, Mikro Papigo is 3 km further up after Megalo Papigo. It is amphitheatrically built on the steep slopes of the mountain and leads to the popular Dragon Lake, placed on the edge of a great limestone cliff overlooking the Aoos Valley.


To read more, please visit greeka.com

Government sources were adamant Friday that Greece would not accept the outstanding 7.2-billion-euro bailout tranche, which would require the SYRIZA-led coalition to complete a set of structural reforms.

Athens’s plan is based around being given permission to issue more treasury bills after reaching the 15-billion-euro limit it had agreed with the troika. It also wants to receive 1.9 billion euros from profits the European Central Bank made as part of its SMP program, which involved purchasing Greek bonds on the secondary market. This 1.9 billion is included in the 7.2-billion-euro installment.

The indications from Brussels Friday were that eurozone officials would not accept these proposals. It is thought that Varoufakis will present a commitment by the new Greek government not to take any unilateral action while the bridging deal is in place, to commit to fiscal targets and structural reforms proposed by Athens.

Varoufakis held a lengthy meeting Friday with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Deputy Prime Minister Yiannis Dragasakis.

To read more, please visit ekathimerini.com

Learn about the beaches in Greece that have been listed in the top three spots of the blue flag project, which destinations are ideal for family getaways, and tips to consider before buying Greek property!

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• 1 kilo plums
• 700 g Sugar
• Juice of half a lemon
• 200 ml Water

• Sterilize jars by heating them in a microwave for a couple of minutes, heating them for twenty minutes in the oven at 100 degrees C, or running them through the dishwasher.
• Remove the stones from the plums, cut into small pieces and place in a large pan, along with the sugar, lemon juice and water.
• Stir everything together, bring to the boil and lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.

Elena grew up in Toronto, Canada. She studied Art History & Classics at the University of Toronto and had a career in luxury sales and customer service until she took a leap of faith and moved to Greece to pursue a new life and her entrepreneurial dreams.

5 Things To Know About Elena

I grew up in a small family business - metal manufacturing factory - where I had to do just about everything from make morning coffee to answer sales calls to fill boxes and load trucks! Always having some involvement in the family business, in parallel I began working retail and this is where I learned the art of sales and customer service.

To be honest, I didn't really want to go to university, but my (wise) mother made me go and so I chose to study something that I loved. Something that I couldn't stop reading about, something I could spend hours on end learning more and more and more, something I was inspired by.

I knew that I had to be true to me and listen to exactly what I wanted; listen to my intuition and trust myself. I never really made a switch in careers as I loved what I was doing. I did however dream of creating my own company and moving to Greece. It took me about two years to make the country move possible and another few years to get adjusted to my new way of life in Greece and to finally make my entrepreneurial dream a reality.

There were many moments where I envisioned living in Greece and really thought about it as if it was already real, but there was a very distinct moment that I'll always remember when I made the decision. I was on a hill in Siena, Italy and I thought “This is what I want to see and live everyday of my life. I want to be surrounded by natural beauty and surrounded by everything that makes me feel alive every day.”

With a seed that was planted in my brain, that grew into a vision, that got translated into words on paper, that became a plan, that became a reality, that became work in progress, that became a business. It has taken a lot (really a lot) of strength, perseverance and determination and ultimately trusting myself to believe it is possible and that I can do it. It took me a good few years to make my vision a reality. Coming from an entrepreneurial family I have inherited that state of mind and my entrepreneurial endeavors have changed along the way as I evolved.

I currently run 2 businesses (and a busy household!) in the country I dreamed of living in, Greece.

I am working on growing and developing these businesses, which are both part of a bigger dream of mine.

Read Elena's full inspiring story on Guts & Tales.