The fluffiest and crunchiest Greek Easter cookies (koulourakia) you have ever tasted! These Easter cookies are quick to bake, fun to make, and very addictive to eat! With this old fashioned, mama-style Greek koulourakia recipe from you'll make a large batch of these delicious cookies, enough for everyone to try.

 

Have fun with the whole family kneading the koulourakia into bunnies, braids, boats, swirls, and  little "S" shapes. Serve over a hot cup of coffee and you have a match made in heaven.

 

 

 

Ingredients 

• 300 g butter 
• 300 g granulated sugar 
• 1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, medium 
• 120 g orange juice 
• orange zest, of 2 oranges 
• 50 g brandy 
• 1 kilo all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking soda 
• 50 g milk 
• 1 pinch salt 
• cloves, for the eyes
• 1 egg yolk, diluted in 2 tablespoons water

Cooking Method

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 190^ο C (375^ο F) set to fan. In the mixer’s bowl add the butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and beat with the paddle attachment at medium speed for 5 minutes, until the mixture is fluffy.

Step 2: Add the eggs one at a time, the orange zest and juice, the cognac, and keep beating.

Step 3: In a bowl add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda) and mix with a spoon.

Step 4: Add half of the dry ingredients into the mixer, the milk, the salt. Keep beating for 1-2 minutes.

Step 5: Remove the bowl from the mixer, add the remaining dry ingredients, and mix with a spoon until the ingredients are homogenized. Continue kneading with your hands until a dough is formed.

Step 6: For bunny shaped cookies, cut a 30 g piece, shape it into a strip, and swirl it like a snail for the body of the bunny. Cut a 15 g piece, shape it into a small strip, and roll it in the shape of a fish. In this way, you will create the head of the bunny. Add a clove to create the bunny’s eye. Use a round 3 g piece of dough for the tail. 

Step 7: Transfer the cookies onto baking pans lined with parchment paper, brush with egg wash, and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Step 8: Let them cool and serve.

 

 

Technopolis is a well known venue for cultural shows, exhibitions and concerts in the Gazi area of Athens. It is also home to the Industrial Gas Museum. This museum gives fascinating insight into a short lived technological period. It helped transform Athens from pre-independence ramshackle village, to  a modern city.

At the time in 1833, Athens certainly looked nothing like the city we see today. In fact, it was little more than a collection of ramshackle houses located in the Plaka area. At the time of independence from the Ottoman empire, the population was barely 5000. Hard to imagine when you see it today!

When King Otto took up residence in Athens, he (or his aides), embarked on a massive development plan for Athens. Grand neo-classical buildings were designed and built, parliaments organised, and industry encouraged. One of the modern developments, was the task of providing street lighting. From 1857 until around 1917, this was done solely with coal gas. It was gradually phased out as electric lights replaced gas street lighting. The coal gas was produced at the gasworks in Gazi, and employed thousands of people. The Industrial Gas Museum was created as a way to display the technologies of just 100 years ago, and demonstrate how things have changed.

To learn more about the museum, please visit: Daves Travel Pages

Industrial Gas Museum Athens
Website: http://www.technopolis-athens.com/web/guest/museum
Address: Peiraios 100, Athens, 11854

Athens has never been short of excellent nightlife options and this continues to be true throughout the city. Lucky for us, recent trends have brought incredibly designed interiors and even more specialized bartenders inspired by local Mediterranean flavors.

Here are a few bars that you may or may not know that are serving up some of the most interesting and delicious cocktails in Athens!


Drunk Sinatra


@drunksinatra_

Located near Syntagma Square, this fun and lively, yet cozy bar, with its alluring vintage style, is a great after-work meeting place if you want to enjoy a drink all while swinging to jazz and bossa nova rhythms. The drink menu features imaginative cocktails based on homemade ingredients. Don’t leave without trying the ‘Drunk Sinatra’, the bar’s signature cocktail!

Location: Thiseos 16, Athina
Telephone: 210 331 3733

Location: Katsoulieri 7, Halandri.
Telephone: 2106800390

MoMix Bar


@athenshotspots

The first Molecular Mixology Bar in Athens, MoMix is definitely one of the most creative bars in the city. The bar’s imaginative team plays around with foams, jellies, and powders to create some of the most original (and tasty!) cocktails in all possible forms!

Location: Voutadon 36, Athina
Telephone: 697 435 0179


The Clumsies


 @missmess.lazypippi

At The Clumsies, they tease Einstein and have come up with a list of drinks where "clumsy" restates the theory of relativity. Awarded first place in the Athinorama Bar Awards 2016 and ranked 6th in the list of the 50 best bars in the world, The Clumsies continues to grow at the speed of light serving specialty drinks like Clumsie Negroni, Above & Beyond Punch, and many more. 

Location: Praxitelous 30, Athina
Telephone: 210 323 2682

Tiki Bar


@tikibarathens

Located close to the Acropolis Museum, Tiki Bar is a charming bar that not only serves delicious cocktails sprinkled with exotic vibes but also mouthwatering food inspired by different cuisines. It’s the place to go if you want to relish refreshing cocktails prepared with seasonal fruits and imaginative Polynesian recipes!

Location: Falirou 15, Athina
Telephone: 21 0923 6908

A recent analysis of Kayak, the popular travel search engine, found that interest in flights to the Greek islands have increased by more than 300 percent from 2015. Crete was the most popular searched for destination with an increase of 345 percent. Corfu was popular as well with an increase of 238 percent in travel searches.

The islands were among Kayak’s Flight Index Top 50 for the most sought-after destinations. The interest was viewed as largely caused by the falling air fares, dropping by 62-67 percent in the past year.

With fares dropping compared to last year, the average price to the 50 most searched for destinations had dropped on average by 22 percent.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Reporter 

The expansion and modernization project of the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutzos Museum (EPMAS) in Athens is expected to be completed in early 2019, with a grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), totaling 13 million euros.

The new grant will lead to the completion of the gallery’s building B, which will be named “Stavros Niarchos Foundation Wing of the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutzos Museum” and will host permanent painting collections.

“We are happy to collaborate with the Ministry of Culture, EPMAS and the Region of Attica to complete the expansion of the National Gallery, a project which is expected to place it on a prominent position, on the map of international cultural organizations,” said the co-president of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Andreas Dracopoulos.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

Photo Credit: Greek Travel Pages

It looks like summer is getting closer! From travelers flying in to Athens reaching significant numbers already, to the Onassis Foundation offering scholarships and helping children with Autism learn all about them in this week's newsletter!

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

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

 

Hollywood movie star and heart-throb, Matthew McConaughey, recently appeared on Jimmy Fallon's 'The Tonight Show' to promote his new film called 'White Boy Rick.' While they did talk about the film, what caught our attention was his mention of his love for Greece!

McConaughey and his family, including his mother, father-in-law, wife, and kids, as well as Woody Harrelson's family, recently spent 3 weeks in a house in Antiparos this summer, relishing the Greek lifestyle. In the funny clip below, McConaughey tells Fallon about how his family loved Greece so much, that they decided to extend their holiday. However, when his mom was prepared to leave as planned, it didn't take too much convincing for her to stay!

In response to the need to quickly map the spread of the new coronavirus in Greece, post-graduate students from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens have created an application for the general public to quickly and easily report their symptoms.

If You Have Symptoms - Here's What To Do

Only complete this online survey if you have experienced any COVID-19 symptoms and allow your device to share your location. The process takes less than a minute and your responsible response can help map confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 in Greece. 

The tracking system was developed as part of the MSc program "Environmental, Disaster, and Crisis Management Strategies."