Dimitris Chaidas, an industrial designer and lab assistant at the Technological Educational Institute of Thessaly in Karditsa, Greece, has designed the first wooden solar-powered charging bench.

Chaidas’ innovative creation, having a small but powerful photovoltaic system on its roof, can charge smartphones, tablets and other gadgets through its two USB ports.

The wooden solar-powered bench, which allows visitors to rest on it while they ecologically charge their “smart” devices using renewable solar energy, has been temporarily placed at Larissa’s Municipal Swimming Pool.

To read more, please visit: Greek Reporter

395 Greek beaches and 9 marinas won the international quality Blue Flag award this year, putting Greece in third place worldwide among 50 countries, according to the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (EEPF).

The announcement was made during an EEPF press conference in Katerini. EEPF is the national operator of the International Blue Flags program in Greece, in cooperation with the Pieria Hoteliers Association.

According to EEPF, the Blue Flag is the most recognizable and popular international symbol of quality in the world. Since 1987 the award has been given to beaches and marinas that meet the strict award criteria. The beaches not only need to have excellent quality bathing waters. They also need to meet 32 criteria, which refer to cleanliness, organization, information, swimmer and visitor safety, protection of the natural wealth of the beach and coastal area, as well as environmental awareness.

The founder and international coordinator of the program is the Denmark-based Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), with 63 member-countries from all continents. In Greece, FEE is represented by EEPF, the oldest environmental organization in the country, founded in 1951, which organizes active environmental interventions, actions and nature conservation projects.

To read more and see a list of Blue Flag beaches, please visit Greek Reporter.

More than 140 events are expected to take place at dozens of archaeological sites, monuments and museums across Greece on Saturday, August 29 – the night of the full moon. The special events and activities include music and theater performances, puppet theater productions, guided tours, exhibitions and film screenings as well as stargazing. A number of sites and museums will offer free admission on the day and in many cases visitors will be welcomed up until 1 a.m.

Although there are no events taking place at the Acropolis in Athens (the site will be open during its regular opening hours, until 8 p.m.), the archaeological site of Sounio will welcome visitors with free admission until midnight!

There will also be an event from 8pm at the Acropolis Museum - Tango At The Acropolis

To read this article in full, please visit: eKathimerini

Greece is the most popular luxury travel destintion in the world, according to an index for 2015 drawn up by global booking engine Switchfly.

According to the booking engine, the country ranks as the most popular with three cities in the top 15: Athens, coming in at the fourth most popular luxury travel destination, whilst Crete and Mykonos come in at numbers 12 and 13 respectively.
 

Switchfly notes that Greece's popularity is no doubt due to its dramatic isles and historical interest, but also to the economic crisis that, whilst creating hardship for local people, "also made travel to the country more affordable - extending the opportunity for luxury travel to those travelers who might otherwise go economy, and incentivizing luxury travelers who like to save a buck."

To read more, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

October is the ever-important olive harvest in Greece and many of the country’s entrepreneurs see a tremendous opportunity for growth and a rare opportunity to take a chunk out of Number 1 Spain and Number 2 Italy— the word’s top two olive oil producing nations.

Italy’s crop has been decimated by a fruit fly that eats olives and a rare tree disease. Nearly a million trees in the Puglia region alone have been infected with a disease dubbed by locals as “olive ebola” which slowly kills trees. And this is coming from a 1/3 decrease in production from the 2014-15 season, according to data from the Madrid-based International Olive Council (IOC).

Things are so bad that the Italian government has declared a “state of calamity” in the provinces of Lecce and Brindisi on the heel of the country.

The same organization points to a 50% decrease in production in Spain due to a drought that has effected much of the Iberian peninsula.

But resilient Greece has seen its olive oil output double since last season to just over 300,000 tons and the problems Italy and Spain are facing are making Greece’s wholesale prices competitive. According to a June report from the council, wholesale prices for extra-virgin categories from Italy and Spain have surged 114 percent and 84 percent this year, respectively, to €5.66 ($6.25) per kilo and €3.59 per kilo. In contrast, prices for Greek oil have climbed just 24 percent, to €3.09 per kilo.

The IOC reports Greek exports from the most recent harvest to the U.S., now the world’s top olive oil consumer, rose 28 percent from October 2014 through June of this year, while exports from Spain and Italy both dropped more than 50 percent.

Costco Wholesale is one company that recently got on the Greek olive oil bandwagon in a major way.

To read more, please visit: Pappas Post

Greece is enforcing its option of an opt-out law that is included in a U.S.-EU deal that allows the US mega grower access to European crops.

Under a law signed in March individual EU countries can seek exclusion from any approval request for genetically modified cultivation across the EU. Specifically, Monsanto sought approval to grow its MON810, a type of pest-resistant corn.

But Greece said no way.

The EU law allows member states to decide themselves, a stipulation that has angered the United States, which wants Europe to open its doors fully to American GM crops as part of a planned EU-U.S. free trade deal.

In a statement this week, the European Commission confirmed that so far only Latvia and Greece had asked for opt-outs from Monsanto’s request to grow their GM crops.

To read more, please visit: Pappas Post

Just in time for fall, get ready for a heatwave with temperatures up to 40C!

Sun and high tempartures are in the forecast for the next few days throughout Greece. Northern and eastern parts of the country will experience temperatures up to 36C, while eastern parts will reach up to 38C. The Aegean islands and Crete can expect temperatures up to 37C. In Athens it will reach up to 39C and in Thessaloniki up to 37C.

Here's what to expect for the next few days in Athens:

Thursday: 35C

Friday: 37C

Saturday: 38C

Sunday: 39C

Sources: Protothema & The Weather Channel

The second World Duchenne Awareness Day is set to take place on Monday, September 7, and is being marked at the offices of Greece’s Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA Hellas) in Victoria Square, downtown Athens. The event, organized by parent and patient associations, aims to spread awareness about this devastating form of muscular dystrophy.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is one of the most common fatal genetic disorders, which affects on average one in every 3,500 newborn boys worldwide. It is caused by errors in the dystrophin gene, the longest gene in the human body. Boys with DMD gradually lose mobility and are wheelchair-bound by the age of 12. In the next period it destroys breathing and heart muscles. The condition carries a life expectancy of 25-30 years and has no current cure.

To mark the day, 500 red balloons will be released after 7 p.m. to represent the 500 boys and men currently living with DMD in Greece.

To read more, please visit: ekathimerini

Greece is steadily growing into a leading destination for those ready to tie the knot, with all the more resorts and boutique hotels across the country and on its isles ready to offer everything from legal arrangements, booking the officiant/venue/priest/, finding the church, arranging the flowers, dinner and reception, organizing the cake, music, dancers, fireworks, photographer and videographer, accommodation, transport, excursions, and much more.

The latest feature in British daily The Telegraph is saying that “wedding fantasies do not come more idyllic than those you can plan in Greece”.

In a recent story titled “Weddings in Greece: Romantic Locations to say ‘I Do’”, Greece is a “nuptial paradise” where unique destinations offer everything from stunning locations and perfect ceremonies to delectable confectionery and, what else? Seclusion, whether on a hideaway island, on the beach, in a vineyard, aboard a boat or in a fairytale castle.

To read more, please visit: Greek Travel Pages