Greece ranks 6th in the World’s Most Popular Places for Destination Weddings list, according to Google search data analysis recently published by money.co.uk, an online financial product comparison service.

By analyzing Google search data from the last 12 months for ‘wedding in + [destination]’ in nearly every country around the world, experts at money.co.uk discovered that Greece was the most googled wedding destination in Armenia, Brazil, England, Hungary, South Africa, and Wales.

The country ranked 3rd most popular destination to tie the knot in Europe and came in 5th place among South Americans wanting to get married.

The most popular country that the world is googling to get married in is India, as it takes the top spot for 38 countries around the globe including Australia, Canada, Mexico, and the US.

The second-most popular place for a wedding destination is Italy, with 28 countries choosing it as their top nuptial haven including France, Greece, and Sweden.

Wedding destinations sum up approximately $16 billion in annual spending of visitors according to Ampers and Travel while 2022 is set to be the biggest year for weddings since the 80s, the Wedding Academy International says.

To read this article in full, please visit: news.gtp.gr

The last remaining unpublished novel of Nikos Kazantzakis, the universally-celebrated author of “Zorba the Greek,” is out on October 26, 2022, sixty-five years post-mortem and seventy-five years since it was penned.

The novel, titled “Aniforos” (“Uphill”, in free translation), hit the bookstores in Greece by publishing house Dioptra, following a comprehensive publishing rights deal with Kazantzakis’s descendant, Niki Stavrou, who is the copyright owner of the author’s works and director of Kazantzakis Publications.

The manuscript had been kept at the Kazantzakis museum, in the author’s home village of Mirtia, just outside Heraklion, Crete, since its rediscovery.

Nine-time Nobel nominee

Nikos Kazantzakis is the most translated Greek contemporary author, and he is widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature.

A novelist, poet, playwright, journalist, philosopher, and politician, Kazantzakis was born and raised on Crete but traveled around the world and lived in several European cities, leading a truly cosmopolitan life.

His work includes novels, short stories, plays, travel logs, memoirs, and philosophical essays, written between 1906 and his death in 1957.

Kazantzakis was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times, for a total of 14 different nominations. In the year of his passing, the Cretan author famously lost the prestigious prize to Albert Camus by one vote.

Kazantzakis’s last unpublished novel

“Aniforos” was his last novel, written right after his world-famous masterpiece “Zorba the Greek” (1946). He wrote it around the time that he departed for the UK on what was meant to be his last journey.

Brimming with autobiographical references, as the author reflects on the sad experience of World War II, which he endured firsthand, “Aniforos” is separated into three parts: Crete, England, and Loneliness.

Dioptra said in an earlier note that this work was Kazantzakis’s answer to the criticism he had received that the pain and destruction suffered by Greece during the German occupation was missing from “Zorba the Greek.”

To read this article in full, please visit: greekreporter.com

True to its established autumn appointment, the Athens Tattoo Expo returns for the 6th year.

A celebration of the art and culture of tattooing takes place this year at the Old Railway Station of the OSY in Gazi and becomes a pan-Hellenic meeting point for all those who love the art, aesthetics and culture of tattooing.

140 of the best Greek tattoo artists will gather for three days and demonstrate the high level of their work and their art.

Of course, like with any other self-respecting festival, the 6th Athens Tattoo Expo will have a rich program of parallel actions and events:


- Live Tattooing
- Tattoo Contests
- Dj sets
- Live Bands
- Art Exhibition Experiences
- Game Rooms
- Graffiti Show
- Body Painting Show Acrobatics.

And the program is ideally completed by the 3rd Barber Expo with 15 (fifteen) of the most famous barber shops in Athens actively participating in the event!



As part of the 6th Athens Tattoo Expo, the 3rd Greek barber show is presented for fans of barbering and men's grooming.
Fifteen of the city's best-known Barber Shops make their appointment at the three-day exhibition, which will be surrounded by competitions, as well as seminars by internationally renowned barbers.

It should be noted that once again the Athens Tattoo Expo shows its social sensitivity in practice by supporting from the first day of its creation
the action of the Make A Wish Organization, through the Star Your Body action, in which the visitor by making a Tattoo from selected star designs, strengthens the organization with 100% of the price.

The Athens Art Festival is back!

After a year, the ultimate artistic festival opens its doors again on October 21, 22 and 23 at the Old OSY Train Station in Gazi.

Come and join us for a three-day art celebration where you will be able to wander between exhibitions of paintings - photography - visual arts and exhibitors' booths small and large.

Every day will be special with surprises, full of music and of course food and drink!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Betty’s Bakery

 

  

Kora Bakery

 

  

 

 

In April 2017, Katerina Vrana, one of Greece’s top stand-up comedians, was on tour in Malaysia. On the third city of the tour, she fell severely ill and was hospitalised. The situation ended up being far more serious than first suspected, and she was put into a coma in order to save her life. *spoiler alert* Katerina survived!

After two months in the hospital in Malaysia, she returned to Greece, where she was hospitalized for a further three months. Since September 2017, Katerina has been recovering slowly but steadily. She still faces issues with her mobility, balance, eyesight and speech

All of this is used as material in her stand-up comedy show “Staying Alive (I nearly died, you know)”.  With her unique sense of humor, the beloved stand-up comedian manages to transform her near-death experience into to a show full of optimism, laughter and love for life.  

The show was first performed in Greek, in Athens, in 2019 where it sold out all of its dates before even opening. 

Katerina spends most of her time between shows and rehabilitation as she still faces issues with her movement, eyesight and speech.

The installation “Beginning with Basics. What is Architecture?” takes children and young people back to the imaginary beginnings of architecture in order to re-envision its future.

The notion of the Primitive Hut - “Urhütte” in German – runs as a concept through the history of modern architectural theory. It was used in order to refocus the discipline in moments of crisis and to remind architects of their humble beginnings. The aesthetic and technological immediacy of the Primitive Hut, real or imagined, served for example as a means to criticize architectural practices from ecological, social, and economical perspectives. Both powerful and simple in its imagery, this concept is very well understood and received by children. By learning about the parable-like theory of the Primitive Hut and by experiencing the construction of simple spaces with different techniques, children are equipped with first-hand knowledge of both the practical and the theoretical basics of architecture. At the same time, the work on the Hut promotes collaboration, critical testing, and environmental awareness of all kinds.

The Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) aims to smack two flies with one poster: attract retirees and prolong the tourist season.

As part of a 20-million-euro campaign to advertise Greece abroad, starting next week, posters with an older couple cheekily feeding each other watermelon and enjoying wine onboard a yacht, featuring the question “Wanna feel 20 again?” will appear in several European capitals.

It’s not just a reference to feeling young again; it’s referring to temperature. The idea of promoting Greece to retirees is part of the country’s plan for prolonging its tourist season, inspired by the current energy crisis. It’s based on the idea that hotels stay open and host northern Europeans who might be motivated by the much lower heating costs in the mild climate, as well as the lower cost of living in general. Below the question on the poster is the explanation: “With warm winter temperatures up to 20°C, Greece is the place to be.”

Speaking to the Guardian’s Observer, Greek tourism minister Vasilis Kikilias described part of the plan, saying that “there will be clusters connected by direct flights with hotels and restaurants that are prepared to stay open,” and explaining that “it might be less costly to turn off the heat back home and come here.”

Over the last month, the magazine also noted, the minister has visited Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and Stockholm, talking with pension fund managers, tour operators, and airlines, and spreading the word that Greece is “open” year-round. Among the Greek destinations to be promoted are Athens, Thessaloniki, Rhodes, Kos, and Crete – places with good medical care.

Worth noting is that while the new GNTO campaign aims to reap some momentum from the energy crisis, northern European retirees have long shown interest in Greece. In January, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported that more and more German retirees were looking to move abroad, and called Greece the “Florida of Europe.” Meanwhile, Swedish retirement homes have been taking elders on trips to Greece for over a decade. Previous attempts by the Greek government to bring retirees to Greece permanently have included generous tax incentives.

To read this article in full, please visit: greece-is.com