On May 18, 2018, Greece is celebrating International Museum Day with free admission to museums and a number of cultural events with the theme 'Hyperconnected Museums: New approaches, new publics.'

International Museum Day aims to raise awareness of museums and how they are a significant means of cultural exchange. This year’s theme focuses on the integral role of the internet in relation to museums around the world. On the occasion of International Museum Day 2018, the Greek branch of ICOM will honor the OTE Telecommunications Museum, which is operated by the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization OTE SA in Athens.

A special event will be held on May 18, at 19:00, at the OTE Teleocommunications Museum in Nea Kifissia. The event will include short speeches, guided tours and music performances. From May 17-20, the museum will also host guided tours, educational programs and workshops, and more.

For more information, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

A reader from the USA wrote to Jessica, who blogs for Athens Coast, and asked how she should plan an upcoming 7-day trip to Greece with her girlfriends. Jessica plans the week-long holiday making it the ultimate girl's trip, including seeing an island or two and staying in the great city of Athens!

 

Dear Jessica,

One of my best friends lives in the Netherlands and is meeting me in Greece in June, and we’re looking for some advice about what to do & where to spend our time!

This is is roughly what I had in mind:

• See Athens on Sunday afternoon (the Acropolis & Parthenon, maybe a hop on/off bus tour?)
• Ferry to an island on Monday (Paros?)
• Ferry to Santorini on Wednesday
• Fly from Santorini back to Athens on Saturday

Just having a Sunday afternoon/evening to do the whole historic Athens thing is a bit tight. It can be done and what better way to stay active and resist napping (don’t nap! fight the urge)?

For the center of Athens with the time you have, visit the Acropolis, Acropolis Museum, Panathenaic Stadium with walks through National Gardens, Plaka & Monastiraki. 

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For Paros I’d recommend staying in Parikia (hotels) which is where the port is OR Naousa (hotels).  With Parikia, you have the convenience of the port and it is the largest town on the island.  Naousa is more picturesque with a bit more of an upscale feel.  There are buses that run regularly from the port to Naousa.

Another popular island to combine with the Athens -> Santorini route is Naxos.  I like Naxos because you can stay (hotels) in the traditional village of Chora and walk to a nice beach, Agios Georgios.  I’ve been to Naxos twice and never rented a car.  We did take the bus twice from Chora to Plaka beach (which is a really nice beach!).

To read the full 7-day itinerary for a girl's trip, please visit: Athens Coast

Greece was recently awarded as the leading tourism destination in the Mediterranean and southeastern Europe for 2018 by SACEN International, the international center for the promotion and development of the tourism and catering sectors, during a special ceremony held in Belgrade, Serbia.

Known as the “Oscars of Tourism”, the award has been given to countries and enterprises active in the field of tourism in the Mediterranean and southeastern Europe for the last 17 years.

The winners are selected in seven categories: Tourism destination; business tourism; cultural tourism; tour operator; gastronomy tourism; best enterprise in the catering sector; tourism personality of the year in the Mediterranean and southeastern Europe.

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

Air Transat, Canada’s leading leisure airline, has recently increased their flights from Athens to Canada by 14 percent compared to 2017. Stating that the Athens market has a high demand for Canadians wanting to visit the Greek capital, the airline's Director of Sales announced that the airline would specifically add flights from Athens to Toronto and Montreal.

Air Transat's service from Greece to Canada will begin this summer season 2018. They will offer six direct flights every week to Montreal and Toronto. For passengers wanting to go to Vancouver or Calgary, Air Transat will offer connecting flights via Athens three times a week.

The flight schedule will run until October 2018.

Source: Greek Reporter

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

In the mood for pre-summer pampering?

Come along Saturday May 19 to the Nine Lives ‘Shop & Spa Saturday’ between 11am and 5pm at Arcadia to get primped and preened in style, with all proceeds going straight into veterinary care and feeding of stray cats!

Thanks to the talented team who are donating their time and skills for our cause, services including Essie manicures, Thai and Indian massages will be available from 11am till 5pm – just show up on the day and book a slot, and you can get a complete restyle, ease away your aches and pains, or get a glossy spring nail colour for the week ahead!

Pick out beautiful fashion pieces, stylish accessories, efficacious cosmetics and one-of-a-kind jewellery to brighten up your new-season wardrobe and summer style. While browsing, enjoy a delicious homebaked cupcake or cinnamon roll with a cup of tea or coffee, or a refreshing glass of Strofilia wine and a choice of scrumptious lunch dishes by Veganopoleio that are as healthy as they are tasty!

And because your four-pawed pals need some pampering too, Purina will be at our event giving out cat-treats and on hand to answer all your feline nutrition-related questions, while Psipsini.gr will be selling meowtastic handmade cat toys, beds and scratching posts.

For more information about Nine Lives Greece click HERE! 

Mr. IOANNIS  DOULIOTIS MBBS MRCOG specialises in Infertility, IVF, Laparoscopic and Hysteroscopic Surgery in Psychiko.

The Doctor is a regular member of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists of England (MRCOG). He is also a member of the British Fertility Society (BFS).

He is a scientific associate of Serum IVF Clinic In Athens  and an Honorary Consultant of Concept Fertility Unit IVF in London.

He graduated from the Medical School of the University of Athens in 2002. After completing his rural service and fulfilling his military duties in Alexandroupoli, in 2006 he moved to the UK for his specialisation, where he worked for some of the busiest University Hospitals in the UK (NHS) such as  Kings College Hospital, Royal Free Hospital, St. Georges Hospital and St Heliers Hospital.

In 2014, after international examinations, he was admitted as a member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of England (MRCOG). This title is internationally recognized and is highly regarded.

He has dealt extensively with medical research on stem cells / umbilical cord blood and the effect of obesity on reproduction. In his professional career he has published a significant number of scientific articles in international medical journals and has presented his work at global conferences such as the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) and the British Fertility Society (BFS).

During the last years of his stay in London, he worked extensively and gained vast experience in assisted reproduction and preservation of fertility for cancer patients, as well as in  "social" cryopreservation of genetic material (embryo - oocytes - ovarian tissue). He specialises in treating cases with low ovarian reserve and repeated miscarriages and implantation failures. For selected cases in vitro fertilisation (IVF) in a natural cycle or mild stimulation is suggested.

During his stay in the United Kingdom, he gained extensive experience in specialised laparoscopic and hysteroscopic surgery, along side the well-known Laparoscopic surgeon James English.

The most frequently performed surgeries are: hysteroscopic removal of polyps / fibroids, adhesiolysis (Asherman's syndrome), laparoscopic removal of cysts, ovaries, fallopian tubes, endometriosis and laparoscopic total hysterectomy.

Mr. Douliotis is also experienced in cosmetic gynaecological surgery such as labioplasty and hymenorrhaphy for selected cases.

In 2016 he returned to Greece in order to live and work in his birthplace, having gained valuable international experience that enables him to deal with the majority of obstetric and gynecological cases successfully.

Katerina Vrana, a talented stand up comedian who was named "The Funniest Woman In The World" at the "Laugh Factory" competition aims to spread laughter and positive energy to the world through her performances. 

20 comedians and herself have decided to organise a special comedy night, where all proceeds will go towards her health restoration which has been seriously affected since April 2017, while performing in Malaysia.


All comedians participating have promised to give their best in this night of laughter, optimism and solidarity:

Stelios Anatolitis
Dionysis Atzarakis
Dimitris Dimopoulos
Dimitris Doukoglou
Thomas Zambras
Vyronas Theodoropoulos
Chrysa Katsarini
Michalis Mathioudakis
Mikeius
Blink Mike
Kostas Malatsis Salas
Konstantinos Bouras Baimakos
Aristotle Rigas
Zisis Rubos
Paris Rupos
Angelos  Spiliopoulos
Lampros Fisfis 
Bismissos
Ilias Fountoulis
George Hatzipavlou
Dimitris Christoforidis

*Performances will be held in Greek 

Interesting Facts About Plastic Pollution Worldwide

• 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic has been produced since plastic was introduced in the 1950s. The amount of plastic produced in a year is roughly the same as the entire weight of humanity.
  
  
• Nearly 2 million single-use plastic bags are distributed worldwide every minute.
  
  
• One million plastic bottles are bought every minute around the world — that number will top half a trillion by 2021. And less than half of those bottles end up getting recycled.
  
  
• 8 million metric tons of plastic winds up in our oceans each year. That’s enough trash to cover every foot of coastline around the world with five full trash bags of plastic…compounding every year.
  
  
• There is more microplastic in the ocean than there are stars in the Milky Way.
  
  
• If plastic production isn’t curbed, plastic pollution will outweigh fish pound for pound by 2050.

For more information and more ways to get involved, please visit: Plastic Free Greece

Facts Source: Earth Day

Out of 47 countries, Greece came in 2nd with a total of 519 Blue Flag beaches, which equates to about 12 percent of the total awards. The area in Greece with the most Blue Flags is Halkidiki. Spain came in 1st with 590 Blue Flag beaches.

This year, the international committee awarded 3,687 beaches, 679 marinas and 55 tourist boats across the planet. 

The Blue Flag is a voluntary eco-label awarded to beaches across the world and is run by the independent and non-profit organization Foundation for Environmental Education. The Blue Flags are awarded to beaches that follow requirements that include Environmental Education and Information, Water Quality, Environmental Management and Safety and Services.

Source: Tornos News and Greek Travel Pages