Greece is beginning the 2018 new year with winter sales starting on January 8 and going through February 28. On January 14, the first Sunday of the sales period, shops will stay open from 11:00-18:00.

Store owners, particularly in Athens, have announced a mere 2.5% hike in their profits in the holiday season and are now anxious to capitalize on it with the almost two-month long winter sales.

If there is a discount on more than 60% of a store’s goods on sale, it is mandatory to show the percentage discount given, which must be displayed in the shop window and all other commercial communication, such as online stores and public advertisements.

For a few ideas on where to shop, read: Athens' Newest Cool Neighborhoods - Koukaki & Makriyianni and Top 5 Places To Go In Kifissia

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

Greece rang in the New Year with a record-breaking Vasilopita cake that was 2,500 kilos. The cake was offered to Athens' locals for free as the Greek bakers wanted to send their well wishes for 2018.

 

Greek City Times reports, "the 70-metre-long and 3-metre-wide Vasilopita was cut in 15,000 slices at a Platia (centre square) in Athens’ suburban municipality of Peristeri and is the largest ever made in Greece, according to organisers."

Over fourty people worked non-stop for three days to prepare the record-breaking, delicious cake, said Panagiotis Sachinidis, President of the Association of Athens’ Bakers who took the initiative.

The municipality of Peristeri hid 200 “lucky coins” inside the cake for good luck. Locals were also given small gifts by the Mayor of Peristeri Andreas Pachatouridis who helped slice the cake. “We are cutting the Vassilopita of the love and solidarity,” he said addressing the event.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek City Times

The secret is out that Greece in fact does have a winter and while it may not be as popular as summer, the country boasts some beautiful winter destinations. Put on your warmest winter clothes and join Greece Is who shares the top 10 places to visit this winter!

This is a time to experience a different sort of Greece – one of rivers, mountains and glorious natural landscapes as yet undiscovered by mass tourism. One that is emptier, wilder but also comforting in its own way, insulated from the rush and chaos of the modern world.

 

 

 

Forming the lower part of the huge Pindos range in northwestern Greece, the Tzoumerka mountain chain is a series of peaks that effectively form a giant ridge running roughly north to south along the boundary between the regions of Ioannina and Arta.

To take your hit of the natural beauty of Epirus cut with a dose of well-mannered culture, the small and tidy stone-built town of Metsovo near the Tzoumerka mountain range may be more your speed. An important military and trading post in centuries past, Metsovo flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries, developing trade links to key cities throughout Europe.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greece Is

The Athens Traders Association in collaboration with the Attica Region and the Municipality of Athens recently announced plans to revamp and use abandoned buildings to house small and medium-sized retailers and entrepreneurs. Their hope is to revive once thriving trade areas and to establish new business neighborhoods.

In view of increasing tourist flows to Athens, the action, initially a pilot program, will create new prospects for trade as well as upgrade the city center. Sights for the first project are set on central Stadiou St.

“Every store window display that’s lit up drives away delinquency and creates jobs,” said Stavros Kafounis, the association’s president. The Attica Region Governor and the municipal authority of Athens will try to devise a plan so small and medium-size retailers can rent out large spaces on privileged terms over a two-year period.

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

The last time Culinary Backstreets visited Pipería in Neo Psychiko was five years ago until just recently, they made their way back to this unchanged restaurant owned by Yannis Galaktopoulos.

 

“I’m not a chef, just a cook,” Yannis said, as he originally wanted to be an architect (and in fact still harbors a dream of becoming one). He only got involved in the food business after his father bought a beach resort in Glyfada, one of Athens’ southern suburbs, in 1993. It was in the resort’s restaurant that he learned his way around a kitchen.

He opened Piperiá in 2001 with a friend, the well-known chef Panagiotis Papanikolaou, who designed most of the menu. “When I bought Piperiá, which had been a café, we conceived it as a mezedopoleio [a meze restaurant], but we quickly changed the focus to seafood and fish,” he explained. “The name, which means pepper, the vegetable not the spice, already existed, and it sounds more like a meat place, but we decided to keep it, as it was becoming known.”

To read this article in full, please visit: Culinary Backstreets

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) in Athens, Greece, has been nominated for the RIBA International Prize 2018, a biennial architecture award given by the Royal Institute of British Architects.

The RIBA International Prize 2018 will be awarded to a building which exemplifies design excellence, architectural ambition and delivers meaningful social impact. The SNFCC, an international complex for sustainability, culture, education and entertainment, is the only Greek nominee among 62 buildings in 30 countries.

 

Designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop in collaboration with the Greek architectural office BETAPLAN, the SNFCC is one of Greece’s largest infrastructure projects that houses the Greek National Opera, a two-million-book National Library and the 170,000m2 Stavros Niarchos Park on the Faliro Bay shoreline.

Winners will be announced in December 2018.

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

Photo Credit: Greek Travel Pages

Unique in its antiquity, Athens boasts thousands of years worth of democracy, plays and philosophy, and classical buildings that surround the Acropolis. Amongst the Athenians have been foreigners and strangers visiting the capital city for centuries, creating the term philoxenia, meaning 'love of strangers.' It's a term that locals use to give warmth and welcome to foreigners and as BBC explains, the people of Greece, "can be very hospitable and friendly."

"Though more than 4.5 million people visit the city every year to delve into its past, Athens has plenty in its present to make it worth staying for the longer term."

Why do people love it?

"The always-on atmosphere of Athens attracts Greeks and expats alike. 'Athens is a buzzing city,' said Chrissy Manika, an Athens native and blogger at Travel Passionate. 'No matter when you go out you will see the cafes and bars filled with people having a good time.' She especially likes wandering the city centre neighbourhood of Plaka, on the north-east side of the Acropolis. 'With all the tourists around, it feels like you are on holiday on an island, especially in summer.'"

"Despite living in an ancient city, residents never get sick of the views. 'Driving into the city and seeing the Acropolis or the Temple of Zeus takes my breath away,' Mina Agnos from Travelive said. 'At every turn, there is a beautiful reminder of the ancient past of this city. It is a lovely reminder of our limited time and that we should make the best of it.'"

To read this article in full, please visit: BBC

Released by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and McKinsey & Company, their latest report addresses the issues surrounding tourism, including constrained infrastructure, diminished cultural experience, damage to natural resources, threat to cultural heritage, and alienation of local residents.

Titled “Coping with Success: Managing Overcrowding in Tourism Destinations”, the report found that the top 20 country destinations – among these France, the US, Spain, China and Italy – will add more arrivals by 2020 than the rest of the world combined.

Greece is also among these countries expected by 2020 to see the number of international tourist arrivals rise by 3 million.

Besides highlighting the problems posed by too much tourism, the survey also identifies actions including extending visitor numbers over time, spreading visitors across sites, adjusting pricing to balance supply and demand, regulating accommodation supply and limiting access and activities.

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

In a bustling city like Athens, it’s easy to find street food of all different kinds. But what are the places that offer the best food? Why Athens tells us where to find a great sandwich, the best souvlaki, delicious pies, and for our sweet tooth, loukoumades.

The pies at Pie Works go beyond the traditional spanakopita or spinach pie, with delectable meals wrapped in a light, crispy pastry. The breakfast pies will truly brighten up your morning. Eat in or take away.

Address: 16 Amerikis

Telephone: 211 1847595

 

For the best souvlaki in central Athens, look no further than Kostas. Upholding a 65-year-old tradition, the delicate flavours are a combination of fresh ingredients and quality meats on oil free pita bread. You’ll need to get in early. The daily line ups usually sees Kosta all sold out by 3pm.

Address: 5 Pentelis

Telephone: 210 3228502

There’s nothing more satisfying than loukoumades which are Greek style doughnuts. The modern day version is found in the middle of the very hip Agias Irinis Square. You can go traditional with honey, cinnamon and sesame seeds sprinkled on top or go all out with chocolate filled centres with a side of ice-cream.

Address: 21 Eolou St. Agias Ironis Sq.

Telephone: 210 3210880

 

Serving hot, delectable pies in Athens since 1910, Ariston is as much an institution as an Athenian bakery. On the edge of Syntagma square you will find morning line ups for the famous “kourou” pies, the crescent-shaped pastries filled with feta cheese. You’ll also find a myriad of other sweet and savoury varieties. Closed on Sundays.

 

 

 

To read this article in full, please visit: Why Athens

 

Image Credit: Pie Works

One of Athens’ inner-city neighborhoods, Eleonas, will get its own metropolitan park in 2019 offering repose and recreation for its residents, according to the Greek capital’s municipal authority.

The project includes landscaping, outdoor sports facilities, including skating, basketball and volleyball courts, walking paths, fountains, and event areas as well as cafes. All areas will be accessible to via ramps.

Future plans include linking pedestrian walkways from the Botanical Garden of the Agricultural University of Athens to its olive groves and with the archaeological site of the Plato Academy.

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

Photo credit: Greek Travel Pages