LIFE & CULTURE
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Embrace An Aware Lifestyle
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center
The SNFCC was created thanks to an exclusive grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, which delivered it to the Greek State upon completion. SNFCC Single Member S.A. is a public-benefit nonprofit organization responsible for the operation, maintenance and management of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center and the Stavros Niarchos Park while developing and organizing its own series of cultural, educational, environmental and sports activities. It is supervised by the Greek Ministry of Finance.
Redefinig Public Space
The SNFCC and the Stavros Niarchos Park design and construction have significantly contributed to the revitalization of Athens’ Kallithea neighborhood and the Faliro Delta waterfront area after years of neglect.
The high-quality events and activities organized, realized and hosted at the SNFCC, as well as the staff and collaborators’ professionalism, have made the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center a reference point in the greater Athens area, redefining the concept of public space.
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center is a public space open to all, without any barriers.
Architectural Landmark
Designed by the architectural firm Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the SNFCC is a donation of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). In February 2017, upon the completion of its construction, the SNF delivered the SNFCC to the Greek State and society. SNFCC has earned significant architectural distinctions, including the 2018 Award for International Excellence of the Royal Institute of British Architects – RIBA.
Sustainability Hub
Sustainability has been an integral component and a priority of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center since its original inception. This sustainability mandate is reflected upon every aspect of the SNFCC, emerging as a new paradigm in terms of construction, operation, and maintenance of public places and infrastructures.
Committed to being open to all, the SNFCC has been designed to be fully accessible to persons with disabilities. In addition, many educational programs are been organized to encourage collaboration among children with and without disabilities.
People aged over 65 with minor mobility impairments comprise another group for which the SNFCC has designed programs.
Learn more about the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center at SNFCC.org
Field Of Life: A Community Hub In The Making
Field of Life was born out of the common vision of ISN with Panagiotis Giannakis to create a multipurpose space offering sports, educational, and recreational activities to all young people. The organization aspires to provide a safe refuge and a creative home base for every child and teenager, especially those who have limited access to such opportunities.
A brand-new area of 5,300 sq.m. will be built in the Nikaia neighborhood of Athens, where Panagiotis Giannakis was born and raised, to host Field of Life’s activities. The facility will comprise indoor and outdoor recreation areas and study spaces, sports facilities including a swimming pool, basketball and football courts, entertainment halls, a music production studio, and the organization’s offices.
The Field of Life aims to offer children aged 6-17 development opportunities, valuable experiences, and a series of character empowerment skills such as self-discipline and self-confidence.
After school, children will be able to visit Field of Life in Nikaia and take part in the programs. A hot meal will be waiting for the children upon arrival, and afterward, teachers will help them with their homework. Then it’s time to play; basketball, volleyball, running, climbing, swimming, and a lot more await.
The facility is scheduled to start welcoming children in the first half of 2024. Until then, a series of organized events are expected to be hosted throughout Nikaia.
For more information, please visit: gipedozois.org
Where To Enjoy Fresh Juices & Smoothies In Athens
Taking advantage of the seasonal fruits and vegetables, these spots deliver a variety of healthful and nutritious juices and smoothies to cater to every taste!
Pure Juice Bar
@purejuicebargr
With the goal of improving the food habits of the customers, Pure Juice Bar provides a menu of high nutritional value and an array of different flavors. Not only do they offer fresh fruit and veggie smoothies, but also mouthwatering açai and buddha bowls, energy balls, almond milk, and turmeric lattes, and a variety of super-healthy snacks!
Location: Sina 21, Kolonaki
Phone: 213 0363671
Happy Blender
@happyblender
Just a heartbeat away from the Ancient Agora, Happy Blender’s philosophy is to offer high-quality and healthy products, made in an environmentally friendly way. They serve delicious juices and powerhouse smoothies and bowls, promising to revitalize you. Another highlight is authentic strained greek yogurt with homemade toppings!
Location: Ifestou 39, Athina
Phone: 21 0363 8484
Fontana Living Well Store
@fontana_athens
Nestled on a tree-lined pedestrian street, Fontana Living Well Store offers a delightful selection of freshly pressed juices and creative, made-to-order ice teas and smoothies that will help you boost your detox routine!
Location: Aiolou 17, Athina
Phone: 21 0325 4112
Join Juice Bars
@joinjuicebars
With a positive philosophy that encourages self-care and well-being, JOIN juice bars in central Athens offers energizing juices and smoothies, upbeat music, and an inexhaustible supply of positive vibes. Rambo (almond milk, whey protein, pear, spinach, organic matcha, and rice) and Hulk (almond milk, banana, avocado, lime, goji berries, and organic matcha) are two of the most adventurous flavors on the menu!
Location: Romvis 24, Athina
Phone: 21 0323 6264
Xymopoieio
@mgdlnvlgr
Located in the Monastiraki flea market, less than a minute from the metro station, this is the ideal spot to take a break from exploring Athens, re-energize, and hydrate with a smoothie, to escape the heat for a while. Countless tasty combinations await you!
Location: Pandrossou 64, Athina
Phone: 21 0325 4186
National Archaeological Museum
The National Archaeological Museum is the largest museum in Greece and one of the most important in the world. Originally destined to receive all the 19th century excavations, mainly from Attica and other parts of the country, it gradually took the form of a central National Archaeological Museum and was enriched with finds from all parts of the Greek world. His rich collections, enumerating more than 11,000 exhibits, offer the visitor a panorama of ancient Greek culture from the beginning of prehistory to the late antiquity.
The museum is housed in the imposing neoclassical building, built at the end of the 19th century in designs by L. Lange and eventually formed by Ernst Ziller. Its exhibition grounds, dozens of halls on each floor, cover an area of 8,000 m² and houses the five major permanent collections:
• The Collection of Prehistoric Antiquities, including works of the great civilizations that developed in the Aegean from the 6th millennium to 1050 BC. (Neolithic, Cycladic and Mycenaean) and finds from the prehistoric settlement of Thira.
• The Sculpture Collection, which presents the evolution of ancient Greek sculpture from the 7th century. B.C. until the 5th c. AD, through unique works of art.
• The Vase and Minerals Collection, which includes representative works of ancient Greek ceramics from the 11th century. B.C. up to the Roman era, as well as the Stathatos Collection, a timeless collection of miniature artifacts.
• The Metallurgical Works Collection with many unique original works, statues, figurines and miniature works.
• Finally, the unique for Greece Collection of Egyptian and Eastern Antiquities with works of art, dating from the pre-emptive period (5000 BC) to the times of the Roman conquest.
The museum has a rich photographic archive and a library with many rare editions, which is continuously enriched for the needs of scientific staff. It also has modern workshops for the maintenance of metallic objects, ceramics, stone, casting workshops, organic materials, photographic workshop and chemical laboratory. There are also halls of periodical exhibitions, a lecture theater, as well as one of the largest collections of the Archaeological Resources Fund.
The National Archaeological Museum accepts thousands of visitors each year. Along with the exhibition of exhibits, he organizes periodical exhibitions and participates by lending his works to exhibitions both in Greece and abroad.
In addition, it serves as a research center for scientists from all over the world and participates in the development of special educational and other programs. Archaeological lectures are organized in the amphitheater, while innovation is also the possibility of guiding people with hearing problems by scientific staff.
The Benaki Museum
The Benaki Museum today feautures various collections of museum:
Pireos 138:
The new Benaki Museum building is located at 138 Pireos Street, one of the central development axes of Athens. The existing building, which is organised around a central courtyard, is already being refurbished, thanks to co-funding by the Ministry of Culture and the European Union. The new building covers a total area of 8,200 m2 with underground areas of 2,800 m2 and an internal courtyard of 850 m2. The exhibition halls span 3,000 m2. There is an amphitheatre capable of seating 300, as well as areas to house the Museum services.
Greece in Benaki Museum:
The Benaki Museum of Greek Culture is housed in one of the most beautiful neoclassical-style buildings in Athens, near the National Garden and the Hellenic Parliament. It was converted into a museum in order to shelter the collections of Antonis Benakis and was donated to the Greek nation by himself and his three sisters, Alexandra, Penelope and Argine. Following its most recent refurbishment (1989–2000), the building houses a unique exhibition on Greek culture arranged diachronically from prehistory to the 20th century.
Ghika Gallery:
The building at 3 Kriezotou Street belonged to the artist Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika who donated it to the Benaki Museum during his lifetime. The original structure, commissioned by Alexander Hadjikyriakos around 1932, comprised a ground floor and five upper floors. Designed by the architect Kostas Kitsikis, a professor at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), it was a typical example of an interwar apartment block.
Childhood, Toys and Games:
The Benaki Toy Museum opened to the public in 2017. Its holdings, based on the collection of Maria Argyriadi that is among the most important in Europe, include toys, books, ephemera, clothing and other items associated with childhood from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.
Museum of Islamic Art:
The Islamic art collections of the Benaki Museum are housed in a complex of neo-classical buildings located in the historical centre of Athens, in the Kerameikos district.
Find out more about the museum's collections on Benaki.org
How To Use Technology Mindfully
1. Record Screen Time
2. Turn Do Not Disturb mode on
3. Declutter your phone
4. Stop using your phone at least an hour before going to sleep
Museum Of Illusions
A perfect place for new experiences and fun, there’s something for everyone: friends and family, parents and couples, grandparents and grandchildren!
Enter the fascinating world of illusions which will trick your confidence in senses, but amaze you by doing it; the world that will confuse you completely, but also educate you.
How To Help Your Child Grow A Sense Of Security
How do you cultivate that? Children want and need to trust their parents. In order to feel this trust, they need to be certain of their parents’ personal power. Unlike what some may believe, however, being a strong parent has absolutely nothing to do with being dominating. On the contrary, strong is the parent who expresses their feelings and gives space to their child to do the same. I bet that’s a definition of the word “strong” you hadn’t thought of.
Whether pleasant or not, our emotions have names and it’s significant to recognize them. By doing so we accept ourselves just as we are. That’s how we start to trust ourselves and how we become trustworthy.
When we acknowledge our emotions, when we are able to name them, and learn to tolerate them without criticism or fear we strengthen our personality. We also understand that our emotions alone cannot destroy a relationship or a person and that makes us feel more secure.
More than often though we adults tend to hide our emotions and don’t talk about them. As a result, without realizing it, that’s exactly what we teach our children to do. And when our children misbehave we take it personally and punish them.
What I would recommend doing instead is to take a step back and think about what may be the reasons for that behavior. They may be fighting about a toy or screaming about ice cream but the question is what lies behind the surface. What may be the possible emotions they are suppressing – unknowingly sometimes – and why?
We, adults, need to learn to decode the language children use – something “grownups” forget easily – and allow them to feel what they feel. “I understand you” is a very useful phrase. For example, “I understand you’re angry but I love you the same.” This is how we can help them to avoid feeling guilty and to start calming down. Knowing it’s ok to express their righteous anger allows them to have a sense of their limits and at the same time helps to strengthen their identity.
Expressing their feelings, even by crying, is a therapeutic process. We must allow them to “talk” and give them the space to live emotionally. Because the contrary, suppressing their emotions, may alter their personality. And this doesn’t make us strong parents.
Originally published on: itsmylife.gr
Dine Athens 2022: Dining Out … Again
"Dine Athens" the top culinary event by Alpha Bank, will take place in Athens for the sixth consecutive year, beginning on March 28th and will run until April 17th 2022.
Locals and visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy top quality culinary creations at 100 selected restaurants, choosing from various cuisines at special prices.
Specially designed fixed menus of 15€, 30€, 60€ and above 80€ are available to all, while Alpha Bank Mastercard cardholders will enjoy an additional 10% discount on the aforementioned prices.
Since its launch in 2016 “Dine Athens” has been highly successful, while in 2020 alone more than 40,000 people attended the event.