Sometimes the best-kept secrets are hidden in plain sight. Mount Ymittos forms the natural eastern boundary of Athens. Here, the dense city grid suddenly gives way to a tree-covered slope dotted with monasteries. This is the ‘Aesthetic Forest of Kesariani,’ a protected nature reserve that is a quick 15-20 minute drive or cab ride from central Athens. Just minutes from the urban hustle of Athens the walkable delights of Mount Ymittos offer a heady escape of nature, wildlife, historic monasteries and heavenly honey.

Upon arrival you’ll quickly notice that the lack of development is part of the charm of this route. Despite its proximity to the city, you feel off grid and in discovery mode. Keeping the city as a very visible landmark, it is difficult to get lost here—but easy to feel like it. This hike will have you exploring rich olives groves, a 12th century monastery, the ruins of an old Christian basilica, a Botanical Walk, and a whole lot more!

For complete details and route information visit: thisisathens.org

Photo by: Manos Chatzikonstantis

 

For 92-year-old Manolis and his fellow aqua-addicts of the Poseidon Winter Swimmers Club, the sea is life. Take the plunge, experience the endorphin rush, and get all the amazing health benefits of winter swimming in Athens.

 

Housed in an old German coastal fortification from 1942, the Poseidon Winter Swimmers Club has been open every day throughout the winter (except religious days) since 1982 and boasts a stable 160 members.** Their ages range from 20 to 92. But why do the members chose to put themselves through this pain? “The sea is life,” explains Manolis, when I return to the clubhouse. Manolis is the joint oldest regular at the club—alongside two other 92-year-olds. He comes at least twice a week throughout the winter—only staying out of the water when he’s ill or his wife tells him: ‘No’.

Manolis and the club’s president, Giorgos Argirakis, explain that winter swimming has all manner of benefits for physical and mental well-being. It’s great for a healthy heart, boosts circulation, keeps joints flexible and provides a much-needed winter dose of vitamin D. Manolis is a great advert for its supposed life-prolonging benefits, too. Looking at his lively face, bright eyes and lightly-olive skin, you wouldn’t guess he was much past 65.

 

Poseidon’s members are just a small cross-section section of the hundreds—perhaps thousands—who regularly take to the water throughout winter, all along the Athenian Riviera. While elsewhere in Europe, winter swimming means wetsuits or plunging into frozen lakes for just a few seconds at a time, the climate in Athens means temperatures permit (relatively) pleasurable swimming all year round.

To read this article in full and see what beaches are easily accessible along the riviera visit: thisisathens.org
Photo by: Georgios Makkas

 

One of Athens’ architectural emblems – the old Public Tobacco Factory  –  is to be reborn in 2021 with a new cultural identity and well-timed artistic purpose.

Completed in 1930, the Tobacco Factory, with its distinctive bright façade, was forged in the spirit of modernism to serve the country’s booming cigarette manufacturing industry. Once a symbol of Greece’s industrialisation and progress, the historic venue will now provide a “profoundly resonant” incubator for Greek contemporary art, according to Madeleine Grynsztejn, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, who will co-curate Portals with NEON director Elina Kountouri. The Tobacco Factory exhibition and €1 million conversion project is prompted by the bicentennial celebrations of Greece’s War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821 which led to the creation of the Modern Greek State. 

The pioneering Greek art foundation NEON, backed by the billionaire Greek art philanthropist Dimitris Daskalopoulos, will renovate one half of the listed monument on Lenorman Street in order to stage an international exhibition called “Portals” from June to December, before giving the landmark space back to the Greek state as a new culture hub. The other half of the sprawling site, which spans an entire block, is home to the Hellenic Parliament Library and Printing House. 

“This particular moment in history takes us through a ‘portal’. When we emerge on the other side, we will need to reaffirm - for the sake of future generations - our commitment to certain values: the rule of law, human rights and democracy.” ~ NEON Director Elina Kountouri

To learn more about this project visit: thisisathens.org
Photo courtesy of: NEON

 

The Acropolis Museum has created a website especially for its little friends. ​The “Acropolis Museum Kids” has been designed for children between six and twelve years old. It invites them to become acquainted with the fascinating world of the Museum while having fun. Inspiring games, amusing videos as well as a series of inventive activities prompt children to think, discover, play, experiment and make their own creations.


Fun Activities At The Acropolis Museum Kids Website

1. Digital Horse Memory Game

 

Find 2 matching photographs of the Museum's horses

2. Cooking Class – Ancient Edition!

Prepare an easy snack that was also eaten by the children in ancient Athens thousands of years ago!

3. Make A Iynx, An Ancient Greek Toy With A Special Sound

Spin it, stretch it, and then let it go! That’s how you play the so called iynx, a kid’s game that was particularly popular in ancient Athens with a really curious history.


For more information and fun activities, please visit: acropolismuseumkids.gr

Given the public's increasing familiarity with digital cultural experiences, the Acropolis Museum’s newly launched virtual edition is a delightful development. Digital visitors will be surprised by the virtual tour that will almost certainly instigate the desire to see the breathtaking collection in person once the museum reopens its doors.

 

“Research carried out by museums has shown that an interesting digital tour only strengthens the visitor’s desire to physically visit the museum and see the pieces depicted in the photographs up close,” says Stamatia Eleftheratou, the director of the Acropolis Museum’s collections and exhibitions.

 

The museum’s meticulously planned digital edition takes internet users around the museum and provides information on its temporary exhibits, special events, educational and family activities, research, conservation, and new technologies. The Acropolis Museum is the first Greek museum to display all of its permanent exhibits online, along with explanatory notes, available in English, German, Italian, French, and Spanish.

“Nothing can replace the experience of a proper museum visit, but the portal is a marvelous substitute, and not just because of the current situation,” says Eleftheratou. “Basically, it complements and/or strengthens a physical visit, while also giving remote audiences a very good idea of the space, its operation, its activities, and its collections.”

 

This remarkable endeavor involves the management of 27,755 digital archives, the digitization of 496 handwritten excavation logs, 110,000 photographs, 18,410 documentation forms for movable finds, and 7,500 conservation logs. The museum's  multifaceted digital archive is a fountain of knowledge waiting to be discovered by experts and amateurs alike.

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

In case you happen to be in Greece on January 5th and 6th, then here is what you can expect or experience:  In the morning of January 5th, Greek children sing–once again–from door to door. The song they sing is not that known as the Christmas’ or the New Years’ carols, but also beautiful.

Young men will dive or jump in the water and try to catch the holy cross. The person that will catch it, will have a lot of luck this year. Take a look at this video, to get a better idea.

The Epiphany tradition goes back to ancient Greece, and particularly to a feast which was called “Plintiria” (=washing machines). During this feast, the Athenians carried the statue of Athena to the coast of Faliro (close to Piraeus) to wash it in the sea, to make sure it would keep its magic powers.

Don't forget that on January 6th, a lot of people have their Name Day as well: Fotis, Foteini, Theofanis, Theofania, Fani, Ourania, Iordanis. You can wish them: Xronia Polla! Χρόνια Πολλά!

If you want to learn other Greek wishes you can use for Name Days, National Holidays or Social Occasions, you are welcome to download the “Greek Wishes For Social Occasions” FREE eBOOK, including Audio for the correct pronunciation.

In Greece, it is also common to receive a pomegranate as a gift (in Greek ; rodi - ρόδι), made of metal, glass or other materials, to bring good luck for the new year. This tradition goes back to Greek history, as well as to other ancient cultures.

This beautiful red fruit was a symbol of fertility and rebirth in ancient Greece. Many goddesses had it as their symbol: Hera, the goddess of marriage, Aphrodite (Venus) the goddess of beauty and Persephone, daughter of Demeter, who brought the spring while also being the Queen of the Underworld.

The Greek myth that connects Persephone with the pomegranate is wonderful. After her abduction by Hades, she had to return up to earth, close to her mother, Dimitra, to revive the withered and frozen earth. Hades gave her a few pomegranate seeds so she would not forget him! She gladly accepted them, and that way remembered to return close to her husband and her kingdom.

In Greece, it is an old tradition to hang an onion on the door with New Year, to bring luck and health.

From ancient times until now this onion-like, wild-growing plant has been a symbol of fertility and purification. Onions are viewed as highly fertile because the bulbs seem to want to sprout, even if they are being left alone. When it is out of the ground, kept in a shady corner of the house, it still grows leaves. Therefore, the onion is a symbol of fertility and is hung on a door in the household – to help the people grow and experience a rebirth of their own in the coming year.

We hope both the onion and pomegranate will bring you good luck for the new year.

The garden of the Zappeion building in Athens is filled with statues of great Greek benefactors, poets, and philosophers, and figures such as the "Young Fisherman" by Dimitrios Filippotis and "Eros" by Georgios Vroutos.

Until recently, the statues became shrouded in darkness at night, making their beauty disappear in the dark. However, about a year ago, Christina Vagena, the chairwoman of the Olympia and Bequests Committee that manages the historic site, decided to reach out to Eleftheria Deko – who recently designed the new lighting system of the Acropolis – to create the new lighting system for 17 of the Zappeion statues. This is worth noting that the internationally acclaimed lighting designer offered her services pro bono.

“It was an enormous honor for such a charismatic professional to offer her assistance free of charge and to breathe new life into the sculptures. When the pandemic blows over, all Athenians will have the pleasure of rediscovering them and enjoying them.”, stated Christina Vagena.


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

Photo: "Eros", by Georgios Vroutos. © Pavlos Zafiropoulos

Our kids are tired and bored with online schooling. So are we, of course, as our daily life has become more intense and irritating.

They need a break. So do we. Fortunately, Christmas is approaching. But what does Christmas mean? Love, is everyone's response, regardless of religion, financial status and educational level. If you ask a parent they will tell you that of course they love their child. They may sometimes hit them or give them the evil eye but they do love them. They only reason they may do it is for the child’s benefit, so they learn how to behave better. After all, their parents did the same and nothing happened. But when we spank our children even it’s just a bit or when we shout at them do we really love them at that moment? Do we respect them? Are we treating fairly? Do we get in their shoes?

In her eye-opening book "The Truth Will Set You Free," Alice Miller confirms once again that any form of violence is devoid of love. And since we are talking about Christmas and its message, let us see how Jesus Christ was raised by his parents. They loved him, respected him and protected him. It did not cross their minds to bring him to reason all the time, only to support him. They did not demand submission. As Miller writes "did he become selfish, arrogant, greedy, authoritarian or vain? Quite the opposite. He became a strong, conscious, compassionate and wise man…"

Perhaps now, especially under the special conditions of the COVID-19 quarantine, it’s a good opportunity to rethink how we raise our children. Let's not forget that we have "taken away " their social life. With online schooling they cannot have daily contact with their friends. They cannot play in the playgrounds. They cannot hug their grandparents. They do not enjoy their childhood. How about being more flexible and a little more patient? A little friendlier? And with Christmas just around the corner how about rethinking what love really means?

If there’s a topic you’re interested in and would like to learn more about you may contact me via email. For more information about me and my work check the XpatAthens Directory or visit my website. Because this is your life!

Jupiter and Saturn, the 2 largest planets in our solar system, are coming closer together than they have been since the Middle Ages, and it's happening right before Christmas, hence the nickname of the "Christmas Star."

On the night of December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will appear so close to one another that they will look like a bright splash in the night sky.

"Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare because of how close the planets will appear to one another," "You'd have to go all the way back to just before dawn on March 4, 1226, to see a closer alignment between these objects visible in the night sky." said astronomer Patrick Hartigan, a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University in Houston.

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