Your Guide in Greece

18/02/2024

A fantastic video about my friends Giorgos, Katerina and Paraskevas, who I always visit in my walks in , to admire their skill in making traditional yummy phyllo pastries like and !

26/12/2023

National and a gorgeous 13th and last of the year rising behind the majestic rocks of !
Stunning! 🌚

Απόψε ανέτειλε η τελευταία πανσέληνος του 2023.
Σε αυτή τη φωτογραφία από την γέφυρα της Διάβας στην Καλαμπάκα.
Φωτογράφος: Βασίλης Διονυσόπουλος

24/12/2023

🎄 carols from all over to enjoy and to rejoice!
to all!!

View the interactive image by Xristina Koutelida

16/12/2023

Every year this time, the fire brigade men descent from the skies, or rather from the roof of the Dept. of the ’s Public Hospital to bring smile to their faces! Precious!

21/07/2023

‼️📣A very vital announcement by the Greek Ministry of Culture about the only official website for purchasing tickets online!
Scroll down for English👇

📌 ΑΝΑΚΟΙΝΩΣΗ

➡ Τίθεται υπόψιν του κοινού ότι ο επίσημος και μοναδικός ιστότοπος για την αγορά εισιτηρίων εισόδου σε αρχαιολογικούς χώρους, μνημεία και μουσεία του Υπουργείου Πολιτισμού είναι η ηλεκτρονική διεύθυνση www.hhticket.gr που διαχειρίζεται ο Οργανισμός Διαχείρισης και Ανάπτυξης Πολιτιστικών Πόρων (Ο.Δ.Α.Π.), όπου και αναφέρονται οι ισχύουσες τιμές.

➡ Τυχόν τρίτοι φορείς που διαθέτουν στο κοινό εισιτήρια εισόδου και ισχυρίζονται ότι αποτελούν επίσημη ιστοσελίδα της ελληνικής πολιτείας δεν έχουν οιαδήποτε σχέση με το Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και τον Ο.Δ.Α.Π.

➡ Επισκέπτες που επιθυμούν να αγοράσουν υπηρεσία που υπόσχεται αποφυγή αναμονής κατά την είσοδο (skip the line), πρέπει να είναι ενήμεροι ότι είναι πιθανό να συναντήσουν αναμονή στα σημεία ακύρωσης των εισιτηρίων κατά τις ώρες αιχμής.

➡ Παρακαλούνται οι επισκέπτες των αρχαιολογικών χώρων, μνημείων και μουσείων να δείχνουν ιδιαίτερη προσοχή και να επιβεβαιώνουν κατά τη συναλλαγή τους με ιστοσελίδες ιδιωτών την πραγματική αξία του εισιτηρίου σε σχέση με τυχόν πρόσθετες παροχές που προσφέρει κάθε ιστοσελίδα και την αναγραφή των αναγκαίων στοιχείων συναλλαγής του πωλητή (επωνυμία, έδρα, αριθμός φορολογικού μητρώου) που θα πρέπει να περιλαμβάνονται στους όρους χρήσης.

📌 ANNOUNCEMENT

➡ We would like to inform the public that the official and sole website for the purchase of entrance tickets to archaeological sites, monuments and museums of the Ministry of Culture is the electronic address www.hhticket.gr operated by the Hellenic Organization of Cultural Resources Development (H.O.C.RE.D.), where official prices are indicated.

➡ Any third-party claiming to be the official site of the Greek State and also claiming to provide entrance tickets, has no relation whatsoever το the Ministry of Culture and H.O.C.RE.D.

➡ Visitors wishing to buy a service which promises that they can “skip the line” at the entrance must be informed that they might experience waiting lines at the ticket check points during rush hours.

➡ Visitors of archaeological sites, monuments and museums are kindly requested to pay particular attention and to confirm the real value of the ticket, during their transactions with private websites, with regard to possible extra provisions offered by each website and the reference of all necessary transaction details of the seller (name, registered office, tax registration number) which must be included in the terms of use.

🔗 https://digitalculture.gov.gr/2023/07/anakinosi/
🔗 https://hhticket.gr

24/06/2023

A celebration of love and flirting in rural !

05/10/2022

The great museums of the world, and their foundation have a solid colonial background. Which is still taken for granted! Worth watching this video!👇

John Oliver discusses some of the world’s most prestigious museums, why they contain so many stolen goods, the market that continues to illegally trade antiq...

27/09/2022

Same spot, same cat 🐈 (almost!), same motto, year after year: Happy ! 🌞🌊⛵️✈️🚎🌍

22/05/2022

The wine dark seas…

14/04/2022

in , where the famous Battle of between the Catholic and the Ottoman fleets raged in 1571! It was the last sea battle to be fought with and galleasses! Cervantes fought as well and seriously injured his left arm!

13/04/2022

Fire red poppy field in !

11/04/2022

🐝 time
Time to be!

11/04/2022

in ! The whole of an endless garden! 🌷🌾🌿🌱

01/04/2022

April 1, and bees are no fools! Life is springing with force 🌷🌾💐🐝🐛🌺🌻

25/03/2022

A story from the recent past for this special day:
🇬🇷 Virgin Mary-Phrasikleia. A true tale of the .

of 1817 was just a town. And the pharmacist named Ernestis Romano was a stranger among the Reayas (non-Muslin population) and its Muslim inhabitants. One day while digging for his field’s well, where Kotzia Square is today, he found a funerary stele next to an ancient tomb with the dead woman pretending to be beautiful and sitting. And above, the word "PHRASIKLEIA", because that's what they called the dead woman. He was sure he would sell it expensive to foreign travellers. But he did not pay attention to keep his mouth shut.

The notables and a passionate young man, Kyriakos Pittakis, found out. And they made a fuss, because they said that it is ancient Greek and sacred and it belongs to them. But Ernestis did not give it. Was he stupid?! And one day a crowd came out of his house. With the priests and the Muslim judge (Kadi), who had paid him off. They raised their voices, begged, and threatened. In the end, he took 1,000 pounds (kuruş) in his hand (and another 500 was given to the Kadi under the table), took his marble woman and left him alone.

The next week, the stele was erected upright in the Narthex of the Great Virgin Mary church beside the town’s clock tower. They also placed an iron oil lamp on it and worshiped the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Because She was sitting calmly and in front of her, they said that the Archangel was standing. And then, they saw in the inscription above the name of Lady. They named her Virgin Mary-Phrasikleia, their own Virgin Mary (Panagia).

And as they made it from the beginning and loved it, so one day they all forgot it. The Greek Revolution took place, then King Otto came, Kyriakos Pittakis grew up and became the first Archaeologist of the new country. He took the Lady, said that "she is not the Virgin Mary", except for one Phrasikleia and kept her in a warehouse. A few years later, the Church of the Horologion was burned by mistake and nothing was left.

She is now sitting in Gallery 18 of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, with the other marble women around. An inscription at the base shows that it is from the 4th century BC., and that she died young. Thousands of unsuspecting visitors pass in front of her, without anyone noticing the rust on the stone, which has been left from the candle of the Virgin Mary, without anyone saying "rejoice o Mary" to her anymore. Because Angel also left and has no one to wave to her.

Virgin Mary-Phrasikleia by mistake. A story from the years of the Annunciation and the birth of a Nation-State.
--
For the funerary stele of Phrasikleia (NAM Γ 831), the adventurous chronicle of its discovery and misunderstanding, you can learn more in the following references:
1. Despinis, G., “Ένα επιτύμβιο ανάγλυφο από τη Μακεδονία στην Αθήνα», Εγνατία 3 (1991-1992), 62-66, 70 img. 2.
2. Tsouli, C., “The attitude of the Greeks towards the antiquities during the last twenty years before the Greek War of Independence and throughout the Liberation Struggle: testimonies of travellers and archival sources”, In M. Lagogianni-Georgakarakos and T. Koutsogiannis (eds), These are what we fought for… Antiquities and the Greek War of Independence, Athens 2020, 72-85.
3. Kaltsas, N., Sculpture In the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Athens 2001, 160, no. 316.

25/03/2022

Happy Greek - and Annunciation of the Virgin Mary Day! - with a school parade on the island of !

24/03/2022

Yes! That's how we rock in with Virginia Episcopal School! Such a joy to be with these kids and their teachers, dancing all the way from to , , , cooking and dance lessons, and to !
Having the time of their lives, full of life and joy, bless their hearts!

22/02/2022

And here I am, in a crowd of excellent tourist guides in Aranjuez, Spain, coming together again, striving for excellence in our profession and celebrating!

22/02/2022

Celebrating our guild, our mission and our day: Happy International Tourist Guide Day!

17/02/2022

In every , in every public monument, in every city, in every country, is haunting me! ☺️

Greek myths have captivated the imaginations of artists since ancient sculptors created gods and goddesses out of marble.

27/01/2022

“The Jews of Greece: 2,300 Years of History and Tradition”. Renewed and updated interactive app featuring archival material and presenting the history of Greek Jews since late antiquity. Enjoy it.

24/01/2022

in and all over , islands included!
Storm ‘Elpis’ or ‘Hope’ proved once more that we are as hopeless in conditions as a polar bear in a heatwave!

05/01/2022

Among them, the as well… Is the the ‘Museum of the World’, or of colonial practices?
The Unfiltered Tours undoubtedly talk not just about the goal but also about the means. And that’s a way too important part of the objects’ history!

Users can view pictures of objects set against backdrops illustrating, for instance, the sacred rites that they once presided over, but also violent occupations and sieges that unrooted them from their communities.

31/12/2021

Καλή χρονιά και Υγεία! Happy New Year and health to All from the global family of qualified tourist guides!

28/12/2021

As we are approaching the end of a ... challenging year, I want you to enjoy this brief life story of a sweet man and an exceptional potter who left France to live in a gorgeous village in Crete, . Margarites has been known for still keeping the millennia old craft of -making alive, and will be there soon with American students from Elon to witness it and enjoy another great master there at work!
Earlier this summer I was again there for an unforgettable week of restoring centuries old stone houses with a stone master! The many treasures of life, and !
https://vimeo.com/651211378

A documentary about the story, the art and the daily life of a French ceramist, who lives in a small village of Crete. Direction and Cinematography: Thodoris Markou B-Cam…

23/12/2021

Health, Love, Prosperity, Contentment, Solidarity, Peace in our World! 🌎
From with ♥️🎄♥️

21/12/2021

First in ! But you can still swim - and heal!

18/12/2021

See you all in next year?? 😉

📣 Calling all high school teachers! Interested in spending the summer at the American School and delving into Greek culture, history, and literature? Consider applying to one of our scholarships for teachers! For more information, visit https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/programs/summer-session-and-seminars/scholarships-for-educators

16/11/2021

If you were to judge the influence of the in world , ancient or modern, by their numbers or size, you are simply missing the BIG picture!

Mark Mazower’s “The Greek Revolution” examines a century-old event that continues to reverberate today.