More than 100,000 visitors tour ‘The Greeks’ exhibition in Montreal

Since its opening last December 12

Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal’s Archaeology and History Complex, has welcomed some 100,000 visitors since the opening of the exhibition “The Greeks – Agamemnon to Alexander the Great” last December, an indication of the enthusiasm this fascinating and never-before-seen exhibition has generated.
There are less than four weeks left to see the exhibition in Montréal before it continues its North American odyssey, travelling to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, the Field Museum in Chicago and, finally, to the National Geographic Museum in Washington.
An enormously popular success
Making its world premiere at Pointe-à-Callière, the exhibition has met with great interest among visitors, as evidenced by the record-breaking winter attendance figures at the museum. The program of lectures held to coincide with the exhibition has sold out, both at the Museum and at the Université de Montréal. The various books on the exhibition have also enjoyed great sales. The Greeks also drew many visitors during the school break, another indicator of the popularity of this exhibition covering over 5,000 years of Hellenic history and culture, taking visitors on an exceptional and fascinating journey back to the origins of the cradle of Western civilization and its heritage.
 
A fascinating period and treasures of humanity
Greek Antiquity is a rich and captivating period, a time populated by mythical heroes and historical figures, under the watchful gaze of the gods on Mount Olympus. The exhibition is divided into six zones that introduce us to this great civilization and showcase rare and priceless artefacts. Visitors will meet many famous characters from Greek history, including Homer, Aristotle, Plato, King Philip II of Macedon, and King Leonidas of Sparta. The heritage of ancient Greece, which we can still see all around us today in various aspects of our daily lives-such as politics and philosophy, arts and literature, mathematics, architecture, medicine, and sports-is clearly illustrated in the exhibition. Among the many highlights of the exhibition are a number of artefacts that are true treasures of humanity never before displayed outside Greece.
A hands-on experience
The exhibition offers visitors a range of interactive elements and items they can actually touch. Visitors are notably invited to handle a Cycladic female figurine, a block of marble, a reproduction of a warrior’s helmet, and a sword. There are also over twenty videos shown in the various exhibition zones, most of them produced by the National Geographic Society, the Acropolis Museum, the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, and the Canadian Museum of History.
Last chance to see the exhibition
The exhibition, which brings together over 550 valuable artefacts from 21 Greek museums under the aegis of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, runs until April 26. Remember that the Museum is open every day except Monday, and is also open on Wednesday evenings until 9 pm (only for visits of The Greeks exhibition). The Museum will exceptionally be open on Easter Monday, April 6, from 10 am to 5 pm.
(source: protothema)

Homemade jam with nuts and dried figs

Jam with a unique taste to enjoy with yogurt, creams, ice-cream, cakes, bread or with whatever you fancy…

 
Ingredients
6 dried figs
375gr. walnuts
1.5lt water
½ vanilla
450g. granulated sugar
1.5lt water for soaking
Preparation method
Step 1
Leave walnuts in cold water to soak for a day. Also, place dried figs to water for 4 hours before using.
Step 2
Cut the vanilla in half and then scrape it with a sharp knife, then put the seeds in a small bowl.
Step 3
Produce syrup with water, vanilla (seeds) and sugar. Drain the nut flesh and pour into the syrup. Simmer on low heat for about 1½ to 2 hours until softened.
Step 4
Remove from the heat and strain. Remove the vanilla pod.
Step 5
Puree the nuts with figs and ¼ of syrup in a blender. If necessary add a little more syrup until to achieve the jam texture.

Source: Olive Magazine
Chef: Dimitris Chronopoulos

Greek vacation anyone? Tourism set to boom - CNBC

Diplomatic relations between Athens and the rest of Europe may be at a low ebb, but there is one part of Greece that is clamoring for overseas visitors. And a plunging euro could make it the perfect place for a vacation this year.
Christina Kalogera, director of the Greek National Tourism Organization's U.K. and Ireland office, told CNBC that Greece was hopeful that 2015 would be a good year for the tourism industry, particularly with the euro weakening against the dollar and sterling.
"We are very optimistic that 2015 will be another successful year for Greek tourism as the hotel, restaurant, and bar scene is booming and we are seeing young entrepreneurs getting more actively involved with the tourism sector," Kalogera told CNBC Friday.
"There are new innovative products provided by hotels and multiple new restaurants and bars openings especially in Athens and Thessaloniki, so with the euro also at an 11-year low this is definitely the ideal time to visit Greece."

 Around 18 million international tourists arrived in Greece in 2013, according to the UN World Tourism Organization's 2014 report on "Tourism Highlights."

In addition to that data, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) 2014 report found that travel and tourism contributed 28.3 billion euros ($31.2 billion) to the Greek economy in 2013 (16.3 percent of gross domestic product). That was forecast to rise by 3.0 percent in 2014 and by 3.7 percent per year to 41.8 billion euros (19.1 percent of GDP) in 2024. The service sector as a whole accounts for about 40 percent of the country's GDP, according to the CIA's "World Factbook."
Further demonstrating how important the travel and tourism industry is to Greece, the WTTC said the total contribution of travel and tourism in terms of total employment in Greece was 18.2 percent, or 657,000 jobs. That's a significant amount in a country with a high unemployment rate of around 25 percent.
Hotel managers like Dorina Stathopoulou are also optimistic that 2015 could be a bumper year for the travel trade, with occupancy levels for summer already looking good.
"We're very busy, this is a booming period for us," Stathopoulou, hotel manager of three hotels in Athens, told CNBC. "This started last September, from on then we knew it would be a good year. For example, we have 92 percent occupancy for May, 80 percent already for June."

Plakias: Photo of the day

Plakias is 35 kilometres south of Rethymno, on the southern coast of Crete on the Libyan Sea and is a popular tourist resort well-known for its award-winning Blue Flag sandy beach stretching for 1400 metres.

It combines everything as it offers visitors many facilities: surgery, pharmacy, all kinds of shops, car hire, post office, ATM, many tavernas, exciting nightlife, organized beaches (Souda, Damnoni, Ammoudi, Schinaria), diving centre, free-riding centre, and an extensive marina where even large yachts can berth.
Photos

Greece among top 5 “dream destinations” for US travelers

Greece is among the Top 5 Dream Destinations for US travellers, according to TripAdvisor’s TripBarometer Study.

The TripBarometer study is the analysis of more than 44,000 global responses from travelers and the hotel sector. According to this extensive report, Greece is included in the Top 5 “dream destinations” for U.S. Travelers, along with Italy, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.

In the meantime, Greece ranked 8th in the hotelier confidence index in terms of optimism about profitability, room rates and investment priorities.

The online survey was conducted between January 16 and February 2, 2015.

Tirokafteri cheese spread... from Greece.

A delicious, creamy cheese spread from Greece. It is usually served as part of a mezze platter but it can also be enjoyed by itself, with slices of warm bread.

Serves: 1 jar Preparation time: 10m Cooking time: 5m Ready in: 15m
 
A delicious, creamy cheese spread from Greece. It is usually served as part of a mezze platter but it can also be enjoyed by itself, with slices of warm bread.
Ingredients
1 Florina pepper or any sweet pepper
1 -2 chili peppers (depending on how spicy you want the spread to be)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
250 gr. anthotyro, a traditional fresh cheese
250 gr. crumbled feta cheese
A pinch of sweet paprika
Preparation method
Step 1
Remove the seeds from the Florina pepper and the chili peppers and finely chop them.
Step 2
Heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute until tender.
Step 3
Place the anthotyro cheese and crumbled feta cheese in a blender. Add the sautéed peppers with the oil from the pan and the paprika and process the ingredients until you get a smooth and homogeneous mixture.
Step 4
Keep the cheese spread refrigerated in a glass jar, pouring a little oil on the surface from time to time.
Source: Olive magazine
Chef: Ioanna Stamoulou
Photo: George Drakopoulos
Food Styling: Tina Webb

Top 20 most Googled destinations in Greece (see tables)

The powerful company released interesting data with regard to the way travelers worldwide research their trips.

 
During an event that was organized by Google to announce the expansion of its innovative “Grow Greek Tourism Online” program, the powerful company released interesting data with regard to the way travelers worldwide research their trips.
According to the data presented by Google, most travelers that search Greek destinations online come from UK, Germany and USA.

Moreover, the 20 most googled regions in Greece include the country’s two biggest cities, namely Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as popular islands such as Mykonos, Santorini, Paros and Crete.
See the full list below:
1. Athens
2. Thessaloniki
3. Thessaly
4. Peloponnese
5. Corfu
6. Lefkada
7. Zakynthos
8. Skiathos
9. Lesbos
10. Chios
11. Andros
12. Mykonos
13. Paros
14. Naxos
15. Patmos
16. Kos
17. Santorini
18 Rodos
19. Karpathos
20. Crete
 
Google’s “Grow Greek Tourism Online” program is a project that aims to provide enterprises in Greek tourism with tools that can help boost their businesses over the summer season and beyond. The initiative has been taken to deal with the 70% increased demand for online vacation searches noted from June to September.
The campaign kicked off on the isle of Crete in September with some 650 local tourism businesses trained to use online tools to enhance their tourism growth potential.
The success of the initiative has now led to more destinations. It is expanding to include the Peloponnese, the Cycladic islands, the Ionian islands, Macedonia, the Dodecanese and the Attica region.
(source:protothema)