Σάββατο 25 Δεκεμβρίου 2021

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Παρασκευή 17 Δεκεμβρίου 2021

Greece demands COVID-19 tests from all visitors


 ATHENS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Travellers to Greece will need a negative COVID-19 PCR test to enter the country as part of efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

The measure will be in effect from Dec. 19 and the tests will need to be no more than 48 hours old.

The Omicron coronavirus variant has been detected in 77 countries since it was first identified three weeks ago, fuelling concerns that its large number of mutations will help it spread faster and evade protection provided by COVID-19 vaccines or prior infection.

In Britain, at least one person has died after contracting Omicron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday, the first publicly confirmed death globally from the variant.

Τρίτη 14 Δεκεμβρίου 2021

Construction of the longest highway in Europe is underway in Crete

 The first phase of the environmental approval was signed 


 

The modern highway of Crete, which will connect the island from Kissamos to Sitia, and will be the longest highway to be built in Europe on its completion in the upcoming years, is on track after the Ministry of Environment and Energy approved the environmental conditions for the first section of the Northern Road Axis of Crete (VOAK) from Hersonissos to Neapolis, 22.5 km long.

It is one of the largest infrastructure investments that will be implemented in the country in the coming years.

The Decision for the Approval of Environmental Terms (AEPO) was signed by the competent General Directorate of Environmental Policy and is the first step for the implementation of the emblematic project.

This is the first AEPO issued for the “largest new highway to be built in Europe”, as described by the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, while already the Ministry of Environment and Energy, with a view to environmental protection and its smooth implementation project, is preparing the environmental licensing of the next section of BOAK, from Chania to Heraklion.

(source:proto thema)

Greece set to pay its final debt to the IMF

 The IMF welcomed the development 


Greece is set to pay off its final debt to the IMF in January 2022, after the approval of the Eurogroup.

In March 2022, the Greek state will make an early repayment of part of the bilateral loans of the first memorandum, with countries of the European Union.

The development was welcomed on Monday by the IMF Director-General Kristalina Georgieva, noting it was “a great achievement”.

“Regarding Greece, I am excited that the country is doing so well. It is a great achievement for the country. 

The repayment of the Fund brings a symbolic closing of a difficult period for the Greek people and for the economy of Greece. 

Our role will continue to include monitoring and providing policy advice, we will continue to provide services to Greece if the country considers them useful,” said the head of the IMF.

(source:proto thema)

What were the names of the months in Ancient Greece?

Each region had its own calendar  

Many ancient civilisations had their own calendrical systems. Of these, the Greek calendar is most likely the most confusing. The Greek Calendar is much like ancient Greece itself. It shared a certain basic similarity from region to region, but each city-state kept its own version. 

All the Greek calendars were lunisolar (based on the sun and moon) and shared the same basic features of the other lunisolar calendars: twelve months, with a periodic intercalation of a thirteenth.


The Athenian calendar is the best known and most intensively studied. The Athenian months were named Hekatombion, Metageitnion, Boedromion, Pyanepsion, Maimakterion, Poseidon, Gamelion, Anthesterion, Elaphebolion, Munychion, Thargelion, and Skirophorion. 

The intercalary month usually came after Poseidon and was called the second Poseidon. Hekatombion, and hence the beginning of the year, fell in the summer. Other Greek regions started their year at different times (e.g., Sparta, Macedonia in fall, Delos in winter).

For the historian inclined towards tidy orderliness, the regrettable fact is that the Athenians were simply unwilling to stick to a completely regular calendar, which makes reconstruction difficult. 

Their irregularity was not from a lack of astronomical knowledge. In 432 BCE, the Athenian astronomer Meton instituted his 19-year cycle, fixing regular intercalations (whether Meton got this cycle from Babylonia or discovered it himself is not known). 

From that point, a small group of Greek astronomers used the Metonic cycle in their calculations, but this should be regarded as an astronomer’s ideal calendar. 

Abundant epigraphical evidence demonstrates that in the civil calendar, while the archons inserted approximately the correct number of intercalary months over the long term, the specific corrections were somewhat arbitrary, as the archons saw fit. This irregularity doesn’t really affect the long-term workings of the calendar, but it does make things very confusing when trying to establish a precise date for an event.

(source polysyllabic.com)

The magical Balos Beach in Crete (video)

Crystal clear water, the lagoon, rocky steep mountains, a beach bar and a pirate island are located at the same region


Balos Beach, the incredible lagoon with the turquoise exotic and tropical water of the Mediterranean sea is located in the Chania region in Crete Island. 

Balos is one of the most visited beaches in Crete and a popular destination for visitors who flock from around the world to experience truly exotic scenery in Europe.

Crystal clear water, the lagoon, rocky steep mountains, a beach bar providing umbrellas and shadow with beverages and a pirate island are located at the same region that is accessible by a 20 min trek or boat.

Greece tried to boost its tourism and gave privileges to vaccinated against the Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic to international tourists and locals, as the country is heavily dependent on the tourism industry.

(source:proto thema)

Two Greek bars in World’s 50 Best Bars (top 15 list)

 The Clumsies came in 4th 

 Famous Athenian bar The Clumsies made in the top 5 list of this year’s World’s 50 Best Bars taking 4th place. The list of the best bars in the world was announced and it seems Europe, as well as specific states of North America, managed to largely displace the dominant USA.

With London holding top honours, as the British capital not only holds top but also the second spot,  New York barely scraped into 10th place, with Katana Kitten, creating space for some of the top bars in Asia, Barcelona and New Mexico. In 4th place, on the other hand, the favourite, very famous, now, Athenian The Clumsies, proved once again that it is worth and with the above its excellent reputation among the bars that are responsible for creating some of the most interesting and special flavoured cocktails on the planet.

However, The Clumsies is not the only bar in Athens that has earned a spot on the list. At number 14 we have another well-known bar, Baba au Rum, which managed to leave the famous Zuma in Dubai far behind.

 

See in detail the top 15 Bars on the list:

(1) Connaught Bar (London)

(2) Tayēr + Elementary (London)

(3) Paradiso (Barcelona)

(4) The Clumsies (Athens)


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(5) Best Florería Atlántico (Buenos Aires) Best Bar in South America

(6) Licorería Limantour (Mexico City) The best bar in North America

(7) Coa (Hong Kong) The best bar in Asia

(8) El Copitas (St. Petersburg)

(9) Jigger & Pony (Singapore)

(10) Katana Kitten (New York)

(11) Two Schmucks (Barcelona)

(12) Hanky Panky (Mexico City)

(13) Insider Bar (Moscow)

(14) Baba au Rum (Athens)


 

 

 

 

 

 

  

(15) Manhattan (Singapore)

 

(source:proto thema)