Another sort of life/ Η ζωη αλλιως; Alonissos

Photo: https://www.alternative-tourism.gr/

At 17.00 hours today we saw the wonderful another sort of life/η ζωη αλλιως on Ert1. This is a series of television programmes where an island or area is shown. Ina Tarandou is the presenter and she is not afraid to take time to hear beautiful personal stories from the people she interviews. This time Alonissos is highlighted. In the one hour of the broadcast you might not see everything there is on the island but you get a good idea of how they live there and that is the charm of it. More time devoted to interesting people. The young and old(er) on the island have an enticing story to tell about how they live on Alonissos and why they want to live there.

What we see is the amazing underwater Peristera shipwreck, the impressing Alonissos Museum, founded in 2000 by Kostas and Angela Mavrikis, the very informative Mediterranean monk seal center, Kostas and his hand made drums and many more wonderful people. Another sort of life/η ζωη αλλιως is in Greek but the scenery and people speak for themselves. You might recognize somebody!

While watching this I think it is wonderful to see the professionalism that the inhabitants show when it comes to giving information about their heritage. The museums that are open to the public and the information centers with volunteers helping out.

Ertflix another sort of life/η ζωη αλλιως; Alonissos

Read Full Post »

Well done to Alonissos! Best of the World: eight sustainable destinations for 2021 and beyond. Alonissos in 6th place!

(photo Ikion diving Alonissos Greece)

In an recent article of the National Geographic magazine ( 17th of November 2020) Alonissos was named one of the eight sustainable destinations for 2021. What I see happening (in my opinion) on Alonissos the last years is that the municipality, the mayor, businesses, individuals have tried and persevered with targeted actions to use the resources they have on the island; the national marine park and all its treasures for a purpose that can help tourism but at the same time to make sure it is preserved and maintained. They deserve this nomination, we congratulate everybody and we cannot but admire their efforts and this result.

The link to the article is here:
National Geographic

Read Full Post »

Vergina, the land of apricots and an amazing museum.

Today, almost by accident, we visited the famous burial site in Vergina (one hour drive from Thessaloniki)  My husband said we should go and see the area but we did not research anything before we went. Maybe that was a good thing. I have never been so impressed by what I saw in a museum.

Vergina is best known as the site of ancient Aigai (Αἰγαί, Aigaí, Latinized: Aegae), the first capital of Macedon. In 336 BC King Philip II was assassinated in Aigai’s theatre and his son, Alexander the Great, was proclaimed king.

Where was the burial ground of Philip II though? For many years archaeologists looked in Greece. The Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos became convinced that a hill called the Great Tumulus (Μεγάλη Τούμπα) concealed the tombs of the Macedonian kings. In 1977, Andronikos undertook a six-week dig at the Great Tumulus and found four buried tombs, two of which had never been disturbed. Andronikos claimed that these were the burial sites of the kings of Macedon, including the tomb of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great (Tomb II) and also of Alexander IV of Macedon, son of Alexander the Great and Roxana (Tomb III). Enough information. You have to go and see it. It is one of the most amazing collection of artefacts I ever saw. The museum is housed in the tumulus/the dome. The thought behind the set up of the museum is very clever. What has been found there is of such stunning beauty. The collection is enormous. With Covid 19 present everywhere in the world this now quiet village, that depends on tourists, unfortunately has plenty of time to pick the famous apricots, which trees, surround this beautiful area. There are hardly any visitors which is a terrible shame. Entrance fee 12 euros (every cent worth it) Students free.

Sources:Unesco, World heritage site.

Read Full Post »

The dirty girls of Lesvos

Dirty girls of Lesvos

Today I received a special envelop that was promised to me after I made a donation to a wonderful group op people called the dirty girls of Lesvos that make a difference on the island of Lesvos. This island, apart from the island community, houses thousands of refugees and asylum seekers in camp Moria.

Social media are able to show us almost everything that happens around us. When the Corona epidemic came to Greece I thought of all of those thousands of people living, packed together, in difficult circumstances. Fortunately there are organisations that help out there.
This information below is from the website of the dirty girls.

Dirty Girls was initiated in 2015, so that good quality wet and dirty clothing discarded by thousands of people fleeing war and terror, arriving by sea on the island of Lesvos, would not be trashed.

Dirty Girls washes (to hospital standards), blankets, sleeping bags and other materials so that they can be reused, rather than the present practices of most International Non Government Organisations – the cavalier trashing of all materials and replacement with new ones.

Dirty Girls takes the materials from discarded life jackets and upcycles them into messenger bags.

The life jackets have been worn by people, fleeing war and inhumane conditions, making the treacherous sea crossing from Turkey to Lesvos in overcrowded flimsy boats. The jackets are filled with fake life preserving material, which means they won’t save people’s lives. Every jacket used represents a person who has survived a journey that too many haven’t. Each bag has a different, one off design; representing the fact that each refugee is a person with an individual life story. Donations from bags are used for washing blankets.

Dirty girls website
They are also on Facebook.

Read Full Post »

Don’t forget the clock!

Sunday morning at 3, the clock jumps forward from 3 to 4 am. This means we have to cope with one hour less of sleep. It is going to be darker in the morning again but it will be dark later. Good luck with coping again!

Read Full Post »

Earthquake 5.1 in Athens

A 5.1 on the scale of Richter earthquake hit the area of Magoula in Athens around 14.13 today. No severe injured civilians, some damaged houses and the telephone lines were down for a while because too many people tried calling relatives and friends.

Read Full Post »

Yannis Behrakis: The voice of the refugees R.I.P

Photo;Yannis Behrakis

This post has nothing the do with Skopelos but it has to do with Greece and the time we live in. Yannis Behrakis was a world renowned Greek photojournalist who won, with his team, a Pulitzer price in 2016 for the body of work about refugees arriving in Greece and their long journey towards peace, freedom and hopefully finding a home.

Yannis Behrakis said: ”The way the Greeks handled the crises (refugees from Syria and other countries) in the middle of a crises, it was remarkable. You know they gave money out of their pockets that had no money. The Pulitzer should go to the Greek people”

The world has lost one of the best photojournalists of our time who risked his life to give voice to the voiceless: “For me there is only one choice, to help these people, because apart from simple rules of humanity, you don’t know if one day you become a refugee or a migrant. Greece is full of people that everyday are becoming immigrants, how would you like if your brother goes to The States and they treat him badly?” ~ Yannis Behrakis Full story: https://bit.ly/2En5AGM
Source: https://greece.greekreporter.com

Read Full Post »

From the spring

In the village Spili on Crete you get your glass of water with your coffee or tea from the spring that runs through the village! Beautiful place!

Read Full Post »

Save the octopus!

The sun is shining this morning and our spirits immediately rise because this winter was a harsh one for Skopelos. Spring is in the air and hopefully temperatures will start rising above the double digits! This video was send to us by Francois. We like it. There is hope for octopuses. Thank you Francois!

Read Full Post »

“That will go in the f*****g sea”

Pity poor Ithaki, which has been politely hosting rogue capitalist soon-not-to-be-Sir Philip Green and his third superyacht, the 90-metre Lionheart. An unusually combative Sky News journalist tracked him down to what we believe is the chi-chi port of Kioni, where the soon-not-to-be-Sir Philip took umbrage at being asked why he was flitting around the Ionian on hols when he was meant to be sorting out the £571million hole in the pension scheme at the failed BHS empire – an empire that the soon-not-to-be-Sir Philip relieved of £400million before he sold it off for £1 to another dodgy wideboy. The funniest part of the video, after Phil threatens to push the cameraman into the sea, is the crewman handing him a bottle of water and scarpering out of the way of the camera.

Eleven thousand sacked BHS workers probably won’t be able to afford a holiday on Ithaki this summer. Some might, however, want to apply for any vacancies in the 40-strong crew the Lionheart employs, including the full-time dog walker.

Read Full Post »