Koutouki Cave, about 2 million years in the making by the karst phenomenon (chemical deposition of calcium carbonate through dripping water) on the eastern side of Mt. Hymettus at 510m asl, was accidentally discovered in 1926 when a goat disappeared through a crack and started bleating. The lucky goat survived what today wo...
Going to the theatre is always a pleasure. Going to the "world's first theatre" is a pilgrimage. The Theatre of Dionysus in Athens (Map), is the place where Greek Theatre was born both as an art and an architectural form. The classical Greek comedies and tragedies of the late 5th century were written and produced with this speci...
While you are waiting for your ship to go to the islands, do not miss the Archaeological Museum of Piraeus, a short 10-minute walk away. It is right next to the ancient theatre of the city, which also serves as the museum courtyard. Piraeus, featuring three safe, deepwater ports, was originally a rocky island (etymology anc. Pireefs ...
Unlike most other metropoles Athens has so far resisted skyscrapers, the idea being not to block one of the best views in the world, especially if you are fond of direct democracy, the Parthenon. (The military dictatorship (1967-74) that was not particularly fond, did allow two tallish buildings!). In this spirit, a court l...
Crete, Greece: Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries Educational Network, 5-Day Seminars on Biodiversity and Gastronomy. Dates: May 2-7, 2022 or September 12-17, 2022 An experiential learning program with expert presentations at historic sites, nature reserves, and visits with award-winning organic farmers, olive oil producers and vintners. Discover the com...
Crete, Greece: Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries Educational Network 5-Day Seminars on Biodiversity and Gastronomy. Dates: September 20-25 and October 11-16, 2021. An experiential learning program with expert presentations at historic sites, nature reserves, and visits with award-winning organic farmers, olive oil producers and vintners. Discover t...
Last October, Paths of Greece became 8 years old. When it all started, it seemed an impossible attempt. During the crisis years, the birth of a financially sustainable enterprise that would work on the development of hiking trails seemed irrational to many. Often, when I had to say what my work was, I used to be replied: “And what is your main job?”. Answering “this is my main job”, to hear again: “Well, and what do you live off? Who walks today? We have cars. Why don’t you get a serious job?” Yes, I live off that and I am happy every single day. This work fulfills me with experiences. It gives me the opportunity to meet people and places all over Greece. Together, through the trails, we develop opportunities for financial and social amelioration as well as environmental protection. Let aside that hiking is healthy. The first years passed, and what I was doing with external partners became in November 2016 the Social Co-operative Enterprise Paths of Greece, with Sotiris, Christina and Spiros acquiring specific roles within our project. Throughout these years we worked with many external partners too. With some of them, the partnership became exclusive. From our very...
An ambitious 14-month European Union-funded grant project under the rather long title “Technical Assistance action to support tourism planning and policy for the promotion of sustainable tourism development in Greece Reference No.: SRSS/S2016/013” was completed in September and last Friday 15/9 ECOCLUB.com was invited to attend the final “Dissemination Workshop” in downtown Athens. The project was supported by the EU Structural Reform Programme (SRSS), led by an Austrian consortium composed of the Federal Procurement Agency (BBG) and the Agency for Economic Cooperation and Development (AED) and involved the cooperation of the Greek Ministry of Economy, Development & Tourism (MEDT) while “twin” experts from Austria/EU and the Greek side were allocated on each topic. The leading domestic and foreign tourism experts also involved ECOCLUB.com Members Mr Robert Travers who was responsible for the Diving (sea) parks segment. The two key aims of this ambitious and multifaceted project, which started in July 2016, was to support, through knowledge transfer, the Greek Tourism authorities in their efforts to diversify and increase the quality of the tourism product so as to extend the tourism season beyond the summer months, and secondly, to promote sustainable tourism policies and to foster responsible business practices and policies. In...
Crete, Greece, July 10 - 16, 2017 Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries Educational Network in partnership with The Center for Responsible Travel is hosting a unique program in Crete: Discovering Crete's Cultural, Culinary and Natural Wonders. During this program we will explore the island to meet many residents working on action programs to protect and cel...
Greetings, On the air now from Washington DC, a 2-part public TV program with guest chef-instructor and ecotourism director, Nikki Rose from Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries Network. Discussion about Crete's culture, cuisine and Responsible Travel initiatives. Part 1: https://youtu.be/hoP6bTUqBBo Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff-r5-2pAF4
