It is a bit awkward for the week to start with people resting. Monday is the first day of the week and we all usually run to catch up on work, obligations, and tasks. I must admit that one of my bad habits is always to leave anything stressful for Tuesday if I can because I guess that there will be a stressful “Monday” madness gathered everywhere and in everyone. Back to the theme of rest, there was a very interesting photo…

One of my commitments for this year is to participate in many photo contests; as many as I can. So, in the search of photography competitions, I came across BBC Wildlife Magazine, Discover Wildlife. Every month it organizes reader photo contests with free entry – you only need to sign up.  This month’s contest is about signs of spring and it is open for submissions until 31st March 2015, 23.59 pm BST. The final date for voting is 30 April 2015. You can find the contest and submit…

Sunday morning in the Saint Achilles island in the small Prespa Lake and we take a walk on its sunny hills. A route that starts from the church of St. George on the first hill and ends to the big white cross on the last hill of the island. Visitors are coming in groups to see the basilica church of St. Achilles and the other Byzantine monuments and everywhere you can hear their echo. But, the island holds many surprises,…

I really love the way that people who live and work near nature, perceive and understand seasons and time. They use all their senses, not only their eyes or their clocks. And, their world seems to have a consistency and a coherence that binds them tight with the present. For many, staying near nature may be the answer for stress, lack of a life meaning, and depression. For me, continuing to photograph the seasonal flora and reading about flowers and weeds,…

A Sunday walk in the waterfront of Thessaloniki always has something to surprise you. This time was a band of youth, playing live music a few meters from the White Tower, and many teenagers taking part in a Play-act-motiON activity, engaging with YMCA and as part of the general action of Thessaloniki city as European Youth Capital for 2014. And, there were four generations amusing with the same sound, singing the same songs and feeling the same feelings. It was 1965…

“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”George Orwell I am walking in the center of Thessaloniki for many years as a student firstly and afterward as an inhabitant and I am always impressed by its monuments no matter how many times I pass by them. They always give a distinctive flair to my memories. Waiting beside the Arch of Galerius (Kamara) in Egnatia Street my good friends from university for the…

“Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies for instance”. John SteinbeckPeacock, the bird with a large fan of colorful feathers, usually opens its tail to attract peahen’s attention. His bright colored feathers with the characteristic eye had always impressed people. Peacocks and their feathers had become a symbol in art and religion from ancient times and it had combined both positive and negative connotations. In ancient Greece, the peacock was goddess Hera’s bird,…

“Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways“. Oscar Wilde The sea in Toroni has this blue – turquoise color and these crystal waters that can please anyone. It is not a coincidence that its 2.5 km long curved beach is awarded the Blue Flag many times and for 2013. The Blue Flag is a voluntary eco-label awarded to more than 3850 beaches and marinas in 48 countries all over the world. …

Fava is a small beach located in the second peninsula (Sithonia) in Chalkidiki.  You will find it three kilometers southeast from Vourvourou village, after Karydi beach. Some call it the “beach of teachers” because it’s inside the settlement of the teachers of AUTH University. Do not hesitate to ask the locals and passersby. The signs are almost nonexistent and the streets in the settlement are really complicated and easily confused. You will understand that you are close when on a small slope…

“When the spirits are low,  when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking”.  Arthur Conan Doyle Most historians agree that the first bicycle was built by Baron Karl Drais Von Sauerbrun of Germany in 1817. However, the first sketch of a machine that looked like the modern bicycle belongs to…

In the North-eastern region of Thessaloniki, a big fortress is situated called Heptapyrgion. The towers were built in the 4th century to enclose the medieval city, but its modern form is from the 14th century.The byzantine name Heptapyrgion and later the ottoman name Yedi-koule both mean “fortress with seven towers”. In reality, this monument has ten towers. It’s believed that took the name after the fortress of Constantinopole (modern Istanbul). For one century (1890-1989), it ran like a prison, housed in new…