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Vienna: Search for Meaning & the Mozart Effect
I recently visited Vienna for the fourth time in my life. During a previous visit, I went to the Opera and saw Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘Nabucco’. This time, I opted for a rather more low-key concert with music by Wofgang Amadeus Mozart. The concert took place in St Peter’s Church (Peterskirche), a beautiful baroque church situated in the heart of Vienna, not far from the famous St Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansdom). Built at the beginning of the 18th century, it provides the perfect backdrop for the music of the famous Austrian composer (concerts start at 8 am; tickets from 29 euros). I also visited the apartment where Mozart lived between 1784 and…
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Island-hopping around the Cyclades
The Cyclades. A group of 24 inhabited islands (and many more uninhabited). But which one to choose? Hedonistic Mykonos, romantic Santorini, or a lesser known one? Or, perhaps, island-hop? A Greek travel enthusiast myself, I definitely prefer island hopping, as this allows me to explore more than one islands each time… but, of course, I still have to make a choice! A couple of years ago, I followed a 13-day itinerary from Santorini to Amorgos, and then to Koufonisia and Mykonos. Certainly, a good place to start (that was my first ever holiday in the Cyclades)! I have been back to the Cyclades several times since, and here is another…
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Finland and the World Happiness Report
Happy International Day of Happiness! Today is the International Day of Happiness and the theme this year is ‘Happier Together’. The focus is on what we have in common, rather than what divides us. Indeed, research has shown that relationships are essential to our happiness and wellbeing. I do not refer only to romantic relationships; our social network includes friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, teammates and so on. Research has also shown higher mortality among individuals who are lonely. In The Nordic Guide to Living 10 Years Longer: 10 Easy Tips to Live a Healthier, Happier Life Dr Bertil Marklund, a doctor and researcher at the Gothenburg University, shares…
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A walk and a recital in hip Shoreditch
Sat in a café in Shoreditch, reading books and articles about happiness and the neuroplasticity of the brain, I came across some research studies about the iconic London black cabs and their drivers. In a landmark study, Maguire et al scanned these taxi drivers’ brains and found that a specific part of their brains (the posterior hippocampus, believed to play an important role in spatial memory and navigation) was significantly larger compared to controls. Based on the findings of their research, Maguire concluded that ‘there is a capacity for local plastic change in the structure of the healthy adult human brain in response to environmental demands’. This is of extraordinary…
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Folegandros: the secret alternative to Santorini
When I came across Jade Conroy’s article ‘the secret alternative to Santorini’ (published in the Telegraph on 22nd February), Folegandros immediately sprang to my mind. I was right. One of the least known Greek islands, Folegandros is only an hour away (on the ferry) from the world-famous Santorini. This rather small Cycladic island is located in the southern Aegean Sea, nested between Milos and Kimolos on the west, and Sikinos and Ios on the east (Santorini is further on the east). An off-the-beaten-track island, Folegandros has a small population of fewer than 1000 inhabitants. Every summer, however, it comes to life thanks to a wave of mostly Greek,…
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Sifnos: the island of Greek gastronomy
I was born and raised in Greece, a country with a rich history, and a healthy and delicious cuisine. As a child, I would often hear the word ‘tselementes’ being used to refer to any cookbook. So, I naturally assumed that it meant ‘cookbook’. Not quite so. I later learned that Nikolaos Tselementes was a Greek chef and cookery writer born on the island of Sifnos in the late 19th century. 130 years later, this small Cycladic island is considered the capital of Greek gastronomy. Sifnos is located in the western Cyclades, northeast of Milos and south of Serifos, which I also visited last summer. Despite the island’s close proximity…
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Serifos: the Greek island where time stands still
In June 2017, Kate Lough shared her ‘10 reasons why you should visit the Greek island of Serifos’. She wrote that she ‘found a Greece that seemed to have stood still since the 1960s and where island life remains unspoiled by mass tourism’. I visited Serifos a year later, in August 2018. Oblivious to Kate’s article at the time, I came to the same realization: Serifos reminded me of a Greece of a different era: it was the Greece that starred in the 1960s movies I used to watch as a child. Again and again, during my time on this small Greek island, the phrase ‘time stands still’ came to…
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Skyros: the island of wellness & wellbeing
My home country, Greece, has 6,000 islands of which 227 are inhabited. Having been to a dozen (including Mykonos, Santorini, Amorgos, and Koufonisia), I am often asked to provide tips and inside information. When people ask me which Greek island is my favorite, or which one to visit (a frequently asked but rather difficult question to answer), Skyros is always the first to come to mind. I have to admit that I am somewhat biased, as this is my late grandfather’s home island; not only I have precious memories of spending my early childhood summers there, I also have beloved relatives still living on the island. For this reason, I’ve…
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X-mas Book Flood: Jólabókaflóðið, Yule & Murder
I’ve always enjoyed reading crime novels. As a child, I read all Agatha Christie novels during my summer holidays. Recently, I’ve introduced reading to my daily life; commuting to and from work offers a perfect opportunity to read; I no longer have to wait for my holidays to do so. Yet, I’m actually looking forward to the Christmas holidays (sadly, I will only be off work on Christmas, Boxing and New Year’s Days), so I can read in the comfort of my own home (with Christmas music playing, as well as a few mince pies and mulled wine on the table). Perhaps, I’ll even have a few new books to…
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7 reasons to fall in love with Martinique
As I’d never been to the Caribbean before, I immediately said yes when my friend Marie suggested we go to Martinique. This was not meant to be a relaxing holiday; instead, we would spend a week practicing sports of our choice. I opted for a combination of mostly water sports and activities, such as kayaking, catamaran, sailing, hiking, horse riding and windsurfing, whereas Marie chose to practice the latter for our entire week there. Located in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea, Martinique is a single island directly north of Saint Lucia, and south of Dominica. Having a similar size to the Greek island…