MAY 2015 E-mail: [email protected] DISCIPLINE IN THE ...greekorthodox.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/VEMA_MAY_2015_ENG.pdf · the city’s first movie theater in 1908. The Astor

MAY 2015 Tel. (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033 E-mail: [email protected]

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St Andrew’s Grammar Gymnasium Project

St Andrew’s Grammar School in Dianella(WA) has joined Perth’s elite schools in cr eat-ing a multi-mi llion dollar modern sportingcomplex. In Mar ch 2015, the City of Stirlingapproved a $2 million gymnasium facility.

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TRAVEL

MyconosJet-setting Athenians love this Cy cladic is-

land for its glam nightlife, but it also has muchto offer the less ostentatious visitor.

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St Andrew’s GreekOrthodox TheologicalCollege Graduation Events

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Mudgee Region:NSW’s answer to the Barossa

40TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS EMINENCE

ARCHBISHOPSTYLIANOS

AS HEAD OF THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA

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The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA2/20 MAY 2015

Medical School of Athens amongsttop-ranked schools in the world

The Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens was re-cently included amongst the top clinical medicine and pharmacy schools world-wide, in a list composed by the Institute of Shanghai.

This year the Medical School improved its ranking, coming 110th in the list,above many British and American institutions.

Similarly, the Athens University of Economics and Business was recently includedamongst the elite institutions in five scientific areas, in a list composed byQuacquarelli Symonds.

Chair of Classics gift inspiredby a love of ancient worlds

A new Chair of Classics has been estab-lished at the University of Melbournefollowing a significant donation given byMelbourne alumni Mrs Elizabeth andProfessor James Tatoulis AM (pictured).

The Elizabeth and James Tatoulis Chairin Classics will support research into an-cient worlds as well as teaching andcommunity engagement.

“The Ancient Greek and Roman worldinfluences our society in philosophy, pol-itics, law, literature, language, culture,architecture, engineering, science andmedicine,” said Mrs Tatoulis.

“In short, it forms the basis of westerncivilization.”

“A general, humanist education en-compasses much of what it is to be hu-man and wonderfully compliments a vo-cational education,” Professor Tatoulissaid.

The Faculty of Arts is honoured to re-ceive the gift, made through Believe - theCampaign for the University of Mel-bourne, and considers the Elizabeth andJames Tatoulis Chair in Classics a signifi-cant benefit to the national study ofClassics and the broader community.

Classics is a cornerstone of the schol-arship and history of the University saidAssociate Dean (Teaching and Learning)Associate Professor Parshia Lee-Stecum.

“Classics has been taught at the Uni-versity of Melbourne since the Universi-ty first opened for teaching in 1855,”said Assoc Prof Lee-Stecum.

“We’ve seen a growing interest inClassical scholarship in Australia in re-cent years. Almost all students have theopportunity to explore classical civilisa-

tions at high school, and community in-terest in the ancient Greek and Romanworlds remains high. This Chair offerswonderful benefits to our students andfurthers the study of Classics in Austra-lia.”

Prof Tatoulis is a cardiothoracic sur-geon and Mrs Tatoulis is a passionate ad-vocate of education. Both say their sup-port for the Classics program at the Uni-versity was motivated by their experi-ences of how education and an under-standing of the classics enriched theirlives.

“Education and knowledge have thepower to enrich and transform lives, al-lowing people to transcend social, politi-cal and cultural barriers,” said ProfTatoulis

Believe - the Campaign for the Univer-sity of Melbourne is the University’slargest-ever fundraising initiative, aimingto raise $500 million by the end of 2017to advance the University’s teaching andlearning, research and engagementaims.

The Athens University of Economics and Business was included in a list of elite institutions

Greek Orthodox Patriarch praisespermission to hold liturgy

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I,expressed the Greek Orthodox commu-nity’s gratitude to the Turkish govern-ment for allowing them to hold a serv-ice in an ancient church in westernTurkey.

The Istanbul-based Fener patriarch,called the permission to hold the litur-gy “a sign of religious freedoms inTurkey.” according to a Daily Sabah re-port.

The patriarch was in Izmir’s Selcukalong with priests and faithful fromGreece and Russia to preside over reli-gious services at the Meryem AnaChurch, a historic Byzantine temple inEphesus where the Virgin Mary is be-lieved to have spent her final yearswith Saint John before its conversion toa church.

Speaking to reporters, the patriarchsaid, “We are glad to live here andthank God for it. I would like to sincere-ly thank everyone from the Selcuk may-

or to the Culture and Tourism Ministerfor helping us to have an opportunityto hold the Divine Liturgy here. Wewouldn’t be here if the authorities didnot allow it. This is a sign of religiousfreedom.”

Bartholomew said the church is ofhistoric significance, as Ephesus was al-so the place where The Council of Eph-esus, a convention of Christian bishops,was held in 431 A.D. “The lands of Ana-tolia are sacred for many religions andit lies in an intersection of civilizations”the patriarch added.

The patriarch, who has served as theGreek Orthodox patriarch since 1991,frequently expresses support for thecurrent government’s policies towardreligious minorities. The Justice and De-velopment Party (AK Party) govern-ment, which has been in power since2002, has moved to restore religiousrights of minorities living in Turkey aspart of democratization reforms.

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 3/21MAY 2015

The Armenian genocide and Hagia SophiaBy N. Konstandaras - Kathimerini, Athens

Pope Francis’s declaration that the slaughter of Ar-menians by Ottoman forces 100 years ago was “thefirst genocide of the 20th century” will hasten theconversion of the Hagia Sophia museum (pictured) in-to a mosque, the top Muslim official in Ankara re-sponded.

The Turkish government has long wanted to turnthe symbol of Orthodox Christianity into a mosque,and last Friday - Good Friday for the Orthodox - vers-es from the K oran were recited at the opening of anexhibition at Hagia Sophia, 84 years after it was con-verted from a mosque into a museum by the founderof modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The state-ment by mufti Mefail Hizli, reported by the HurriyetDaily News, suggests that Turkey’s rage at its inabilityto stop a growing tide of recognition of the Armeniangenocide is encouraging autocratic tendencies andbigotry.

It is not only the country’s few remaining Christianswho will suffer but Turkish society as a whole.

It is difficult to comprehend how a papal statementon the Armenian issue should weigh on Hagia Sophia,seeing as the roads of Catholic and Orthodox Chris-tians separated nearly 1,000 years ago (in 1054). To-day’s Turkish government shows the arrogance of aconqueror who believes that all he sees is hostage tohis will.

The Ottoman conquerors did convert the HagiaSophia church into a mosque, but they also commis-sioned their best architects to build grand newmosques - the F atih, Suleyman and Sultan Ahmetmosques - honoring Hagia Sophia by trying to outdoit. In his conviction that Turkey had to be built on sec-ular foundations, Ataturk turned Hagia Sophia into a

museum, acknowledging the building’s ecumenicalsignificance.

Under the dominance of Recep Tayyip Erdogan,who was prime minister from 2003 until his electionas president last year, Turkey is at the crossroads be-tween East and West, between autocracy and democ-racy, between tolerance and bigotry.

In next June’s parliamentary elections, the AKP par-ty which Erdogan founded and still controls, could tri-umph with about 50 percent of the vote, according torecent polls.

After the election, Ergodan aims to strengthen the

office of the presidency and will do all that is neces-sary to achieve this. Converting Hagia Sophia into amosque will please the AKP’s religious voters and alsomake clear that the secular regime founded byAtaturk is dead.

Recently, Erdogan has shown increasingly autocrat-ic tendencies. Now, the government’s inability to pre-vent international recognition of the Armenian geno-cide is driving him to greater displays of anger, arro-gance, greed and envy. He will learn that he can nei-ther ignore history nor subject an ecumenical symbolto his will.

The Astor cinema is open for business again in the ar-cade on bustling K orai Square, off Stadiou Street, in apart of the Greek capital that has been associated withcinema for more than two centuries and was home tothe city’s first movie theater in 1908.

The Astor opened in 1947. It closed in 2005 and re-opened for a brief stint in 2010. Now it has been givena complete makeover in terms of furnishing and tech-nology and reopened just a few weeks ago under themanagement of distribution company Weird Wave.

According to the firm’s public relations manager,Thanasis Patsavos, the program will not be restricted toWeird Wave movies.

“Obviously we are interested in promoting our films,but not exclusively,” he told Kathimerini. “There will beplenty more films, though they will be consistent withour genre, which is auteur cinema. We also want to or-ganize other cinema-related activities and tributes andparticipate in festivals.”

With movie attendance at an all-time low as cash-strapped Greeks feel the impact of the crisis, the open-ing of yet another cinema (following the Alkyonida andStudio last year) may seem a bit risky right now.

“We believe that we can help smaller productionsthat have problems finding distribution outlets,” ex-plained Patsavos. “It is also important for these films tobe given time, to have a show run of several weeks sothat people get a chance to hear about them.”

Weird Wave is expecting the Astor’s reopening to bea success, particularly because the theater is located inan area with such a rich cinema tradition, and betweentwo historical movie houses that are no longer in oper-ation: the Asty, which closed due to financial troubles

and the Attikon, which was torched and destroyed dur-ing violent anti-austerity riots in Athens in 2012.

“In harmony with the lively atmosphere generated bythe cafes and stores in the arcade, we hope to maketaking in a movie a part of a relaxed night out,” said Pat-savos. “We like the idea that our patrons can read theirnewspaper over a coffee before or after the screeningin a chilled-out setting.”

Petrounias wins gold in European Artistic

Gymnastics ChampionshipLefteris Petrounias won his first gold medal in a

European Artistic Gymnastics Championship on Sat-urday April 18 finishing first in the rings at Montpelli-er in France.

Petrounias was impeccable in the execution of hisroutine to leave all his rivals behind and win com-fortably. He went on to dedicate his medal to theGreek people.

Then on Sunday April 19 the record five-time Eu-eropean champion Vlasis Maras earned his eighthEuropean Champ. medal finishing third in the hori-zontal bar, behind Croat Marijo Moznik and BritonSam Oldham.

These two medals took Greece's tally in the historyof the European Championships to 25.

Medal hopeful Vasso Millousi finished fifth in thebalance beam due to a poor ending to its routinethat had her lose her footing.

Astor cinema in downtown Athens is back in business

The stunning Church of Hagia Sophia, in which a Christian Liturgy has not been held since the Fall of the City onMay 29, 1453.

MAY 20154/22 TO BHMA The Greek Australian VEMA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated thathe would allow the re-opening of the TheologicalSchool of Halki (pictured) if Greece allows at least onemosque in Thessaloniki.

“Turkey is in favor of the immediate re-opening ofthe Theological School of Halki, provided that Greecewill allow the operation of at least one mosque in Thes-saloniki,” said Erdogan during a meeting on the subjectof the Armenian genocide.

Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported that theTurkish president wants to “bargain” with Greece forthe re-opening of the Halki Orthodox seminary inTurkey.

The theological school was the primary religious in-struction institution of the Greek Orthodox EcumenicalPatriarchate in Constantinople and was shut down byTurkish authorities in 1971.

According to the report, Erdogan wants the Greekgovernment to allow the opening of a mosque in thenorthern city Thessaloniki, which is the birthplace ofmodern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Thereport cites Mustafa Armagan, a Turkish magazine edi-tor who was present at the meeting Erdogan hosted forhistorians and academics.

Greece’s position is that the building of mosques in

the predominately Orthodox Christian country is not abilateral Greek-Turkish matter, whereas the Halki semi-nary’s re-opening deals with religious freedom inTurkey, the rights of the small Orthodox community inIstanbul and Turkey’s international obligations.

Most of the mosques found in Greece are located in

the northeast border province of Thrace, where a Mus-lim minority is hosted.

The Muslim community’s rights are expressly listed inthe 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, as are the Greek commu-nity’s rights in Turkey.

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Olive oil standardization could boost exportsThe Greek economy could enjoy additional revenues

of 250 million euros per year from olive oil exports ifthe commodity were utilized appropriately (i.e. notexported in bulk) and standardized in Greece with itsown distinctive identity, according to a report by theNational Bank of Greece.

Currently annual olive oil export revenues amountto 310 million euros, so there is the potential for tak-ings of more than half a billion euros, while the re-placement of bulk olive oil by a standardized productwould also bring revenues of 85 million euros to thestate from value-added tax alone.

However, just as is the case with other commodities,Greece appears to be missing out on olive oil demandas although global demand has risen more than 100percent in recent years, the market share of standard-ized Greek olive oil has dropped from 6 percent in the1990s to 4 percent in the last five years.

Furthermore, unless something changes, Greece willnot only have to compete with Italy and Spain, but al-so with new international market players such asTunisia, Portugal, Morocco and Turkey. In Greece nomore than 27 percent of local olive oil is standardized,against 50 percent in Spain and 80 percent in Italy.

Turkish President to bargain Halki Theological School for mosque in Thessaloniki!

Qantas has been named the favouriteairline by Aussie travellers

Travel review and booking site TripAd-visor has announced the winners of theirannual Travellers’ Choice awards for Tra-vel Favourites, recognising the favouritebrands of travellers around the world.

Nearly 12,000 Australians participatedin TripAdvisor’s online survey (188,198worldwide) that asked them to select thetop products and services that helpedtravellers have the perfect trip coveringcategories such as airlines, rental cars,luggage and outerwear.

“TripAdvisor has identified the Trav-ellers’ Choice Favourites as recommend-ed by our insightful global community,”said Barbara Messing, chief marketingofficer for TripAdvisor.

“These award-winning products andservices, voted on by our community,are the ‘must have items’ to considerbringing on your next trip.”

Some of the 44 category winners inAustralia included:

• Airline: Qantas• Bottled water: Mount Franklin• Coffee: Lavazza

• Camera: Canon• Hand sanitiser: Dettol• Headphones: Bose• Insect repellent: Aeroguard• Sunglasses: Ray-Ban• Sunscreen: Cancer CouncilQantas Group Executive Brand, Mar-

keting and Corporate Affairs, OliviaWirth said the award was a great recog-nition of the hard work and passion oftheir employees.

It is the second year in a row that Qan-tas has been named Australia’s favouritedomestic and international airline withtravellers citing “loyalty program”, “in-flight service” and “customer experi-ence” as the main reasons.

The Theological School of Halki

TO BHMA 5/23MAY 2015 The Greek Australian VEMA

Our Primate’s ViewWhen God Takes An Oath

By ARCHBISHOPSTYLIANOSOF AUSTRALIA

The language, which the Old Testament uses to de-scribe God’s various energies, is theologically called “ an-thropomorphic”, as is known, already from the beginningof creation, because it presents God acting as if He werehuman. Thus God is described to decide (“and God said...), to certify certain states (“ and God saw ...”), to per-form manual work (“and God made man, taking earthfrom the ground...”) to walk (“and they heard the voice ofthe Lord God, who was walking in Paradise in the cool ofthe day...”). Other descriptions present him as “ being anopponent”, “being angry”, “being long-suffering” or “re-penting of his decision”.

There is no doubt that these anthropomorphisms areabsolutely valid and justified, from the moment when weadmit that God can reveal Himself to man in order toshow him His will. Now, therefore, the very fact of Reve-lation is God’s basic and major anthropomorphism. F orotherwise God Himself neither speaks nor reveals! God isbeyond reason and silence, beyond movement and posi-tion, or rather - as St. Maximos the Confessor wonderful-ly said - God is the “ stationary self-movement”.

Within the multitude of anthropomorphisms, whichthe Scriptures use to denote in various ways God’sboundless love for man and for the world, there is an ab-solutely unique, unheard of and scandalous anthropo-morphism. This is the case in which God appears to “takean oath”. This anthropomorphism is scandalous, sinceusually it is the person, whose trustworthiness and au-thority is doubted, that takes an oath. And such is alwaysa man in need, not God who has need of nothing.

But let us hear such a description, especially as givenin a characteristic chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews:

“For when God made promise to Abraham, because hecould swear by no greater, he swore by himself, saying,surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will mul-tiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he ob-tained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater:and an oath for the confirmation is to them an end of allstrife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show un-to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, inwhich it was impossible for God to lie, we might have astrong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay holdupon the hope set before us”. (Hebrews 6, 13-18).

As we see in this passage, we are given in brief a veryinteresting analysis of the phenomenon of the oath, a“phenomenology” of the oath, we might say. Within theframework of this phenomenology, three essential ele-ments, characterising each case of oath, become clear:

1. The spiritual state, preceding the oath and defying it(uncertainty, doubt, disbelief, dispute).

2. The point of reference of the oath, which is alwaysof higher value than the person who takes the oath andconstitutes in a certain way the criterion of its credibility.

3. The expediency of the oath , which is to create a cli-mate of trustworthiness and certainty.

If we ignore these three essential elements which aretacitly implied in each case of oath, we will not be able tounderstand also the ultimate significance of the fact thatGod Himself resorted to the point of taking an oath forman. All three points together - but also each elementseparately - bear witness to the unprecedented humilityof God, and at least phenomenally to God’s decrease,which does not at all agree with the notion of God as thehighest being. But this decrease and humility is notcaused simply by man’s doubt and disbelief. It is duemore to the fact that God Himself accepts, without ob-jection, to be disputed by His creature. God accepts tosuffer the humiliation of the oath in order to help the Pa-triarch Abraham to believe steadfastly that God’s promis-es will be kept thoroughly, and thus have “the strong con-

solation” and be comforted in the difficulties of life untilsuch promises are fulfilled. A t any rate, the entire dra-matic effect of the oath is concisely expressed by thewriter of the Epistle to the Hebrews (St. Paul) in the fol-lowing awe-inspiring verse: “Since He had no one greaterby whom to swear, He swore by Himself ”. In this terriblyapocalyptic verse is best expressed God’s boundless glo-ry - which cannot have any reference to any other valueor authority outside of Himself - as well as God’s “ need”namely His humiliation (K enosis), which nonethelessmust accept the disputation and the oath.

However, in the face of the “ scandal” of God’s takingan oath the believer is ashamed and full of pain becausehe cannot understand such an inner conflict and antino-my. It is not only the disputation of God’s authority thatwounds him. A t the same time a tremendous ethico-theological question torments him: How is it possiblethat God expressly forbids man to swear both in the Oldand the New Testament, yet God Himself swears? Thisquestion will find some rather satisfactory answer, if wepresent and analyse the two more significant passages ofthe Bible that speak for the prohibition of oath.

The first passage is in the Old Testament and particu-larly in the Ten Commandments of Moses: “ You shall nottake the name of the Lord God in vain” (Exodus 20, 7).The second one is in the New Testament in Christ’s hom-ily on the Mount: Again you have heard that it was saidby your fathers “you shall not swear but shall performyour oaths to the Lord. But I say untoyou, do not swear atall; neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by theearth, for it is his footstool, neither by Jerusalem; nor it isthe city of the great King, neither shall you swear by yourhead, because you cannot make one hair white or black”(Mat. 5, 33-37).

From a comparison of these two passages, it followsfirst that, while in the Old Testament the oath per self isnot prohibited altogether, but only its abuse and misuse,namely taking a false oath and perjury, in the New Testa-ment the prohibition is absolute and unconditional. Fromthe explanation given more analytically in this passage ofthe New Testament, it becomes evident that swearing isprohibited so that man may not be forced to commitfalse swearing and pollute God’s creation, not even hisown body, that does not belong to him.

Therefore, God who does not change, in swearing byHimself does not violate nor abolish the perfect order ofthe law, which He makes. It is not possible that He willtake back His word, when He simply promises or swears,since in both these cases His unchanging essence is theunshakeable guarantee, as precisely emphasised by thewriter of the Epistle to the Hebrews (“ ... that by two im-mutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie... “). Therefore, in a deeper and final analysis, when Godswears, in His essence and by Himself, He is not min-imised, since by swearing to Himself He does not fallfrom His freedom and dominion, but simply reminds Hispositive declaration: “ I am that I am !” Of course, thisdoes not mean that, in relation to man and the world,God’s oath does not constitute humiliation (K enosis) forHim. On the contrary, not only is it K enosis, but it alsoconstitutes the most significant case of “ anthropomor-phism” in the relations between the Creator and theworld. It is the case of incomparable affection and inti-mation, similar to the one of the Mother, who in swear-ing to her child in a most intimate personal level - with-out being God who has no higher term of reference - in-vokes her most infallible self and pronounces the popularmodern Greek oath: “By the milk with which I fed you ”.

Source:”Ενσαρκώσεις του Δόγματος”Domos Publ., Athens 1996.

TO BHMA6/24 MAY 2015The Greek Australian VEMA

It was a bright autumn morning as I set off to work.The walk to the bus stop was filled not only with thefreshness of the morning but it was one of those dayswhen it is a joy to be alive.

There are four crossings across divided roads withthree sets of lights before I get to my bus stop.

I had navigated all but the last. There was a Don’t

Walk sign but the road to the left was clear. I chose towalk rather than press the button at the lights andmaybe hold up the traffic later. There is nothing morefrustrating for drivers than to wait at a crossing afterone person has passed. All those cars held up fornothing. The road was empty and I crossed.

Standing on the other side was an elderly lady.I had not noticed her.

She admonished me for crossing against the Don’tWalk sign.

I have learnt from experience that one does nottake on women in public, let alone older women.They can have the power of several atomic bombs.

I admitted my mistake and said that she was cor-rect. It was wrong to cross against the Don’t Walksign.

She continued, “What sort of example are you set-ting?” Presumably she was referring to my seniorityand grey hair. “There are children who could see you.At the bus stop or in passing cars.”

“Mea culpa”, I muttered or words to that effect in ahumble way. She was not to be deterred.

She went for the jugular. She pulled out her acecard: “Do you have grandchildren?” she asked.

“Yes,” I answered plaintively.“Well, would you want them to see you doing

this?” What can one say - any appeal to commonsense, to

the probability of being struck by a car on a road withno vehicles would have been futile. Moreover shewas armed with a handbag of solid proportions. I lefthumbled, downtrodden, like a dog with its tail be-tween its legs.

My bus came fairly quickly and on my way I startedto think about what she had said.

Later,I was sitting on the sunny side of the train,

one that passes by the Archdiocese on its way west-ward, and it was then I realised that she was reallyquite correct.

If I want to live in this society then I have to obey itsrules. I might not like some of them but that’s it. It isthe rules that bring about order and progress.

There is even some research that shows that thequality of law enforcement and the minimisation ofcorruption is by far the best cure for world poverty. Itis about obeying the rules.

I guess that in the end every crime is an indulgenceof our will. It is an occasion when we disregard therights of others to make our own rules. Look, youcan’t pick up a ball in soccer and run with it. Well youreally can, but you will not last very long!

The old girl was right. She taught me that I need tostart with the small rules, the tiny inconsequentialones. The big rules are obvious.

So now I wait at the lights. Others might cross but Iwait on principle.

And while I am waiting, am I wasting my time? Noway. I can recite a prayer.

Some will say that it is pointless waiting on an emp-ty road. So what do these geniuses do with the timethey save? Do they put it in the Commonwealth Bank,and when the grim reaper comes - do they say, “Lookhere old chap, I have a few days saved up. Do comeback later!”

No, life goes on. We do not save time - we only getto the cemetery a little quicker.

So we need to observe every Don’t Walk sign in lifeif we want to preserve a civil society.

The views expressed are those of the author and not neces-sarily those of the VEMA

[email protected]

Letterfrom

Maroubra

SkyGreece Airlines plans direct flights to U.S. and Canada

SkyGreece Airlines will act as a communica-tion bridge between the Greek Diaspora in theU.S. and Canada and the motherland throughthe launch of transatlantic flights from Greeceto New York and Toronto.

During a press conference that took place onApril 22 in the presence of Greek DeputyTourism Minister Elena Kountoura, the compa-ny explained that its primary goal is to connectthe Greek Diaspora members with Greece.Therefore, they have arranged for regular andnot seasonal direct flights with low fares.

The company was founded by Greek Diaspo-ra members with experience in the fields ofaviation and tourism. On May 24, the companywill make the first flight from Athens to Toron-to, while on June 18 another flight will departfor Toronto from Thessaloniki, making a stopin Budapest, Hungary.

Furthermore, the first SkyGreece Airlines

flight from Athens to New York will take placeon June 19. Most routes have three scheduledflights per week. During the winter the num-bers will drop to two flights per week betweenAthens and New York, one flight betweenAthens and Toronto and one flight from Dubaito Toronto.

Kountoura expressed the Greek govern-ment’s support toward SkyGreece Airlines’great endeavor, noting that the company willact as a link between Greeks abroad andGreece.

In the long-term, the company plans on ad-ding several flight routes between Greece,Chicago, Boston and South Africa.

The company is based in Markopoulo, Attica,and also has offices in Montreal, Toronto andNew York. It employs 150 people in total, 100of whom work in Greece, while another 60 willbe recruited in cabin crew positions.

NSW PANKRATION CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 14th NSW Pankration championships were hosted by ISKA atthe Whitlam Leisure Centre in Liverpool on March 29. For the secondyear running the Championship trophy was won by The Fight Labbeating eight other clubs in the medal tally! Results were as follows:

Kon Papaioannou 1st 71kgs VeteransCon Papadakis 3rd 78 kgs MenTom Christopoulos 3rd 86 kgs MenPeter Zakis 1st 95 kgs VeteransMichael Korkides 2nd 105 kgs MenGeorge Tsenkas 1st 110 kgs MenDimitris Spiridopoulos 1st Open weight MenPankration is the anchient Greek martial art and the forerunner to

modern mixed martial arts. It is practised in 81 countries around theworld with its headquarters in Athens. It was practiced by the armiesof Alexander the Great and was an Olympic Sport in anchient timesfor 1100 years.


The hall of the Hilton Hotel in Austin, Texas, was jam-packed. Comedian James Adomian, best known to the30-something generation for his imitations of formerUS President George W. Bush, was hosting the South bySouthwest (SXSW) awards for creative innovation aspart of the world’s biggest festival of music, film andnew technologies, bringing together some 72,000 par-ticipants in March.

Dr George K outitas, aged 34, was in attendance forthe second time. The former academic and research as-sistant at the International Hellenic University emigrat-ed from Thessaloniki to Austin less than a year ago,starting a company, Gridmates, which was among the25 finalists in the New Economy category.

The idea for Gridmates came to K outitas two yearsago while he was watching a show on Greek TV aboutfamilies living without electricity in the crisis. Thinkingof ways he could help, and with the assistance of his en-gineer father, he built an innovative device that com-bines photovoltaic energy with used car batteries. Hesoon realized that this would generate enough powerto run an air-conditioning unit or an oven, so he cameup with the idea for the company.

Initial research showed that there was nothing similararound and that, given the lost revenues of energycompanies from unpaid bills, a platform where con-sumers can swap energy could solve a lot of problems.

A large part of the company is back in Greece, togeth-er with his co-founder and four programmers.

Angelos Angelou is also from Thessaloniki and is in-volved with Gridmates. He was sitting beside Koutitas atthe awards ceremony. He went to the US 40 years agoat the age of 17, without knowing any English. After

learning the language, he got a job with the biggestbank in Texas and for more than a decade served as vicepresident of economic development with the GreaterAustin Chamber of Commerce.

“At that age you don’t have fear of failure,” he said ofwhen he first went to the US. “You are excited by theopportunities America gives you to succeed and theway that people welcome you into their homes andhelp you in any way they can,” he said.

Angelou is as good as his word: He took in K outitaswhen the young man first arrived and helped him de-velop his idea. Helping other companies interested ingetting a foothold in Austin is also what he doesthrough International Accelerator, an incubator for newbusinesses. Through his firm AngelouE conomics, he al-so advises cities in different parts of the US, as well as

countries such as Portugal and Austria, on how they canattract foreign investment.

Back in Athens

The graffiti-tagged entrance to the building that istemporarily housing the A thens Center for Entrepre-neurship and Innovation (ACEin) of the Athens Universi-ty of E conomic and Business is in a dark alley behindVictoria Square, in a rather squalid part of the capital’scenter.

On the top floor, however, everything functions likeclockwork. One of the coordinators of the program,Stavros Lounis, explains the itinerary of the SXSW trip tothe heads of the groups he has selected to participate inthe festival. The groups were carefully picked with thehelp of Angelou and the Hellenic Initiative of diasporaGreeks, who also funded a large part of the mission for20 Greek business groups, among them those fromACEin.

“Part of what SXSW is doing is bringing Greek entre-preneurs so they can meet capital. It’s not just about in-vesting money. It’s also about inspiring people, creatinga culture, a ‘fronima,’ of entrepreneurship in Greeceand giving them the kind of encouragement and inspi-ration that the entrepreneurs in the diaspora can bringbecause of their tremendous success,” says Mark Arey,executive director of the Hellenic Initiative.

“We try to spend money in Greece constructively andto inspire other diaspora Greeks and philhellenes to in-vest in Greece. There are a lot of people overseas wholove Greece; a lot more than you think.”

Source: Kathimerini, Athens

Greek start-ups find fertile ground at SXSW festival


40TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS EMINENCE ARCHBISHOP STYLIANOS

AS HEAD OF THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AUSTRALIAThe 40th anniversary since the Holy Synod of the Ecu-

menical Patriarchate elected and enthroned His Emi-nence as Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church inthis continent was celebrated on May 15, 2015.

Over 800 faithful from every State across Australia at-tended the Official Dinner in Sydney.

The event was honoured with the presence of the of-ficial representative of His All Holiness E cumenical Pa-triarch Bartholomew. This was Metropolitan Ambrosiosof Korea, who also read the official Message of our Ecu-menical Patriarch for the occasion.

Present were the leaders and representatives ofevery major Orthodox jurisdiction in Australia, togetherwith many other dignitaries.

During the evening, a video was presented showinghighlights of Archbishop Stylianos’ 40 years of dedicat-ed service in Australia. A packaged copy of the DVD wasgiven freely as a gift to all the attendees.

The eloquent speakers were Metropolitan Ambrosiosof Korea, the Greek Ambassador to Australia Haris Da-faranos, Federal MP Anthony Albanese and the formerMinister in the New South Wales government, GeorgeSouris.

In response, His Eminence expressed praise and grat-itude towards the faithful people of God who stood to-gether with him throughout all these years.

The Millennium Choir of our Archdiocese, led bymaestro George Ellis, also sang beautifully to honour

the Archbishop and to provide an uplifting atmospherethat was appropriate to the joyful milestone that wasbeing celebrated.

There were two very capable MCs for the evening, soas to convey everything equally in Greek and English:the Very Rev. Father Steven Scoutas and Nicholas Pap-pas, Secretary of the Archdiocesan Council.

When the event closed at 10:30pm, it was apparentthat the Dinner seemed to conclude all too soon, lead-ing to much mingling and conversation of those whohad come to honour our long-serving Archbishop andFather in Christ.


Within the framework of T8581A Church F athers: AnIntroduction, a course unit which I offer this semesterfor the second time ever, I organised a public seminar,Dreaming in the Ascetic and Philosophical Traditions ofLate Antiquity, on 21 April 2015. The two speakers whojoined me on this occasion are dear friends of the Col-lege, where they already contributed - and still do - tothe establishment and consolidation of a vibrant re-search culture not deprived of spiritual dimensions. In-deed, even their contributions at this seminar haveonce again illustrated both their scholarship and inter-est in the spiritual foundations of the Christian mindsetand ethos.

The whole idea of this seminar emerged with the re-cently initiated project of Associate Professor BronwenNeil, FAHA (Centre for E arly Christian Studies with theAustralian Catholic University, Brisbane QLD), which wediscussed in the wake of her last visit at St Andrew’s,when she offered a keynote for our sixth patristic sym-posium, From Alexandria to Cappadocia and BackAgain. Brownen is, in truth, a great friend and support-er of St Andrew’s. She is a member of the editorialboard of our journal, Phronema, and she has offeredkeynotes for a couple of our patristic symposia. She hasalso contributed a guest paper to the first ever volumeof our Faculty, Cappadocian Legacy: A Critical Appraisal,which I co-edited with Dr Philip K ariatlis. Back to Bron-wen’s project, it researches dreaming in Late AntiqueChristianity and Judaism, and in early Islam; for thisproject, Bronwen was awarded a generous grant fromthe Australian Research Council in 2014. It has been agreat honour for the College and I to host her onceagain, as it has been a great joy for our small communi-ty to have her joining us in prayer, just before the sem-inar, for the daily vespers chanted by our students. Onthis occasion I invited her to share with us a fewthoughts after the service, and she pointed out two as-pects that impressed her in the order of vespers, name-ly, the reference, in the Septuagint Psalm 103, to natu-ral disasters which make us aware of the need for God’sprovidence, and the prayer for travellers in the great l-itany. Why these two matters? On the one hand, it isbecause of the stormy New South Wales weather,which, we have seen later on, resulted in unfortunatehuman casualties and immense property damage; onthe other hand, it is because Bronwen was thinking ofher Argentinian colleague, Dr Patricia Ciner, who wastravelling from Brisbane to Sydney in order to attendour seminar.

Back to the seminar, Bronwen offered the paper‘Dreams in Early Eastern Monastic Literature’. She ex-plored a range of ascetic authors and sources pertainingto Eastern Christianity, in the Greek, Latin and Syriantraditions. In terms of the representatives reviewed inthis paper, Bronwen looked at St A thanasius’ Life of StAntony, Evagrius Ponticus, the Sayings of the Desert , StJohn Climacus, and John Moschos’ Spiritual Meadow,for the Greek side; St John Cassian the Dacian’s Confer-ences and Institutes for the Latin side; and St Isaac ofNineveh and John of Dalyatha for the Syrian side. Thisboth informative and formative paper introduced us tothe fascinating monastic world of dreaming, togetherwith the various attitudes toward dream, vision andprophecy in the monastic milieus mentioned above. Ofparticular interest to me was the point Bronwen madein relation to the need to reticently consider the mean-ing of dreams - at least as long as one is not spirituallypurified and advanced to be able to decipher themproperly.

Bronwen’s presentation was followed by that of KevinWagner (PhD candidate with John Paul II Institute, Mel-

bourne VIC, and Lecturer at University of Notre Dame,Sydney NSW), ‘Live Right, Sleep Right: The Role of theVirtues in Synesius’ Theory of Dream Divination.’ K evinis a newer friend of the College; this was his third pres-entation at St Andrew’s, after he offered papers for twoof our patristic symposia. He has already published ajournal article in Phronema, which will be shortly fol-lowed by another one, in Phronema 30:2 (2015). In hiscontribution to the seminar, K evin focused on the phi-losopher bishop Synesius of Cyrene’s dream theory,which recommended both the practice of virtue and amore scientific approach to dreams, by recording andanalysing them comparatively. The paper introducedthe audience to the Neoplatonic mechanisms of dream-ing and divination, mechanisms which were both adopt-ed and adapted by Synesius. I found it very significantthat Synesius did not dissociate the more ‘technical’ ap-proach of recording dreams and their analysis from thevirtuous life of the dreamer. On the one hand, Synesianapproach illustrates a way of ‘doing science’ in tandemwith cultivating a virtuous life and ethical concerns; onthe other hand, it shows that in order to assess dreamsone should consider a rigorous framework where theirmeaning has to be authenticated. In this point, K evin’scontribution intersected with that of Bronwen and myown. My paper, titled ‘Sleeping and Dreaming in theAthanasian Psychological Theory and Ascetic Theology,’highlighted the contradictory views of St A thanasius inrelation to sleep and dreaming, sometimes assessedpositively and other times negatively. I proposed thatthese contradictions dissipate when one looks at thecontext of the respective statements and, likewise, con-

siders them in the light of the great shepherd’s apprais-al of nature within a transformative perspective. I havepointed out also that St A thanasius’ reticence towardsthe oneiric space has to be referred to his convictionthat only the saints are worthy recipients of divine mes-sages and able to discern their meaning.

The College generously offered supper to all partici-pants, after which unfolded a very lively Q&A session.The event was very well attended, thinking of the terri-ble Sydney weather. Like forty people braved the stormand wormed up the great hall of St Andrew’s with theirpresence and interest. They have my deep gratitude. Sodo the clergymen present, The Very Reverend Archi-mandrite Sophronios Konidaris, The Reverend A thana-sios Giatsios and The Reverend Dimitrios Papaikono-mou, together with the enthusiastic representativesfrom Kogarah Fellowship. My gratitude goes also to DrPatricia Ciner (National University of San Juan andCatholic University of Cuyo, Argentina), who currentlyundertakes a research séjour at Centre for E arly Chris-tian Studies in Brisbane, and Dr Graham Lovell (Mac-quarie alumnus), for their contributions during the Q&Asession. Many thanks to Mario and Chris Baghos who,acting as support staff, took photos and video recordedthe event, my colleague Dimitrios Kepreotes, our excel-lent guest speakers, our other guests and, last but notleast, our admirable students.

Protopresbyter Dr Doru CostacheSenior Lecturer in Patristic Studies

St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College

Dreaming in the Ascetic and Philosophical Traditions of Late Antiquity

A public seminar held at St Andrew’s College

Speakers and participants at the end of the seminar

Mr Kevin Wagner presenting on Synesius of Cyrene

MAY 201510/28 TO BHMA The Greek Australian VEMA

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation has announced a total grant of $500,000 to Oxfam Great Britain, and the In-ternational Federation of Red Cross, to assist international relief efforts aiming to provide critical support to thepeople of Nepal, who are suffering from the recent massive earthquake.

The grant will provide support to the efforts of: O xfam GB, whose emergency equipment focuses on provid-ing hundreds of thousands of people with safe drinking water and food, and International F ederation of RedCross, whose services not only include food, shelter, water and sanitation assistance, but rehabilitation of dam-aged local health facilities and the prevention of epidemics.

“Through these emergency relief grants directed to long-term partners of the F oundation, with vast experi-ence in providing crucial relief support for the victims of natural disasters, we try to contribute towards an im-mediate and hopefully impactful response to the catastrophic earthquake,” said Andreas Dracopoulos, Co-Pres-ident of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

MOVING OF THE PARISH/COMMUNITYOF ST IOANNIS, PARRAMATTA

For 55 years the Parish & Community of St Ioannis (St John the Forerunner) has been at 11 Hassall St,Parramatta. Parramatta is the rapidly developing second CBD of Sydney. Our Church is surrounded byhigh rise apartments and office towers, and new ones are constantly being built around us.

Our Parish has the desire to expand its services. Of course its primary service has always been andwill always be spiritual work, the Divine Liturgy, the Sacraments and Prayer. It would like however todevelop and to serve its people in new ways, but at the current site it cannot do this because it cannotexpand, being surrounded by skyscrapers.

With the blessings of His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos the Parish/Community entered into an at-tempt to sell its property where the Church and hall stand in order to buy something bigger. A verylarge meeting of Parishioners was held where the matter was debated. Fr Nicholas Tsouloukidis, whoserved the Parish/Community for 50 years since its establishment, during this debate said, “If someoneis going to feel hurt if we sell our Church, the first one will be me, but the time has come for us to putemotion behind us and to do what is logical.” Over 99% of the people voted for the move.

We feel very blessed that we were able to sell and buy, and now have a new property that is verylarge, with ample parking, next to Parramatta River and a park, and very close to our current Church.On this site there is an existing large 2 storey building, of which we have converted a part to be usedas a temporary Church, for Liturgies, Sacraments and Funerals. In another section we will continue ourservices to the Parish, and we will lease out the remaining sections to help us raise money for the build-ing of a new Church at this site.

The last Liturgy in the old Church at 11 Hassall St Parramatta will be celebrated by Fr NicholasTsouloukidis and Fr DimitriosP Kokkinos on Sunday 7 June, 7.30 - 11am.

The first Liturgy at the new site, the corner of Purchase and George Streets Parramatta, will be of-ficiated by His Grace Bishop Seraphim of Apollonias, on Sunday 14 June, 2015, 7.30 -11am.

Council is currently in the process of determing our application to commence liturgies at 163-165 George Street by June 14.

Stavros Niarchos Foundation offers $500,000 emergency relief to Nepal

Trivago:

Greek holiday islandsare the best in EuropeGreek holiday islands are the best in Europe, accord-

ing to rankings based on a staggering 140 million world-wide reviews.

The Canary Islands and Balearics may be the mostpopular resorts for British sunseekers but they are waydown the list for the quality of their accommodation,the study found.

Instead it is Greek islands that dominate the list com-piled by hotel search site Trivago from the reviewsfound on more than 200 global booking sites.

At number one is Ios, one of the smaller Greek islandsin the Aegean Sea, an extension of the Med familiar tomany who have gone island hopping in the region. TheTrivago study looked at any Mediterranean island orothers on the same latitude, like Madeira and the Ca-naries in the Atlantic.

To quality, there had to be a minimum of 50 hotels re-viewed and with a minimum of 50 reviews from lastsummer for each of those hotels. It includes islands at-tached to Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Croatia butit is the Greek ones which account for the top threewith Hydra in second and Folegandros in third. Anotherfour Greek hotspots are in the top ten, including thebetter known Santorini and Mykonos, Naxos and Paros.

Italy’s best ranked islands are Capri, in fourth, and Li-pari at nine with Madeira, a Portugese destination pop-ular with older travellers, in tenth. Denise Bartlett ofTrivago said: “It is interesting to note that the morewell-known Greek islands of Crete, Corfu and Rhodeshave lower-ranked hotels than the smaller islands ofIos, Hydra and Folegandros.

The ranking not only highlights the islands with themost highly-rated hotels, but presents the traveller withsome attractive alternatives to the typical summer re-sorts.”

The 10 best-rated islands are:1. Ios (Greece) 2. Hydra (Greece) 3. Folegandros (Greece) 4. Capri (Italy) 5. Santorini (Greece) 6. Mykonos (Greece) 7. Naxos (Greece) 8. Paros (Greece) 9. Lipari (Italy) 10. Madeira (Portugal)


S T S P Y R I D O N C O L L E G E

For more information visit

www.stspyridon.nsw.edu.au

“Sport as culture: does it qualify?”

The Appreciating Culture Lecture 2015Guest Speaker Dr Nicholas Pappas, AM

The Arts Exhibition 2015Works by Students

Tuesday 26th May 2015

Sports and Performing Arts Centre Senior School Campus

1130 Anzac Parade, Maroubra NSW 2035

Arrival: 6.30pm Lecture: 7.00pm – 7.40pm

Cocktails & Canapes: after the lecture

Arts Exhibition: Tuesday 26th May 2015: 6.30pm – 7.00pm

and after the Lecture

Wednesday 27th May 2015: 9.30am – 3.00pm

RSVP by 12th May 2015.

Angela Kringas 9311 3340







Guest Speaker Dr Nicholas Pappas, AM

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ednesday 27th May 2015: 9.30am – 3.00pm

e and after the Lectur

uesday 26th May 2015: 6.30pm – 7.00pm

e after the lecturCocktails & Canapes:

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Greece awarded as“Destination of Year 2013”

St Andrew’s Grammar School in Dianella (WA) hasjoined Perth’s elite schools in creating a multi-milliondollar modern sporting complex. In March 2015, theCity of Stirling approved a $2 million gymnasium facility.The complex will be built next to an AFL size sports ovaland the new Andrew and Maria Petrelis Amphitheatre.

The Gymnasium caters for a range of sports including:Basketball, Netball, Volleyball, Badminton and IndoorSoccer. A full size classroom for Physical E ducation the-ory and change rooms are also part of this exceptionalproject.

The Hellenic Community of Western Australia Presi-dent Gary Mitchell welcomes this new facility: ‘I am ut-terly delighted with the positive growth and directionsat St Andrew’s Grammar.

Enormous thanks must go to the Berbatis F amily to-gether with the members of the Hellenic Community,who have completely embraced the School and have af-forded the opportunity to progress the School’s facili-

ties with the construction of the new sports facility.The Gymnasium has also been designed to cater for

Assemblies and Theatre Performances and further ex-pansion of the complex will occur in the future. St An-drew’s Grammar Board Chair Marcelle Anderson hasexpressed the significance of the G ymnasium projectfor the School:

“The Hellenic mantra of a heathy mind in a healthybody has been borne out by modern research whichshows that physical activity improves learning ability.The Sports Facility will provide for the sporting, healthand fitness needs of our students as well as accommo-dating school events such as assemblies, prize nightsand fundraising activities. The School Board and com-munity thank the Berbatis family for its very generousdonation which has moved the Sports Facility from con-cept to reality.”

Designed by T&Z Architects as part of their long last-ing relationship with the School, the G ymnasium is an-

other extensive educational work that T&Z has carriedout in both the public and private sectors. Project archi-tect Jeremy Feldhusen identified the importance of theproject in relation to surrounding facilities: “While pri-marily a sports hall the building is a multipurpose facili-ty forming an integral ‘piece of the puzzle’ to the east-ern edge of the campus”.

Metrowest Constructions Pty L td is the successfultenderer of the project. The G ymnasium has a worldclass synthetic sports floor that provides a durable sur-face with excellent shock absorption.

Metrowest General Manager Mark Lewington ispleased to ‘build on its strong record of delivering edu-cational facilities’ in Western Australia.

The students of St Andrew’s Grammar look forwardto the G ymnasium with excitement and anticipation.The Gymnasium will provide a great opportunity to fur-ther enhance the School’s rapidly developing sport pro-gramme.

St Andrew’s Grammar Gymnasium Project

An artist’s impression

of St Andrew’sGrammar modernsporting complex

Turkey, Greece agree Aegean security measures, talk up Cyprus progressTurkey and Greece have agreed on

new security measures in the contestedAegean Sea and are backing efforts toresolve a long-running dispute overCyprus, the foreign ministers of the twocountries said earlier this month.

Ankara and Athens have a longstand-ing dispute over territorial borders inthe Aegean, with warplanes from bothsides regularly engaging in mock dog-fights. The NATO allies have as recentlyas the 1990s come to the brink of warover such disputes

"We discussed security measures thatcould be taken to avoid unwanted re-sults from military activity in theAegean, and agreed on a series ofmeasures to increase security in thesea," Turkish F oreign Minister MevlutCavusoglu said during a joint press con-ference in Ankara. He gave no details ofthe measures.

Cavusoglu and his Greek counterpart,Nikos Kotzias, both spoke of progress intalks over the disputed island of Cyprus,

which were due to resume on FridayMay 15.

Turkey is currently the only country torecognise the northern Cypriot statethat was set up in the north of the is-land after Turkish troops invaded in1974 in response to a short-lived coupby militant Greek Cypriots. The interna-tional community recognises the GreekCypriot government in Nicosia as legiti-mate.

Efforts to find an acceptable solutionhave been stepped up in recent years,partially driven by discovery of gasfields off the island that could benefitboth sides. But there are complex ques-tions to settle over the powers of anycentral government over Greek- andTurkish-Cypriot territories and the au-tonomy they would enjoy.

"Turkey and Greece are giving theirfull support, the international commu-nity is giving its support. 2015 is a goodopportunity, we do not want to missthis window," Cavusoglu said.

Greek Cypriot leader and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades (R), Turkish Cypriotleader Mustafa Akinci (L) and UN envoy Espeth Barth Eide shakes hands, in Nicosia,

May 11. It was the first encounter of the leaders on the ethnically-split island sinceAkinci, a leftist moderate, won leadership elections in northern Cyprus on April 26.


He was a soldier and a her o. His family called him“the General”. He ma de milkshakes in Summer H ill(NSW) for 63 y ears and not once did he turn up f orwork in an ything other than a long-sleev ed shirt andtie.

On Tuesday May 5, Geor ge Poulos opened The Rio,his famous old milk bar in Smith Str eet as usual. At 92,Mr Poulos was frail. He may have spent more of the daysitting on his sof a bed behind the shop than a t thecounter, where he displayed a Greek flag and a phot o-graph of himself as a young soldier. Perhaps he watcheda video - he li ked John Wa yne movies, especially RioBravo, and I Love Lucy and M*A*S*H. Perhaps he madesomeone a mi lkshake. Perhaps he didn’t. Mos t onlycame to gawk - a t the vin tage shop, it s retro signageand the old man and his sc ant range of confectionery.Few spent money.

Perhaps Mr Poulos closed early: he hadn’t been welllately, according to his son. But e arlier in the mon thhe’d begged to get out of hospital. “He nee ded to goback and open his busine ss,” says Nik Poulos, who ar-rived at The Rio one afternoon to discover it was lockedup. He jumped over a back f ence and broke in to dis-cover his father had died some time after he had closedthe day before.

The business was his whole lif e, says Nik Poulos.“He’d be open un til 10 o’clock at night sometimes justfor one person to come in and get one drink. It just kepthim alive; he didn’t make any money from it.”

It was not always so: once, George Poulos called TheRio “the goldmine”. Through the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, themilk bar had a symbiotic relationship with the old Sum-mer Hill movie theatre.

“We used to open until 11 o’clock waiting for the pic-ture show to come out,” says Nik Poulos, who grew upworking behind the counter. “We had people like John-ny O’Keefe and Lionel Long (c ome in)… The be st milk-shakes in the whole of New South Wales were made bymy Dad.”

George Poulos sailed into Sydney in 1952 on the Kyre-nia, a former troop carrier converted into a migrant ves-sel. He’d come from the family village, Parori, in North-ern Greece. He’d fought in World War II and the Gr eekCivil War and, acc ording to his son, w as a her o. “Helooked like Rambo; he saved our whole town during theCivil War when the Communists tried to take over.”

In Sydney, George quickly went into business with hisuncle, Chris, and his father Philip, who’d already been inAustralia for more than a dec ade cutting cane in northQueensland. George soon enough sen t for his wif e,Stavroula, son Ni k and daugh ter Aphrodite. Anotherchild, Margaret, was born nine months after the familywas reunited.

He was also independent and determined. While hewas alive, the shop w ould remain open. “It ga ve himsomething to do - t o get up in the morning and dothings,” says Nik Poulos. “He literally worked until thelast day.”

The shop though, was always more than simply a job.“It offered him a sense of pr esence in a new land be-cause those in the loc al community knew him, ” says

Macquarie University historian and cur ator, LeonardJaniszewski, who, with his colleague Effy Alexakis, inter-viewed Poulos for their pr oject “In Their Own Image:Greek-Australians”. “He r emained with the shop, the

things that he knew; he knew tha t he was a recognis-able character within his urban scene. Geor ge said,‘people know me around here, I’ve been here so long’.”

Source: SMH (11/5/2015)

SHARE WITH AFRICA

Farewell to George Poulos, the man who made milkshakes in Summer Hill (NSW) for 63 years

George Poulos with his daughter, Aphrodite, and son, Nik, outside his milk bar in 2014.

Sunday June 7

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Greece ranks 3rd worldwide in ‘Blue Flag’ beachesNearly 400 Greek beaches and nine marinas won the

international quality Blue Flag award this year, placingGreece in third place worldwide among 50 countries,according to the Hellenic Society for the Protection ofNature (EEPF).

The announcement was made during a EEPF pressconference in Katerini. EEPF is the national operator ofthe International Blue Flags program in Greece, in co-operation with the Pieria Hoteliers Association.

According to EEPF, the Blue Flag is the most recog-

nizable and popular international symbol of quality inthe world. Since 1987 the award has been given tobeaches and marinas that meet the strict award crite-ria. The beaches not only need to have excellent qual-ity bathing waters.

They also need to meet 32 criteria, which refer tocleanliness, organization, information, swimmer andvisitor safety, protection of the natural wealth of thebeach and coastal area, as well as environmentalawareness.

An international scientific team of re-searchers from the United States, Rus-sia, Canada and Sweden led by Greekscientist Dr Eleftheria Palkopoulou (pic-tured) was able to sequence the com-plete genome of a woolly mammoth.

Mammoths, cousins to our modernelephants, have been extinct for thou-sands of years. But some geneticists en-vision that the woolly mammoth mightbe able to walk the Earth once again.However, Eleftheria Palkopoulou ap-pears very cautious.

“Most scientific studies to date, ana-lyzed the mammoth’s mitochondrialDNA, which is inherited exclusivelyfrom the mother and thus provides lim-ited information for only part of theirpopulation. In our research, we pub-lished, for the first time, the entire nu-clear genome of the mammoth, whichis inherited from both parents, andthus provides a more representativepicture of the entire population. Onlywith such genetic information wewill be able to thoroughly examine thehistory of the population of mammothsuntil their extinction,” she said, duringa recent interview.

Her team’s study was published inthe renowned biology journal, CurrentBiology, while the study’s subject waswidely discussed in the media.

Eleftheria Palkopoulou was born in1984 and graduated from the AristotleUniversity of Thessaloniki Biology De-partment in 2006. She continued withher postgraduate studies on biology atUppsala University in Sweden, and gother PhD in Systematic Zoology from theUniversity of Stockholm.

Since May 2015 Dr Palkopoulou hasmoved to the laboratory of the famousgeneticist David Reich, at the MedicalSchool Department of Genetics of Har-vard University in the United States,where she works as a postdoctoral fel-low.

A Greek scientist studying Mammoths


Design Delta Architects produce Australia’s first Byzantine style monastery

Perched on Mangrove Mountain, about 90 minutesnorth of Sydney, the Pantanassa Monastery stands as acontemporary rendition of ancient B yzantine architec-ture, combining current day design practices with an-cient materials to create Australia’s first Greek Ortho-dox monastery produced in this ancient style.

Conceived during the Byzantine Empire (c.330-1453),and later the primary progenitor for the Renaissanceand Ottoman architectural traditions, B yzantine archi-tecture is characterised (among others things) by itslarge arched and vault ceilings, robust stone structuralwalls and mosaic tile decorations, and dome roofs withcurved roof tiles.

Fast forward thousands of years and Design Delta Ar-chitects (DDA) are still emulating the ancient style of ar-chitecture, so well that you might be hazarded to guesswhat era the roof of Pantanassa was actually construct-ed in.

“It’s a very traditional form that dates back manyhundreds of years, so it’s certainly not a unique roof,”said DDA Principal Demetrios Stavropoulos.

“It’s a borrowed concept that has been adapted to in-clude cheaper and more modern materials, such asbrick instead of the traditional stone walls.”

The domed roof and terracotta barrel tiles at the Pan-tanassa in particular would be familiar to fans ofMediterranean architecture; however on closer inspec-tion you’ll find it was constructed very differently fromtraditional methods.

Firstly, the whole church structure comprises con-crete rather than stone and mortar and was formed inpolystyrene moulds that were created by a Newcastleboat builder.

“The whole church is a concrete shell and all the threedimensional shapes such as the domes and cross vaultswere formed in either Styrofoam or sheet steel,” saidStavropoulos.

“The Styrofoam was coated in fibreglass to resist theimpact of the concrete when it was poured on top toavoid any deformation of the surface and the sheetsteel was used to form simple shapes such as a halfcylinder as it was cheaper and easy enough to manipu-late.”

The familiar barrel terracotta tiles were then laid inoverlapping fashion and fixed on a wet bed of flexiblemortar to avoid interior water ingress and resistance tomortar cracking. Stavropoulos said he did consider bat-tening out the tiles from the concrete roof and using adry fix method instead, however due to the tile profileand absence of guttering, timber battens would havebeen left exposed to moisture and potentially wind-blown fire embers in the case of a bushfire.

While the Pantanassa Monastery is now completestructurally, it has a long way to go before its fitout iscomplete and Monks can occupy the space. While in acommercial project this would cause owners consider-able concern, the Monks at Pantanassa are sanguine,viewing this as a project measured not in months oryears but in decades and generations.

Images & Article: courtesy of Design Delta Architects

Before and after: the polystyrene moulds (white) and steel sheeting are used to form the concrete shell of the building before tiles are laid on top.

No guttering was used and the sloped roofs direct rain to a central reservoir for harvesting and reuse.

Pantanassa Monastery


Greece awarded as“Destination of Year 2013”

The Thanksgiving Service for graduates of St Andrew’sTheological College was celebrated on 14 May. Theevening’s proceedings began with a Doxological Servicechanted by students, past and present. His EminenceArchbishop Stylianos, as Dean, recited a benedictionover the graduates and conferred them with the Col-lege’s Ecclesiastical Certificate.

In his address to the congregation, His Eminence gavethanks to God for the work of the College in the An-tipodes and its vital contribution to the service of theChurch and the broader community for almost 30years. He acknowledged the highly valued efforts andcollaboration of so many people of good will, both Or-thodox and non-Orthodox alike. He described the Col-lege’s long-standing membership of the Sydney Collegeof Divinity (SCD) as a particular blessing and warmlygreeted Professor Diane Speed who is the current Deanand Chief Executive Officer of the SCD . In conclusion,His Eminence thanked all of the staff wholeheartedlyfor their tireless work for the good progress of the Col-lege, and expressed his deep gratitude to all donors and

supporters of this noble task of the Church.Honouring this important occasion with their pres-

ence were His Eminence Metropolitan Ambrose of K o-rea, representative of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patri-arch Bartholomew; His Grace Bishop Seraphim of Apol-lonias, College Sub-Dean; His Grace Bishop Nikandros ofDoryleon; and other colleagues from within the SCDand its member institutions; reverend clergy and Arch-diocesan Council Members. There were also Collegealumni and representatives from the various commit-tees of the College and the Archdiocese.

Both undergraduate and postgraduate awards werebestowed as noted below:

Master of Theology: Fr K yrillos Zisis (NSW), Fr SiluanMrakic (Serbia) in absentia. Master of Arts: George Tsi-kritsakis (NSW). Graduate Certificate in Arts: TheodorosDimitriou (VIC), Daniel Haitas (VIC), Jacqueline Sarros(VIC) all in absentia. Bachelor of Theology with FirstClass Honours: Stefan Mastilovic (New Zealand). Bache-lor of Theology: Fr Prohoros Anastasiadis (NSW), FrEvangelos Thiani (Kenya) in absentia, Fr Nectarios Joan-

nou (NSW), Markellos Margelis (NSW), George Papout-sakis (NSW). Associate Degree of Christian Thought andPractice: Fr Jean Mawal (VIC), Dn George Vrionis (NSW).Diploma of Christian Studies: Con F arrugia (NSW),Demetra Petrakis (NSW) in absentia, ChrysovalantisSideris (SA) in absentia.

The latest group of graduates brought to 134 the to-tal number of graduates - receiving 163 SCD degreesand awards at various levels, but primarily the Bachelorof Theology - since St Andrew’s opened in 1986.

Some of the aforementioned graduates were alsopresent at the Sydney College of Divinity GraduationCeremony on Saturday morning, 16 May, along with ap-proximately 80 graduates and 400 attendees from oth-er member institutions of the SCD. Here they were con-ferred their respective degrees and awards in the GreatHall of the University of Sydney by the President of theSCD Council, Mr Peter King. The Occasional Address wasdelivered by Dr Greg Clarke, Chief Executive Officer ofBible Society Australia and Chair of the Global LiteracyGroup of the United Bible Societies.

St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College Graduation Events

Left: His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos entering the Cathedral of the “Annunciation of Our Lady Theotokos” accompanied by His Eminence Metropolitan Ambrose of Korea, representative of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Right: His Eminence during his short speech after the Doxological Service.

Left: Commemorative photo of His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos with His Eminence Metropolitan Ambrose of Korea, His Graces Bishop Seraphim of Apollonias and BishopNikandros of Doryleon, with the graduates. Right: From the Sydney College of Divinity Graduation Ceremony, at the University of Sydney, on Saturday May 16.

By Imogen Coward

For generations the Barossa has ledthe charge in Australian cuisine embrac-ing Mediterranean foods and flavours,thanks to a combination of tremendousregional produce and champions such asMaggie Beer. An emerging food and wineregion, and one of the most vibrant, isthe central mid-west township ofMudgee, some three and a half hoursdrive west of Sydney. A bustling andthriving mix of food and wine producesquality and incredible variety in the arti-san products, making this region a mustfor food lovers and anyone in the foodindustry.

Mudgee has been traditionally knownfor it’s honey, and for its sweet winessuch as port and muscat. On the honeyfront, Malfroy’s Gold honey is particular-ly outstanding, while the Mudgee HoneyHaven offers not only a huge variety ofdifferent honey but also Mead (the Me-dieval honey ‘beer’), and a sweet honeyliqueur. On the sweet-wines front, Pieter

Van Gent is well known to many Sydney-siders for Mudgee White Port, readilyavailable through liquor outlets, but theirMuscat and Vermouth are truly superbofferings that make a trip to the cellardoor very worthwhile. Still on the themeof sweet wines, two other consistentlysuperb non-fortified wines are Di LussoEstate’s Appassimento, a sweet dessertwine made in the traditional style of a vinsanto with incredibly complex dried fruitcharacters, and Elliot Rocke Estate’s IceSemillon which utilises ice-wine tech-niques to achieve a vibrant, fruity andsweet wine.

Across the board, the quality andflavour of the many varietal reds andwhites on offer display not only consis-tent quality, but the all important indi-viduality and variation from vineyard tovineyard and year to year, so often lack-ing in the bigger commercial wines.Farmer’s Daughter Shiraz is a particularlyfine example that goes very well withroast lamb or braised shanks. A big plusfor visitors to the region, is that most of

the vineyards are quite small in size, andconsequently it is only a few minutesdrive from one vineyard to the next. Forthe city-bound connossieurs though, theever growing number of wineries andvineyards also enthusiastically andproudly bring their superb products tocity markets such as the annual Pyrmontfestival, as well as to restaurants in Syd-ney. Also, for those who don’t drink, aunique treat from the region are thewine jellies, in particular those producedby The Grape Alternative . From wildquince and semillon, through to caber-net and dark pepper, the jellies are par-ticularly suited to being included on acheeseboard for a light modern twist onthe more traditional fruit pastes, andthey are also fantastic accompanimentsfor cold cuts.

A more recent addition to the regionhas been the numerous olive groves thatdot the countryside. Unlike many otherregions, Mudgee’s olive oils tend to beharvested early, giving them a piquancyand freshness that makes them fabulousfor salads. The region’s olive oil has be-come well known to city dwellers, in par-ticular through Lomondo and Rylestoneolive oils which are widely available atdelicatessens. However, visitors to theregion will find a considerably larger vari-ety of oils and also olives on offer. TopShed varietal olives, prepared in a Medi-terranean style with brine, are also wellworth searching out, particularly theFrantoio variety.

With wine and oil, the next logical stepof course is cheese. High Valley’s fetta isreadily available in the cities, but to tastetheir more unusual and memorablechesses such as their rouge (a red-rindsoft cheese), and caerphilly (a young

Welsh-style cheddar that goes tremen-dously well in leek pie) a visit to theirpremises is in order. Perhaps the mostunusual and memorable cheese experi-ence, though, is at Leaning Oak, whichproduces a variety of fresh goats cheesesincluding fetta, and soft goats cheese.Any preconceptions about the ‘goat-i-ness’ of goats cheese soon vanishes withthese fresh and vibrant mild cheeses.

The Mudgee region also boasts smallbut deliciously good meat producers. Foringredients, Putta Bucca free-range porkproducts are particularly worth a men-tion, and Nanima Salt Bush Lamb is a rev-elation to anyone who enjoys a roast,chops or braised shanks. Although theymay seem on the pricey side, there is nocomparison from a flavour and textureperspective. Salt-bush lamb, once tasted,is never forgotten. Charcuterie is also onoffer, with Pipeclay’s small but carefullyproduced range of local paddock-to-plate small-goods, including extra specialtreats such as truffled salami.

Alongside a tremendous variety offresh fruit and vegetables, sadly only onoffer at the regular monthly FarmersMarkets, some of the more unusual pro-duce of the region includes Capertee Val-ley Saffron, Australian Gourmet Hazel-nuts, Murrungundy Pistachios and alsoSpencer’s chocolate, grown in Vanuatuand processed bean-to-bar in Mudgee.While the Barossa remains one of Aus-tralia’s premiere food and wine regions,the Mudgee region is certainly making it-self felt as an outstanding vibrant newkid on the culinary block.

For more information on the regionvisit www.visitnsw.com/Mudgee andwww.mudgeefinefoods.com.au


Arts, Food & WineEditor: Imogen Coward

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An exploration of Islamic artistic principles andcross-over to Orthodox culture and spiritual expres-sion.

I discovered this remarkable plate in a retro/antiqueshop in the beachside town of Rosebud (Victoria, Aus-tralia). I had never seen such a unique piece before andwas even more astounded by its imagery. Then I beganto wonder: what style was it and was it Orthodox in-spired?

Unfortunately I could not directly trace the origin ofthe plate. The shop owners had no clue and the compa-ny logo, stamped on the back of the plate, was coveredwith an adhesive ring-pad so it could be hung on walls.My first impression, based on its exotic patterns, wasperhaps Moroccan inspired. However, with no knowl-edge of Islamic art I had to do some research.

This article is just as much a journey of discovery andlearning as it is an analysis of this plate.

Islamic beliefs about artIn religious art there are geometrical or vegetal de-

signs which are in repetitive patterns known as ara-besque.1 The arabesque in Islamic art is often used tosymbolize the transcendent, indivisible and infinite na-ture of God.2

Typically, though not entirely, Islamic art has focusedon the depiction of patterns and Arabic calligraphyrather than on figures. This is because Muslims believethat the depiction of the human form is idolatry andthereby a sin against God, forbidden in the Qur’an. Insecular art these disciplines are not as stringently en-forced, but still appear to be followed to avoid offend-ing others.

Most examples I found did not contain images of hu-mans but repetitive abstract patterns and floralarrangements.

Moroccan art

As my first impression of the plate’s origin was per-haps Moroccan I decided to start from there before

moving on to other types of Islamic art.Art in Morocco, as in other Islamic countries, can be

split into two groups: religious and secular, althoughboth are directed by Islamic interpretation. Upon fur-ther research I came across the traditional Moroccanart form of kellij, the art of Islamic tile mosaics.

Moroccan kellij only ever form abstract patterns anddesigns, never pictures of living things. As mentionedbefore Islamic art avoids replicating nature; the onlyway to understand God’s creation is through study, notcopying.3 Moroccan kellij patterns include stars, honey-combs, webs, steps and checkerboards.4

In this example, using an eight or ten-pointed star inthe middle the kellij pattern expands logically and co-herently towards infinity. 5 The mural is trying to showthat all existence is part of a complex interrelationshipwhich only God could create.

Inspired by Roman mosaics, Moroccan artisans begancreating their own styles from as early as 11th century.6

Originally the colour scheme was earthly, basicallyshades of brown and white. However, in time, artistsexpanded the colour range to include reds, yellows,greens and blues. 7 Today, artists have included morecolours such as turquoise and rose. These complex andmesmerising designs are still practiced today and canbe found covering water fountains, interior walls,mosques and tombs of Morocco.

It is interesting to note that although kellij is directedby the principles of Islam, the designs have roots in thepre-Islamic Berber culture of North Africa. 8 This iswhere the mosaics get their rigid straight lines and hardedges, in contrast with the rounded patterns of theMiddle East.9

With this in mind, when comparing the “Orthodox”plate with kellij, there are many differences. K ellij ismore repetitive and geometric, whilst the plate doesnot have any strong straight lines. This leads weight tothe argument that the “Orthodox” plate may have orig-inated somewhere in the Middle-E ast due to its curvedand rounded shapes. However, it was not until a fewdays later I stumbled across an amazing revelation.

A little piece of Morocco in Melbourne

Walking through a major Melbourne shopping centreI passed by an exotic bazaar. What captured my eyewere the several plates on display (see below). I askedthe shop owner where these plates were from and hesaid Morocco. I was amazed to see several similaritieswith my “Orthodox” plate. I then asked the owner, whoappeared to be Moroccan himself, if he could tell meanything about the designs, hoping to gain some in-sight. Unfortunately, he did not know anything, onlythat they were definitely Moroccan.

If you examine the photos it is obvious the designs arenot kellij; the lines are curved and void of any geomet-ric repetition. In the picture of plate 1 the oval-shapeddiamonds accompanied with curved lines and dots areexactly the same as on the “Orthodox” plate.

In this next photo, plate 2, the lines are curved, free-flowing and not rigid. The shape of the two central pat-terns could be best described as tri-curved arches. Thisdouble-layered pattern is most similar to the “Ortho-dox” plate due to the softer, curved lines and shapes.We see these tri-curved arches appear in the “Ortho-dox” plates as wider drawn, repetitive patterns sur-rounding the “cross” and even on the cross’ endings.These curved arches seem to achieve the required geo-metric balance.

In this last example, plate 3, shares the same round-ed-arches around the boarder as in the “Orthodox”plate. Its design is quite mesmerising as the centre islike an open flower with diamond-shapes featheringout from the centre out towards the boarder.

All shop examples contain vibrant colours with plates1 and 3 having the exact same colour scheme as the“Orthodox” plate. As mentioned, as Moroccan kellij de-veloped it moved to more vibrant colours of red, yel-low, green and blue then later turquoise and rose.10 Ob-serving the “Orthodox” plate the four colours that canbe identified include green, blue, yellow and rose. Allthree other plates share this same colour scheme. Also,the double-line boarder seems to be common across allplates. Finally, the large dots which are accompaniedwith smaller dots seem to be a consistent theme acrossall plates.

If the shop owner was entirely sure his plates wereMoroccan then this is the strongest evidence that the“Orthodox” plate is truly Moroccan inspired. All theseplates distinctly have designs which appear on the “Or-thodox” plate. However, we must examine other Islam-ic designs before jumping to conclusions.

Cont. next issue

Digital MosaicWhere the Ancient Faith + 21st century media merge

The ‘Orthodox’ plate: an Islamic fusion? (Part 1)

By Chris VlahonasiosFounder & DirectorOFA blog + B yzanfest + THE MOVINGICON

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_art2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_art3 http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-beautiful-and-complex-art-moroccan-mosaics4 http://islamic-arts.org/2011/zillij-in-fez/5 http://islamic-arts.org/2011/zillij-in-fez/6 http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-beautiful-and-complex-art-moroccan-mosaics7 http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-beautiful-and-complex-art-moroccan-mosaics8 http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-beautiful-and-complex-art-moroccan-mosaics9 http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-beautiful-and-complex-art-moroccan-mosaics10 See under ‘Moroccan art’ heading

The‘OrthodoxPlate’

Plate 1

Plate 2

Plate 3

TO BHMA20/38 MAY 2015

Travel

BY HARIS ARGYROPOULOS

The problem with stereo-types is that they tell only partof the truth. So it is with theimage of Myconos as a desti-nation where visitors pay exor-bitant prices for coffees, mealsand drinks, form long lines forsunbeds and spend a fortuneon acommodation. You can –but you don’t have to.

Myconos could be seen asepitomizing the current Greekpredicament: It has Greece’shighest income per capita andis suspected of having one ofthe country’s highest rates oftax evasion. Property prices ri-val or exceed those of fashion-able areas of Athens.

Many Greek VIPs have holi-day homes here or visit regu-larly, while the nightlife is a mi-crocosm of the capital’s. Butthe stereotype of a party islandthat never sleeps also only tellspart of the truth: The place hasgrown so much as to offer am-ple accommodation options,including a reasonably pricedquiet night’s sleep - even athigh season.

Before tourism became in-dustrialized in Greece, likemost of the country, Myconoswas a poor place, where peo-ple eked out a living via fishingand farming. But perhaps noother island conveyed the orig-inal Cycladic stereotype ofwhitewashed sugar-cube hous-es and similarly hued windmillsagainst the backdrop of barrenhills and the dazzling blue ofthe Aegean. This proved to beMyconos’s strength.

From a distance, as you ap-proach the port town, it is to-day barely recognizable: Thesugar cubes have grown andpropagated and seem to be at-tempting to cover every avail-able inch of land. However, theoriginal settlement at the heartof Hora retains the core of itsappeal: narrow alleyways flan-ked by tiny, white two-storyhouses with balconies, bluedoors and windows, woodenrailings in all colors of the rain-bow and bougainvillea spillingover the walls. Many of thesehomes have been convertedinto shops or bars.

Little Venice, the neighbour-hood dubbed so because of

the way the captains’ and richmerchants’ houses were builton the water in the 18th centu-ry, may be one of Greece’smost photographed locations,especially at sunset, and - notsurprisingly - one with themost expensive bars and cafes:Caprice, with its wonderfulcocktails, Astra, famous for itsjet-setting clientele, Guzel, Re-mezzo, the Scandinavian Barand Cavo Paradiso - whereclosing time is well after sun-

rise. Revelers should stop byYiora’s bakery for a postclub-bing snack from its wood-burn-ing oven. E arly morning is infact the best time to explorethe main town of Hora andtake pictures.

Just a stone’s throw awayfrom Little Venice are the land-mark windmills. Continuingthrough the alleyways to thenorth, you’ll come to anothermuch-photographed site, theChurch of Panaghia Parapor-

tiani - a complex of five church-es in one superb, all-whitestructure that resembles acake covered with powderedsugar. Across the port you willmeet Petros and Irini, thetown’s two pelican mascots.

Myconos is wind-swept, likemost of the Cyclades. Thereare very few trees and littlevegetation on the landscapethat is crisscrossed by old dry-stone walls. Apart from Hora,the only other settlement that

could be said to constitute avillage is Ano Mera. A numberof areas are noted for their in-tensive development of occa-sionally unsightly holiday ho-mes and complexes.

Myconos offers many oppor-tunities for watersports, scubadiving, fishing and horsebackriding. Most beaches are pac-ked in the high season but con-siderably more relaxed in thefall. The most popular ones arealong the southern coast: Psa-rou is the place to be seen andwhere sunbeds have a waitinglist in August; Elia boasts gold-en sand, crystal-clear watersand facilities for water-skiing;Kalo Livadi is one of the lon-gest, with plenty of organizedfacilities.

Platys Gialos is better suitedfor families and watersportsaficionados - boats from herewill take you to Super Paradiseand Elia. Kappari, 5 kilometersfrom Hora, is accessed on footafter a certain point.

The view of the island of De-los - sacred to the ancients -and the sunset is amply re-warding from here. The north-ern side has isolated and qui-eter beaches, such as F okos,Mersini and Houlakia.

Source: ATHENSPLUS

The Greek Australian VEMA

Getting thereThere are several ferry connec-

tions from Piraeus and Rafina daily:Hellenic Seaways (t. 210.4199000),Blue Star F erries (t. 210.891.9800),Aegean Speed Lines (t. 210.969.0950), Seajet (t. 210.412.1001). Youcan also fly with Aegean Airlines(t. 801.11.20000). There is a goodlocal bus service but the best way ofgetting about is by renting a car orscooter, as taxis are hard to comeby and it may spoil your holiday ifyou have to wait long for one, espe-cially if you are staying outside Ho-ra. There are three parking lotsaround Hora.

Where to eat There are countless Greek and

foreign cuisine establishments of allcategories. Local specialities are thelouza (cured pork), sausage and ko-panisti - a soft, peppery goat’s chee-se. In Hora: Madoupas (t. 22224)and old cafe/restaurant favored bylocals; Gialos, opposite the fish mar-ket, has very good seafood; Mae-reio, tiny place at 16 K alogera St,and Nautilus (6 K alogera), for finetraditional Greek and local dishes;Oti Apomeine (t. 71534) in AnoMera, excellent grill; Filippis (t.22295), frequented by celebrities, shutsdown for the winter in October.

Where to stay Area phone code: 22890. Myco-

nos has some of Greece’s most lux-urious hotels and spa resorts. Start-ing rates at 200 euros: Belvedere (t.25122, www.belvederehotel.com) asmall boutique hotel in Hora; StJohn Resort (t. 28752), with views ofDelos. From 110 euros: Ilio Maris (t.23755, ), near the bus stop; Theoxe-nia (t. 22230) featuring 60s glam el-ements. From 70 euros: Elena(t. 23457) in Rahari and Despotiko(t. 24600), which closes in mid-Oc-tober. Low-budget luxury: Ftelia Bay(t. 71648).

Where to eat There are several museums: The

large Archaeological (one of thecountry’s oldest), houses finds fromneighboring Rinia and other Cycla-dic islands; the Folk History and theAegean Maritime museums and Spi-ti tis Lenas are along Enoplon Dy-nameon Street, one of Hora’s bu-siest; a visit to Delos island, an an-cient sanctuary, is a must, to see thetheater, the temples and the muse-um with its excellent collection.Boats run Tuesdays to Sundays fromPalio Limani (t. 23051), starting at 9a.m.; budget at least two hours for atour.

3 421

MyconosGoing beyond the party lineJet-setting Athenians love this Cycladic island for its glam nightlife,but it also has much to offer the less ostentatious visitor

MAY 2015 E-mail: [email protected] DISCIPLINE IN THE ...greekorthodox.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/VEMA_MAY_2015_ENG.pdf · the city’s first movie theater in 1908. The Astor

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