New Acropolis Museum visitors

The New Acropolis Museum received 90,000 visitors in the first seven days since its official inauguration on June 20, Culture Minister Antonis Samaras disclosed on Monday.

Speaking during a press conference, the minister said that the cost of the inauguration events, which were attended by several foreign heads of state and government, did not exceed the anticipated sum of 3 million euros, adding that the targets his ministry had set regarding the ceremony were met, especially the coverage from international mass media.

Four hundred and forty journalists representing 167 international mass media organisations were hosted for the three-day inauguration events, while the cost of the ceremony itself amounted to 1,860,090 euros plus VAT, Samaras explained.

The average number of tickets for the e-ticketing section for the first five days reached 11,000, while visits to the new museum's website exceeded 260,000 from the Americas to Nepal and Mongolia.

The culture minister also announced that the museum will be open from 8 am to 8 pm all year round.



Caption: Some 90,000 visitors swarmed to the New Acropolis Museum in the first week since its official inauguration on June 20. (ANA-MPA/K. Mavrona)

Source: Athens News Agency

Athens Transportation: New 'tourist ticket' for Athens

The Athens public transport organisation OASA on Monday unveiled a new three-day ticket costing 15 euros that will be valid for travel on all means of public transport in and around the city, that will begin to be offered from Wednesday.

The new "tourist ticket" has been designed to act as a travel card for those visiting Athens for short stays. It gives unlimited travel for three full days after it is first used, including journeys to and from the airport and the 400 OASA Athens sight-seeing bus.

The new ticket will be on sale at the ETHEL buses at the airport, the Proastiakos suburban railway stations at the airport, Larissis and Piraeus, Syntagma metro station and the ISAP electric railway stations at Piraeus and Omonia.

Source: Athens News Agency

Pindos Mountain: The nine geo-wonders on Pindos Mountain Range

The rocks of Deskati in the prefecture of Grevena, northwestern Greece, have attracted the interest of geologists worldwide as they tell the geological history of the earth and were the basis for the development of the tectonic plates theory.

Deskati and the greater region of Vounasa are among the nine geo-wonders in the Pindos Mountain Range that were the subject of a scientific conference held in the Prefecture of Grevena aimed at their promotion into tourist destinations.

The rocks of Deskati were created 700 million years ago when the ancient supercontinent Pangaea (meaning "all earth" in Greek) broke up to form the European and African continents. Later they were submerged into the Tethys Ocean that existed between the continents and united the region of today's Britain with China.

After several hundred million years the continents of Europe and Africa collided, resulting in the creation of the Alps. Tethys Ocean defined the landscape of the eastern Mediterranean and one of its underwater mountain ranges formed Mt Vourinos in Grevena, the region's second geo-wonder. Rocks that are part of the earth's ancient crust that were brought to the surface as a result of the Europe-Africa collision can be found across the Valia Calda National Forest.

The nine geo-wonders of Pindos include the heavily deformed limestone rocks at Mt Tsourgiakas and their small waterfalls, the gorge of Portitsa, the Pierced Rock formed as a result of erosion, Vasilitsa and its multicoloured rocks, the villages of Dotsiko and Mesolouri with their 30-million-years old coral reef and the village of Monachiti with its 50-meter wide vertical rocks.

Meanwhile, the Aliakmon River Gorge is currently being studied by scientists from the United States, the UK, Serbia, Italy and Greece in an intense effort to have its geological data recorded considering that by the end of the next decade it will be flooded as soon as the construction of the Public Power Corporation SA "Ilarion" Dam is completed.

Source: Athens News Agency

SWINE FLU IN GREECE

Number of cases up to 88

Two men, aged 18 and 27, have become Greece’s latest swine flu sufferers, taking the total cases in the country to 88, the Health Ministry said yesterday. The two men contracted the potentially fatal disease after coming into contact with others who were carrying the virus. The ministry said that 31 of those who had contracted the disease have been discharged from the hospital.

No smoking in public areas from 1st of July in Greece

Just one day before Greece is due to introduce strict regulations to crack down on smoking in public places, in line with European Union law, the Health Ministry yesterday still had not issued the official decision explaining the obligations of bars and restaurants.

Mayors and prefects said they had received dozens of queries from traders regarding the necessary changes to their premises and possible changes to their operating licenses. Without a ministerial decision, local authorities say they cannot give traders clear answers to queries.

Speaking to Kathimerini, a high-ranking source at the ministry said the decision in question was due to be made public today. The source added that most bars and restaurants operated outdoor premises over summer and so would have until October to make changes to their premises. According to the new regulations, bars and restaurants larger than 70 square meters must create separate sections for smokers, while owners of establishments smaller than 70 square meters must decide whether to declare the premises exclusively smoking or nonsmoking. The City of Athens yesterday said that it had received 400 applications from establishments smaller than 70 square meters for the special sticker that will establish them as nonsmoking premises. These 400 bars and restaurants represent about one in 10 of establishments of their size in Athens.

source: eKathimerini Newspaper

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