New! A Greek Journey. Words and Images

I’m excited to announce the publication of a compelling new book that reflects months of dedicated work. Greece at its most beautiful, in words and images. That’s A Greek Journey. Words and Images, my latest book, which has been released on November 28, 2025. In A Greek Journey. Words and Images one hundred of my photographs are each paired with a saying, a few lines from a song, or a quote from an ancient philosopher, modern Greek writer or foreign … Read More

Dionysis Savvopoulos (1944-2025)

  Last Tuesday, on October 21 2025, the singer Dionysis Savvopoulos died, at the age of 80. A poet, composer, and performer, Savvopoulos has been a musical chronicler of modern Greece for over half a century – blending poetry, politics, traditional folk sounds with rock influences. Early Life and Beginnings Born in Thessaloniki in 1944, Savvopoulos grew up in a country still recovering from war and political turmoil. He began studying law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki but soon … Read More

Kalamata harbour

Kalamata, the beautiful eyes of the south

“I wake up one morning drowning in the routine. I put down my guitar and leave Athens, and my happiness blew me at dawn to the south, which has beautiful girls and always summer. Heraklion, Kalamata and sweet cherry…” sings Miltiadis Paschalidis in his song Iraklio-Kalamata. The best olives in the world It is a bit strange that this singer chooses these two cities in this song. Because Heraklion and Kalamata are not exactly the first cities that come to … Read More

View Syrako

Syrako, jewel of the Tzoumerka

Nestled in the rugged landscape of the Tzoumerka mountains in northwestern Greece lies the picturesque village of Syrako. With its stone-built houses and cobblestone streets, it offers a unique glimpse into the past, making it a must-visit destination for travelers seeking an authentic Greek mountain experience. This small mountain village is not easy to reach. Although it’s only 50 kilometres from the city of Ioannina, where we are staying this week, the car ride took us one and a half … Read More

Selection of wines at Fine Wine

Enjoying Greek wines in Athens

Where to go and what to taste, when you are keen on tasting Greek wines? That’s a question I’m going to help you with. Of course you can travel around in Greece, visit as many as possible wineries, taste wines from all different regios, like I did when I was writing my book (in the Dutch language) Druiven en droesem, een reis langs Griekse wijngaarden (2011). That’s of course not necessary, you can also start in Athens. I will guide … Read More

The National Gallery – Alexander Soutsos Museum in Athens

In the pouring rain I’m heading for the National Gallery. Because of the heavy rain, it’s a perfect day to be inside a museum, and immerse myself for a couple of hours in the world of Greek art. The National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum is a brand new museum. The opening ceremony was held on March 24, 2021. That was a day before the 200th anniversary of the Greek War of Independence. It is located in the district of … Read More

The Athenian, a unique picture of Greek history.

Greece has a large amount of printed newspapers and magazines. Fifteen daily national newspapers, sixteen sunday papers and ten weekly papers. Besides that, there are dozens of local and regional printed newspapers, and more than a hundred magazines. But printed Greek news in the English language is hard to find. For many years, I was a fan of Athens News, a newspaper which first appeared in 1952. I couldn’t properly read Greek in the 90’s, and when travelling through Greece, … Read More

My Greek wine tips

Greek wines are gaining more and more popularity. The quality is rising, there are more boutique wineries and the export is expanding. In 2011 my book Druiven en droesem, een reis langs Griekse wijngaarden was published. Since then, the Greek wine industry has developed extensively. Nowadays, there are more than 1200 wineries. They produce 2,1 milion hectoliters wine. Consumers abroad are getting slowly familiar with Greek grapes like Xinomavro, Agiorgitiko, Malagousia and Assyrtiko. A few weeks ago I sat down … Read More

Passimenterie Benaki

Workplace and museum: the Passimenterie Mentis in Athens

Traditional factories and workplaces in Greece are dying. They either scale up their production, replace outdated machinery and modernise their production lines, or they just perish and close their doors. Just very few workplaces still cherish their old machinery, keep on producing like they did for decades. Mostly because their owners can’t afford renewing and replacing, sometimes because they just love their old-fashioned production line. One of the oldest manufacturing venture in the country, Mentis, started in 1867. The factory … Read More

Greek wines

The revival of wines from Greece

“It’s taken 34 centuries, but Greek wine is finally good”, wrote wine writer David Williams in The Guardian a few days ago. Greeks are indeed among the first in the world to have produced wine. But despite the long history of winemaking, the wines themselves were not that great, and couldn’t compete on the international market. A lot changed some twenty years ago. A few young winemakers were trained in the best wine schools abroad, and continued to learn the … Read More

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