Driving home westbound on the Egnatia freeway from a full day at the beach, near Kavala, I managed to convince my exhausted family to make a small detour. Because a few minutes off the freeway lies a hidden gem of Northern Greece - The Lion of Amphipolis - a colossal marble lion rising from the fields by the Strymon River.

If you've ever wandered between a Greek taverna and an Italian trattoria, you may have noticed something strange: some of the dishes sound oddly familiar—but are nothing alike. Here are three classic examples of Greek–Italian culinary “false friends”. 1. Pancetta (Italian) vs. Pansetta (Greek) Pancetta (Italy): Salt-cured pork belly, usually rolled and sliced thin. Used in pasta dishes like carbonara or eaten raw, similar to prosciutto.

It wasn’t until a coworker from India mentioned her travel plans that I started thinking of Greece as a “milk nation.”“I want to go to Greece and eat yogurt,” she said.It stopped me in my tracks. I’ve heard all kinds of reasons to visit Greece—history, beaches, mythology, olives—but this was a first. Intrigued, I asked why.She explained that as a vegetarian, she travels the world through food, but in many places meat dominates the menu.

There’s something about bazaars that speaks to a time before supermarkets and shopping malls. A time when going to buy cheese or a pair of shoes might have involved hitching a ride with a neighbor,…

The Cappadocian Greeks were one of several Greek-speaking communities who lived for centuries in what is now central Turkey—part of a broader group known as the Asia Minor Greeks. In essence the As…

The Lake of Giannitsa—historically known as Loudias Lake—was once a vast, shallow marshland in Central Macedonia, fed by the Loudias River. For generations, the area was infamous for its dense wetl…

The village of Agrosykia is where my father was born, and it is my most and best memories of Greece as well as my family’s home base Greece. In Greek the name means Wild Fig Tree. But it wasn…

There’s something about bazaars that speaks to a time before supermarkets and shopping malls. A time when going to buy cheese or a pair of shoes might have involved hitching a ride with a neighbor, or taking the bus to the next town over. When “going shopping” meant going to the bazaar. I’ve always loved these markets. Not just for what you can buy—but for what they represent.

The Cappadocian Greeks were one of several Greek-speaking communities who lived for centuries in what is now central Turkey—part of a broader group known as the Asia Minor Greeks. In essence the Asia Minor Greeks stayed and kept their culture, language and religion, as the lands around them was conquered and turned in to a Muslim empire. After hundreds of years, they were forced to migrate to modern day Greece.