A historical village of Gortynia with traditional houses made of stone, surrounded by the fir forest of Mount Mainalon, in Arcadia. Gortynia is where the 1821 Revolution against the Turks began. The village has an amazing folklore museum, one of the best in Greece. Villagers produce local, homemade dairy products, pasta and jams. It is an ideal location for winter and summer vacation.

We recently watched "The Apology of Socrates" by Plato at the grove in Nea Smyrni, a play directed by Dimos Avdeliotis. As long as people like Avdeliotis continue to work, we don’t fear for our country. He is a beacon of sensibility, compensating the raggedness of modern society. He sees theatrical plays like musical scores and teaches his actors in a unique experiential way. He is simple and does not favor pretenses and aimless experimentation. The audience perceives his performances in the same way, regardless of age and level of education.

Zografeion Greek High School, which is in the historical district of Peran, was built in 1893. It was mainly funded by the benefactor Christakis Zografos and the lead architect was Pericles Photiades. Today it has only 49 students, many of whom live far from the school and even have a boat ride in front of them in order to get there. They uncomplainingly wake up very early in the morning, under hard weather conditions and cross long distances, not only to obtain Greek education but also to meet with other Greeks and keep their school and their nation alive.

The Stavros Niarhos Foundation Cultural Center enchants numerous visitors. The "heart" of the center is the amazing building complex, by the hand of architect Renzo Piano, where all the sophisticated concert halls and galleries are housed. The complex is surrounded by a garden which extends for hundreds of acres and includes outdoor concert halls and a water canal for sailboats. It is truly a monumental project which will be completed in 2016 and will be donated to the Greek state in 2017. (Editor's note: Τhis album includes photographs from the outdoors. An album with photos from the indoors will be created at a later date)

The International Contemporary Art Fair “21st Art Athina” kicked off on the 26th of May and ended on the 29th. The fair is an annual event and every year, it is a little bit more successful than the last. It was organized for the first time by the Hellenic Art Galleries Association in 1993 and since then it has been steadily helping contemporary art gain more fans in Greece.

Ioulida, the capital of Kea Island, looks like an eagle’s nest on the top of the mountain. The densely built houses with shingle roofs compose a rare architectural ensemble that looks like a painting. Amongst the houses, a labyrinth of paved side-streets lead to the beautiful square of the Town Hall. No matter where you stand in Ioulida, the sea can always be seen at a distance -like looking out of an airplane window.

Into the vast olive grove of Amari in Rethymnon and near the small village Saint Paraskevi, there is a two-aisled stone chapel dedicated to the Transfiguration and to Saint Raphael. Twice a year, on the 6th of August and on the third day of Easter, worshipers from the nearby villages visit it in order to enliven it. It took them seven years to build it by themselves, offering their work and many building materials. It is being kept very clean and they take care of it more than they do with their own homes.

A village dangling off the volcano's crater. All houses are traditional and built abiding strict guidelines. Electric cables run underground, and there is absolutely nothing to obstruct the amazing view. A couple of decades ago, the islands’ inhabitants were poor and used to dig burrows in the rocks in order to have shelter. Nowadays, the situation has been completely reversed.

In Crete’s "economy of the mountains", sheep shearing and wool production for weaving has played an important role ever since the Minoan era. This can easily be seen on signs at the palace of Knossos. Breeders used to wait till summer to shear their sheep and obtain the precious wool, which was used to make the family’s clothes, coverlets and their daughters trousseau’s.

Every morning of every season, Ouranopolis port at Chalkidiki is crowded by men waiting for the ship that goes to Mount Athos. That's where the end of the "modern" world is; beyond this point there are no highways and no limos. Only narrow paths. The boat that leads to Daphne passes near desolate and peaceful coasts, like the ones that existed in the old times, without massive buildings and factory chimneys.

Α day in Mount Athos begins and ends in the church. Monks move along like shadows in the dim light, singing hymns that have been perfected after years of repetition. In monasteries, monks work hard in order to exercise their faith, take care of the huge and old buildings but also to feed the thousands of visiting worshipers whilst always being available to listen to their pain or joy.

The boat returning from the Mount Athos glides in the sea like a sled on snow. Minute by minute the mountain is left behind, looking like like a step that unites heaven and earth. In the passengers' eyes, monasteries don't look like imposing and massive buildings anymore, but like calm shelters.

"We first thought of starting the Volunteer Team in 2007, after the summer fires in the Peloponnese. After a while we created a team of voluntary fire protection, to keep an eye on the forests and inform the Fire Department if we saw a fire. That's how our idea came to life and we decided to name it: I give my day to the forest".

"Put the camera down immediately because it is forbidden in this place". The guard's tone didn't take any objections. A few hours ago, when we were among tourists from all over the world at the ground floor of Saint Marcus's temple in Venice, no one prevented us from taking pictures of the place. When we got on the balcony, though, where pieces of art that had been snatched from Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1204 were being kept, after its conquest by the crusaders, we were almost treated as criminals.

"How stupid can those who govern us be? They've ruined this country. It pains me to say it but unfortunately that's the truth. We are importing most of our products from other countries, while the local produce remains unsold. Even in Loutro of Sfakia, a very small village only accessible by boat, imports its honey from Argentina".