In 1912, the Italian warship Regina Margerita reached Karpathos Island and released its anchor. However, the chain got loose fell into the sea along with the anchor.  The Italian admiral who was on the ship immediately asked for the help of the local people on the island.

In 1942, during the Occupation of the Germans and the Italians, a 13-year-old boy in Tripolis saved the bones of Theodoros Kolokotronis, the revolutionary leader of 1821 against the Ottomans, putting his life at immense risk. After 77 years, this man tells us this breathtaking story.

Artemis Hatzigiannaki is a talented notary with a talent in painting, who evolved into a remarkable painter. Her favorite themes are Smyrna and Athens, which she represents with a unique sensitivity and originality.

"The songs about Kolokotronis touched my soul without me noticing it. Everyone used to sing in my village and in my home too. My mother used to say: In the evening we'll go visit your uncle and you can sing for us. I’ll pay you five cents for your performance. If my silence and embarrassment didn't go away she would tell me again: You better sing, otherwise I will have to give you ten cents".

"When my daughter got A in primary school I gave her a Cocker Spaniel as a reward. That was when my great love for animals was born. After a while I bought German Shepheard’s, Rottweilers, Labradors, Yorkshires, cats, hens, doves, gooses, peacocks. I also bought an estate so that they would have enough space to live”.

In Nicosia, Cyprus there is a traditional patisserie next to the fortification sacks and barrels that separate the free from the occupied part of the city. Its owner is Thodoris Disios, from the Greek village Kria Vrisi in Giannitsa.

Many Greeks of the diaspora who passionately love Greece visit www.greecewithin.com. One of them is Dimitris Rellos, who was born in Kleitoria, Kalavryta, and migrated to New York 43 years ago. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in Computer Science and became a manager in large U.S. companies, as well as owner of his own software development consulting firm. Every year, he visits his home village and reunites with family and childhood friends. We recently communicated and learned that he is a master of expressive photography and maintains the notable website www.DimitriRellos.com. We asked him to send us a series of photos he shot during his travels in Greece and to accompany each photo with a caption that describes his emotional response to the visual stimulus of each subject captured. The results are striking and affecting.

“When I was in primary school, I saw a neighbor training pigeons. He called them divers, because they used to fly very high and dive downwards. I liked the show and the buzz they made as they were heading down. A moment before they reached the pigeon house they opened their wings and slowed down. Some didn’t make it and got killed on the paved road”.

So many young scientists are abandoning Greece for a better future abroad that it is actually newsworthy when Greeks decide to stay and invest in their homeland.

George Apostolakis makes a reed musical instrument, called the ney, in his workshop in Ritsona, close to Halkida. The ney produces a warm and hoarse sound. It has its roots in the Near East and gives Greek traditional music a special quality. 

"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".

Eighty six years have passed since the Greek daily newspaper "Evening Post" was first released in Constantinople. Along with the Turkish Cumhuriyet, they are both Turkey's oldest newspapers. The Evening Post used to sell 30,000 papers, which was more than the Turkish newspapers used to sell, as the Greeks were numerous and they used to read a lot, due to their high educational level. Nowadays it sells 600 papers, 90% of which are being sold in Constantinople and the rest of them in Greece. As the number of the Greek-speaking families in Constantinople is equal to the Evening Post's circulation, this newspaper could be easily included in the Guinness Book, since it's being read by the 99,9% of its potential readers.

Costis Fountoulakis started learning the art of saddling a horse near Georgis Tsachakis in Saint Galin, who had 5-6 employees back then. But during the German Occupation, when the Englishmen started bombing the Germans at the port, his mother was afraid that her boys would be killed and took them to Apodoulou village, in the inland of the region Amari, in order to save them. That is where saddler Nicholas Rizikianos had his shop, and Costis Fountoulakis immediately started to work there as an intern.

Manolis Rasoulis used to travel a lot to explore the world and write music. We are close friends and fellow travellers in some journeys and found out we have a common artisitc purpose. He had his pen and I had my camera to express the world and people's lives. We met for the last time a few days before he died, when he was reciting a prologue during a music event for Manos Hadjidakis at the haunt of "Ianos" bookshop. "When one loses limits one must take measures" he said among other things to the audience, referring to the economic crisis that's plaguing our country.

When you knock on someone's door in Crete a smiling face comes into sight saying: "Welcome, have some raki". Offering raki is like an invitation to a more intimate approach and communication among people. Especially people who take part to the production “ritual” of the drink reach high levels of comradeship.