A crossroads between Italy and Spain since ancient times, Provence was influenced by their culture, but over the centuries it has shown its French uniqueness. It was my great pleasure to talk about this region, which I have discovered during my long sojourns, and to explore with the friends of the Ecali Club its gorgeous landscapes that have enchanted its international lovers.

We wandered the famous resorts of the Côte d'Azur; we crossed spectacular gorges and beautiful meadows with lavender plantations; I narrated stories about châtelaines and troubadours; we enjoyed the fine art of living, the delight of its refined cuisine, the traditions of its inhabitants; and we were marvelled by the ivy-covered façades to the way in which the houses cascade down the hill-villages, images straight from a fairy tale. Everything emerging from this unique Provençal style!

A heartfelt thank you to the management of the Ecali Club.

The book PROVENCE, Fragrances will be translated into English in the near future.

Read more about the book in Greek ΠΡΟΒΗΓΚΙΑ, Στον Ίσκιο των Αποχρώσεων

I was fascinated by the first explorers, the Portuguese and the Spaniards, whose stories followed us along the cruise organized by Variety Cruises entitled: “The Glories of Portugal and Spain”. They were those navigators who in the 15th century started to spread the culture of Western Europe on the planet.

Their caravels, loaded with precious goods, returned to the ports of Algarve and Andalusia, and with the incredible wealth they accumulated, they adorned churches, monasteries and palaces, flooded with gold and silver.

The legends of the exploration delighted my fellow travellers, a subject that I revealed to them as we entered from the Atlantic Ocean to the Guadalquivir river to reach Seville. A theme that looked like a fairy tale, so distant in time, but so true.

A warm thank you to Variety Cruises for their wonderful hospitality www.varietycruises.com

There are beautiful landscapes, more beautiful landscapes, and a third category – those that are incomparably unique. That’s where I place Tuscany and I was delighted to convey its beauty to my beloved audience to the point where everyone felt like they were there.

Indeed, we did a magical journey to the golden hills and the famous vineyards; we wandered through medieval towns and castles, monasteries with unique frescoes and historic villas. I also talked about the traditions and the hidden details of everyday life of the Tuscans which never fail to charm us, sharing vividly my thoughts and feelings of my cherished Tuscany that it is a treasure to find.

I warmly thank the Club’s management for the perfect organization of the event.

Learn more: A Year in Tuscany

I enjoyed so much the presentation of the book GREECE, The Dance of the Seas, this wonderful evening at the ATHENS CENTRE. As I revealed to the audience, I wrote the book more from my heart and less from my mind because I felt a great need to write about my country, and especially about the beauty of its islands.

I also noted that I was deeply fascinated by the two different cultures, the West and the East, that left their traces on the culture of our islands, as they were the maritime crossroads of sea trade routes since antiquity due to their strategic position in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

So, before our enchanted eyes, the dance of the Greek seas unfolded with pirates and knights, corsairs and merchants, sea battles and raids, Venetian galleys, clippers, Greek brigantines and Ottoman vessels which today are reflected in elegant yachts and beautiful sailboats.This is the image that Greece projects to the planet today, and this was the essence of my presentation. The legend of our maritimes - sometimes lit violently by the lightning of Zeus, and other times caressed by the sun of Apollo.

I warmly thank the ATHENS CENTRE for its invitation and its exquisite hospitality at the reception that followed in the charming courtyard of its premises, under the starry Athenian sky.

 Read more about the book: GREECE, The Dance of the Seas

This beautiful afternoon, the painter Mina Kordalis invited her friend, travel writer Barbara Athanassiadis, to her atelier to present with images and words her book My Venice, creating an ideal match between writing and painting.

Inside the wonderful space, we appreciated the artistic evolution of the painter through her paintings, characterized by originality and artistic dynamism.  Mina Kordalis was invited to exhibit at the Palazzo Franchetti on the Grand Canal, which Barbara has often had occasion to admire from the Accademia Bridge during her walks in Venice.

With this in mind, she began to fascinate us too, offering us the possibility to travel with her to the magic of the lagoon city. The colours and shapes of the paintings were a treat for the eyes while Barbara adjusted her voice spontaneously to each image, conquering us with the theatrical verve of her personality and with the unexpected revelation of an innocence enclosed as a precious treasure. Her passion, her speech, her talent and the charming atmosphere made us travel to another world. A truly beautiful experience.

Barbara is a person of great experience and maturity, with an innate tendency to broaden her horizons.  Her kindness, her courtesy, her knowledge and her love for writing and for travel have allowed her to introduce ourselves to the hidden jewels of Venice with great craftsmanship as she has had the privilege of observing them and conquering us with her charm. The visual and acoustic stimuli were such that we were literally hanging from her lips, while I drew inspiration from the modulation of her voice, in the name of accuracy and authenticity.

Reading the book My Venice I realized that the author deserves a prominent place in the modern European travel literature, thanks to the smoothness of her writing and the way in which she addresses issues that lead to a happy outcome for the mind and spirit. The book offers much to the reader, and he becomes immersed in it like a sweet embrace. Lovers of good literature and fine travel cannot but be happy about it. The seriousness, the taste for details, the originality, the aesthetic passion and the great sensitivity of Barbara: all together for a book that transforms into a work of art.

I don’t know, maybe I was influenced by the ambience or by the emotion of the meeting. Or maybe by the oxygen that we exchanged and the words of the writer? In any case, all friends were left speechless and tried to hold back the uniqueness of those moments after they had already been transported. Because Art, in all its forms, provides a model and highlights the harmony of life itself.

Thanassis Spiliopoulos, writer, painter

Learn more: MY VENICE

With India always in my heart and during a fragrant English tea at the PYRNA Cultural Association in the beautiful, verdant suburb of Kifissia, north of Athens, we enjoyed a unique journey to Rajasthan with the theme of the Maharajas, as experienced through their rich history, fabulous palaces, splendid fortresses and colourful bazaars, all combined in a wonderful mosaic of images taken from the fairy tales.

I communicated to the dearest friends of PYRNA the beauty of this magical country, seen through my eyes, and I was truly happy when, at the end of the lecture, distant INDIA entered their hearts as if they, too, had been there. It was so natural! My speech was guided by the spirit of INDIA with its ancient cultures and traditions. My words were just an expression of this.

Immersed in the delicious ambience of the villa lounge where PYRNA is housed and embraced by the meticulous care of the management, I felt at home.

A warm thank you to the ladies’ hospitality.

Learn more: INDIA and my Persian garden

My great love for Egypt and my many travels throughout the country inspired me to write the travel novel “A Journey to the Nile" which I had the pleasure to present at the Ecali Club. Many friends assisted in the event and we travelled together to the places where the English heroine of the book lives her many adventures. The presentation was at the same time a lecture. I colourfully narrated various stories about the archaeological sites on the banks of the Nile, stories that struck me when I had visited and which I was surprised to see my friends following with great interest.

As long as the presentation lasted, it was as if I were in the oases of the desert; on the banks of the Nile with its biblical images; in the bustling atmosphere of Cairo with its oriental bazaars, palaces and mansions; in the fields with the fellahs; in the beautiful hotels that belonged to another era and were situated along the banks of the river; and, last but not least, deep within the world of the heroes of my book.

When the lecture ended and I heard the enthusiastic applause of the friends, I realized that I was not in my beloved Egypt but in the delightful ambience of the Ecali Club, with its flawless organization regarding the event.

A warm thank you to the Club's management and to all the friends who lovingly embraced my new book: EGYPT, A Journey to the Nile, which will be translated in English in the near future.

Read more about the book in Greek : ΑΙΓΥΠΤΟΣ, Πέρασμα στον Νείλο

In the wonderful atmosphere of the Ecali Club in Athens, I was invited to give a lecture on Venice “The Splendour of the Floating City”.

It was a virtual and eloquent tour comprising the Myth, History and the Beauty of its Arts, and we discovered hidden corners, walked through alleys and stopped at the charming bridges above the canals to contemplate the architecture of the Gothic palaces.

This is My Venice. Μy beloved city whose images, sounds and light are always within me. The audience was fascinated by the magic of this dream-like city, and I was so pleased to share this truly delightful experience with them through personal anecdotes and experiences.

Learn more: MY VENICE

With great pleasure I gave the lecture The Voyage of the Order of the Knights of St. John in the Mediterranean to an audience that was deeply interested in the History of the Crusades and the Mediterranean Sea.  All this transpired in the elegant atmosphere of the Argo Gallery in Athens.

We wandered from Jerusalem to Syria, from Cyprus to Rhodes and the coasts of Asia Minor to Malta and Rome, embarking on an adventurous journey that followed the history of the Order of the Knights of St. John and the places where they settled.

After the lecture we were delighted to taste the amber-coloured sweet wine known as Commandaria, which the Knights loved to drink so much. The wine was produced in the vineyards around their castle in Limassol, Cyprus in the 13th century, and was exported to Europe’s royal courts. Large quantities of which were also produced to supply pilgrims en route to the Holy Land.

There are some cities that charm you, and others that capture your imagination. Then there are those that remain in your heart.

Thirty years ago, I discovered Rome with a book by the French writer, Stendhal.  Walks in Rome in hand, I set about the city and observed it through his eyes, even though he had visited Rome at the beginning of the 19th century and I only began to live there in the late 20th century. The city of course had not changed all that much, but beyond what I was seeing through the eyes of Stendhal, what I held as the most precious lesson was not to waste my gaze here and there.

I focused my attention on a work of Art, on a view, on the architectural detail of a church, the interior decoration of a palace or even focused on an artistic / social event in which I was participating, with the city providing the perfect backdrop. A whole world opened before me, ready to be assimilated effortlessly, in a genteel way, and with all my sensations.

At that time I didn’t know that I would ever write a book about the city that had adopted me. This happened much later. But Stendhal’s lesson, apparently, had brought to light that magic that is so difficult to explain. As soon as I started writing, the words flew onto the blank, white page like the rushing waters of the Tiber.  It was not me who was writing, but rather Rome that spoke through me.

The audience enjoyed the lecture as we wandered through the old narrow streets, inside the spectacular palaces and around the squares with the gushing Baroque fountains of the Eternal City.

Learn more: FEELING ROME

In the elegant atmosphere of the ARGO Gallery, I was delighted to give a lecture on India with the subject: “When Fantasy meets Reality”. Not only was the audience fascinated by the splendid colours, the stunning landscapes and the majestic palaces of the Maharajas, I, myself, was once again wrapped up in its seductive aura and it felt as if I was narrating a fairy tale.

My words flowed effortlessly, but it was India that spoke through me, unravelling its Arts and History and revealing its treasures. From the Mughal emperors in Old Delhi, down to Agra with its romantic mausoleum, the Taj Mahal. From its legendary medieval fortresses in Rajasthan, to the pink and blue cities of Jaipur and Jodhpur, far up in the Thar desert where caravans had once crossed, on their way from Persia and where Rajput tribes still live today, to end up in the mythical collections of the Maharajahs of Udaipur, and finally, we sailed up to the peaceful, exquisite Lake Palace, which we saw being borne through the water.

Imagination and reality, dream and life, all mingled within us. Step by step, we let India give us its splendid lesson through its great contradictions and exaggerations, and we completed the lecture at the buffet with a delicious pilaf curry with tiny shrimps to get a last, lingering taste.

Learn more: INDIA and my Persian garden

Subsequent to the gracious invitation of the Cultural Association TEXNH ART PATMOS, where I have the honour of being a member, I was delighted to give a lecture on Venice to the international set of friends that spend summers in their beautiful, old mansions in Chora - the capital of the island.

Sure that many of them had visited Venice, the theme of the lecture was specific: the birth of the city emerging from the waters, its ties to the Byzantine Empire that strengthened it in order to expand its possessions of the Greek islands of the Aegean and Ionian Seas and, finally, its stormy rapport with the Ottoman Empire. All these factors influenced the Serenissima so much that many scholar-travellers said that the Orient actually began in Venice.

The lecture was held in the charming garden of a dear Italian friend overlooking the picturesque harbour, with the moon sending its silvery light onto the sea to illuminate the sailboats that were peacefully anchored there.

Learn more: MY VENICE

at the Circolo Italo-Britannico in Venice, Italy

In early November, invited to the Circolo Italo-Britannico of Venice, I presented the book MY VENICE  in an unusual way. Rather than talk about the beauties of Venice, which the audience knew extremely well, I talked about the beauties of Greece and Constantinople.

The members of the club, English and lovers of the Serenissima, showed great interest in seeing images of the fortresses left by the Venetians on the islands of the Aegean Sea or the Ottoman palaces of Istanbul on the shores of the Bosporus combined with pictures of the palazzi of the noble-merchants on the Grand Canal.

It was a singular presentation because in the book MY VENICE I convey the colours of the East due to my cultural background.

Learn more: MY VENICE

in Bagno Vignoni, Tuscany, Italy

“Colours of a Book” paint the picturesque village of Bagno Vignoni in the Orcia Valley in Tuscany where I was charmed by the warmth of its inhabitants and the hospitality of the organizers. The day was splendid, people arrived from the surroundings and Michele Taddei with his extremely nice colleague interviewed me in a soft way.

There was also a book fair where the thirty exponents proposed old books on their stands  around the famous pool with thermal water. Emotionally touched to return toTuscany, that I deeply love, I retain the best memory.

Learn more:  A YEAR IN TUSCANY

at the Castello dell’Olgiata, Rome

The first presentation of A Year in Tuscany was held at the Castello dell’Olgiata in Rome, where I wrote the book surrounded by the beauty and serenity of the landscape. Immersed in the Castello’s magical atmosphere and surrounded by all my friends and acquaintances. The event was particularly felt and appreciated. 

Certainly, I was moved because it was my first presentation in Italy and I was able to transfer my deep love for the country that has adopted me to my guests. I know that I have described the spirit and the idea of my book with all the enthusiasm that accompanies my writing. It was a beautiful spring Sunday and I received many good wishes and compliments, something that further cheered and touched me.

Read more: A Year in Tuscany