HO HO HO, HO HO HO. Sounds like something you would hear in a Snoop Dogg song. Actually this is the calling card of that rather paunch grey haired guy who magically appears every Christmas. I’m of course referring to Santa Claus, one of the great cultural icons of modern times. In fact, that popular is…
How many countries or republics in the world have Greek as their official language?
English has generally been my passport to access weird and wonderful places on our planet. In Argentina or Thailand for example, it helped me get by as I filled my belly, enjoyed local hospitality and got ripped off in the latter. Never really thought how I would fair if I didn’t speak English, until of…
Suggested book to purchase 1453: Constantinople & the Immortal Rulers
Battles, intrigue, good vs evil, romance, history and betrayal…. Welcome to the year, 1453 1453 is told as a story by the emperor’s secretary, George Sphrantzes, which includes a number of ‘first person’ accounts and flashbacks to other eras that impacted the Byzantine Empire. While this is based mostly on facts and stories that took…
Hellenic Crimea and the ‘discovery’ of a Greek Principality, Theodoro
Having had the pleasure of visiting Greek communities in the Ukraine twice, learning and visiting their towns, I am always fascinated by what a Hellene can discover in that part of the world…. The sound of waves crashing on the shore and lush nature that traverses the interior, this could be yet another location in…
Peloponnesus at the end of the Middle Ages
The Morea, the Mani, the General Graitzas Paleologos and the Salmeniko Few people have heard of the name, the Morea, which was used in the middle ages instead of the Peloponnese. It was a name supplied by the Franks/Latins in the eleventh century, lasting until the start of the War of Independence. It was likely…
MY HERITAGE Asia Minor
For tens of millions of people, the thought of Asia Minor, also known as Anatolia, when you take in the entire length of Turkey, is a sad topic. Sad or rather tragic for the various diverse, historical inhabitants of the region are no more. Today you will find Turkish and Kurdish people only, rather than the once…
Cyrenaica, the Greek region of Libya
Arabic charm, Berber tribesmen, Islamic traditions, Mediterranean coast, pariah in the West. These are some of the tags we can ascribe to Libya when we think about that country. Mention the name Ghadafi and one automatically associates it with Libya… Mention the name Belisarius and you will draw a blank… yet 1500 years ago this…
A Greek in Rio & Brasil: from a being a Grego to a Bulldogs training session
A Bulldogs footy and kids with a Greek background, deep in the picturesque Rio State. Now that is not something I had not planned when contemplating a visit to Brasil, a nation with almost 220 million people, yet few are of Greek origin and even fewer would have heard of the mighty Canterbury Bulldogs. Yet…
Calimera from Magna Graecia and the Griko people of Apulia
The opening scene of our new documentary said it all – ‘this is not a police chase, it’s a Greek chase’ – as a friendly Italian allowed us to follow him to find the Griko-speaking town of Calimera that we had come to experience. Apulia, also known as Puglia, is the home of 13 Griko…
The Provisional Government of Thessaloniki of 1917 and a national schism
Very few cities have the beauty, history, culture and charm of Thessaloniki. Ancient with a modern heartbeat, medieval with a forward-thinking outlook, and one of the most important locations in the Balkans and an outlet to Khalkidhiki. It is of course the capital of Macedonia, Greece; a city that was established by King Cassander in…
A Hellenic contribution to AFRICA
Africa is a unique place. With thousands of languages and peoples being part of the fabric of this unique continent, civilisation first emerged here. Hellenes have been coming to Africa for millennia; from the colonies that were established in what is now Libya, as well Tunisia and Egypt. The Greek Byzantines held most of North…
New book launch on Sunday, 17 November Once upon a time in Crystal Palace, Heart, football and life under Brexit
A new novel by Canterbury born Billy Cotsis When a Greek Aussie, a Cypriot, football and Brexit all meet in Crystal Palace Writer, director and good bloke, Billy Cotsis has just brought out his new book title, his fourth since 2016. The book, a novel, allows him to return to the type of fiction he…
A Greek in the Holy Land
Geia sou ti kaneis? Emena me lene (Hi, my name is) Rashed Al-Zorba. And with that, an older man who hails from Jericho city, greeted me in Greek at a hotel, in Shepherd’s Fields, the birthplace of Jesus, just outside of Bethlehem. Thanks to a very large Christian population and a high number of tourists…
The hidden Greek history of Montenegro – it’s in the Balkans
Sitting on the plane ready to fly up from Athens to Dubrovnik, which is a small ride from the Montenegro border, I couldn’t help but laugh at an American girl who was face timing her boyfriend. “Baby I am off to Croatia.” “Where?” “It’s a country in Europe” “Where?” and it went on. I asked…
When Asia was ruled by the Greeks: Seleucid Empire
When we in Australia think of Asia, we tend to think of the oriental end of the continent. In Britain, when the term Asia is used, it generally refers to the Sub – Continent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or wherever cricket is played), yet to the ancient Hellenes, Asia was once that area from…
The Greeks of Ukraine: from Marioupolis to Odessa
Billy Cotsis takes us on a journey through the Greek areas of the Ukraine including the historic Philiki Eteria Museum, the home of the Greek Revolution ‘Ola kala, kai panta kala (always good, forever good).’ With the clink of our glasses and the downing of another vodka drink I started to feel very much at…
Agios Efstratios, an ideal island to forget to bring an iPhone charger to
Sometimes, it’s all about the risk. The risk of sailing to a quiet island with no advertised hotel and certainly it’s a risk to sail on what appears to be a rusty, creaky boat, with a battered Greek flag and caged budgies for company on the deck. And it’s always a risk to share it…
Rhodes and the Colossus: the ancient Greek power
Before the Statue of Liberty, another monument stood by a great harbour welcoming ships and arrivals to the safety of a democracy. Standing at around 100 metres, this ancient Colossus celebrated victory and was built in the mould of the powerful Helios the Sun God in 292 BCE, a relative of Apollo. Where does one…
Pyrrhus, a Pyrrhic Victory and the rise of Epirus in the Hellenistic Age
Epirus, is a place of geographical contrasts. The high mountains and windy roads that take you across terrain that only shepherds and trekkers seem to traverse with ease. Then you have a coastline that once acted as a buffer to the Romans; a coastline that has many gems for the water enthusiast. What makes the…
Letters to the Calabrian Greko speakers from Greek kids and students in Australia and Thessaloniki
London based, Adelaide born filmmaker Basil Genimahaliotis joined me recently as we visited the Greek villages of Calabria to film a documentary on the Greko speakers. As part of our journey, we took along letters collected from Dr Efrosini Deligianni, the head of Modern Greek Studies at University of NSW, with her Greek language students…
