Even if you didn’t make it to Greece this summer, Facebook probably gave you a great chance to “experience” Greece via your timeline. I actually enjoyed watching friends and family’s Grecian adventures (except those annoying pictures of people’s feet at the beach).
I’ve selected a few of my favorites along the way as they popped up on my timeline that best share the very best that Greece has to offer– a lifetime of memories, culture and unique experiences.
Marigo Mihalos' "clash of cultures" photo takes the cake for funniest pic of the summer as she sveltly poses with the "Golden Girls" of Karpathos... In their horio couture.
Sometimes, life is simpler on the beach, as Alexandra Koumba shows us.
Ahh those photobombs. By Andrea Zecy
Anthony Skordi shared a beautiful photo of his mother making traditional Haloumi cheese in Cyprus. Priceless lessons of the older generation.
And then there are those ever-important pilgrimages of the new generation, our children who are visiting Greece, all starry-eyed about their new experiences, including visiting a real-life Evzone, like Despina Anastasopoulos’ three boys.
Nowhere better than the perfect zen shot but a Greek island backdrop, this one by Harris Davlas, writer of the wildly popular blog In Icons We Trust and regular Mykonian— although this is from a quick trip to Serifos.
Kyriakos Gold from Melbourne made the trek to his ancestral village and snapped a picture of the family home. Probably so many memories in that beautiful house.
Vacations aren’t all about laying lazily on the beach, as Tony Lourakis shows us. Almost every day during his visit to his ancestral Hania on Crete, he trekked a thousand plus meters up the mountains of Crete on his bike, taking in the fresh air and the amazing vistas.
And vacations aren’t all fun either, as former Canadian parliamentarian and cabinet minister Dr. Marie Bountrogianni shared, when she and other Greek diaspora elected officials visited the Greek parliament to meet with fellow Greek parliamentarians and forge ties with their fellow politicos.
Thanks to Facebook, we can preserve our memories and share them with our family and friends. For me, nothing says more than that photo with Yiayia or Papou, Maria Rasoulis’ shot with yiayia is priceless.
There’s nothing like following a chef on a culinary tour of Greece and Peter Minaki is no exception. His shots were ultimately responsible for a weight gain of a few pounds as every time they made me hungry, which led me to eating. This kataifi-wrapped feta also prompted me to give the dish a try. I failed miserably and await the recipe as it should be made on Peter's Kalofagas blog.
Speaking of food shots, add a cute dog to the mix and you’ve got a viral photo on your hands as Stella Kyriakopoulos proved with Louie and the left-over bougatsa.
Smartphones give us all sorts of features and filters to make our photos unique and colorful. But when nature does it herself and you need no alterations, it makes that “no filter” hashtag all the more special, as Steve Kriaris showed us as he snapped a photo of his girl.
Click too soon and always one to catch the opportunity, Suzanne Velonis quips on her Facebook update… "Wait, let me fix my hair real quick."
Teaching your young sons about dolphins while seeing them up close and personal off the coast of Naxos. A priceless memory for any family as Thanos Marinis shared.
Speaking of animals, add a cute baby. A thousand likes. No need for commentary. Tina Livanos’ priceless photo says it all.
Life is a cabaret— especially on Mykonos it is, and the leader of the pack is none other than the undisputed Queen of the island, Vasilis Chouliaras, whose Elysium Hotel sunset cabaret parties have become island staple for any visitor.
Vlasis Terzis shows us that “to live is to dance, and to dance is to live.” Indeed. proven time and time again at the numerous village festivals around Greece every summer, including perhaps one of the best, on the island of Ikaria in the tiny village of Langada.
Take that Ellen Degeneres. This selfie beats your Oscar selfie that broke the internet a few years ago ten-fold. And the meaning behind it adds value as it involves a bunch of 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation Greek American kids returning to their ancestral homeland via the Ionian Village summer program of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. Here, Marielena Balouris snaps an epic (excuse the pun) Mycenaean selfie with her campers.
And last, but certainly not least-- the best advertisement in the world for the beauty of Greece is that shot in the crystal-clear waters of Greece, as Anthoula Katsimatides shared from her parents' native Nisyros.
