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Greece Local Customs

Loggos harbour front

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Loggos harbour front
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Local Customs
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Most Viewed Local Customs in Greece

151.

People Crete Island

15 Reviews The evil eye is big in Crete, where I lived for four years, and possibly elsewhere in Greece. If you go into someone's home, don't look too enviously at their things and don't pass too many...

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152.

Byzantine Churches Thessaloniki

2 Reviews As Thessaloniki and nothern Greece in general became part of the modern Greek state just 92 years ago, its people have special ties to the Greek institutions that have been alive for over 1000 years -...

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153.

Food and Drink Crete Island

14 Reviews This tip is not about any one particular restaurant but a comment on our experience of several restaurants in the eastern end of Crete ( all in the Prefecture of Lasithi). All of these eating places...

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154.

Statues Thessaloniki

2 Reviews it's a miracle and a well kept secret among tourists, i.e. all tourists know about it, but the locals do not:) So, if you have a little wish... or a big one, you should touch the toe of Aristotelis...

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155.

Religion Crete Island

5 Reviews Crete became part of modern day Greece less than a hundred years ago, maintaining to a degree its cultural variety. There used to be a sizeable Muslim but Greek speaking minority in the island, now...

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156.

Strikes Thessaloniki

1 Review Strikes are popular in all of the greece, strikes of bus drivers (good for you if you are a student there, the schools are closed), of rug-collectors and of unic=versity secretaries, of post offices,...

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157.

Strange Things Crete Island

4 Reviews The story goes that the iron bars sticking out from the roof of many Greek houses are exemptions from taxpaying, as long as the house isn't yet finished but in fact they are exclusively there for the...

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158.

X-MAS in Thessaloniki Thessaloniki

2 Reviews Christmas is a great time to visit Thessaloniki. Although there aren't so magical as in Germany or Austria, you will often see the town full of snow. The town is very beautifully decorated. There is...

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159.

Little Shrines on the Road Crete Island

3 Reviews The miniature churches or shrines next to the roads are memorials for people killed in a car accident, at the same spot where the accident happened. The family of the deceased construct and maintain...

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160.

Fairs & Festivals Thessaloniki

1 Review Interational Film Festival of Thessaloniki. It's a must everyday, for as many films as you can handle each day and lasts for one week. Everybody you met the previous day will be there. Meaning every...

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161.

Music Crete Island

2 Reviews Lyra, Cretan traditional musical instrument. The one of the photo is totally a hand made one by Giorgos Tzagarakis; one of the best Lyra's artisan of Greece. Kissou Kampos Village. Prefecture of...

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162.

Flora and Fauna Crete Island

3 Reviews Platanos or Plane Tree, a tree that grows close to water. You can find it usually close to a river in gorges or in the central square of villages of Crete. It looks similar to the maple tree and it...

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163.

Raki (tsikoudia) Crete Island

3 Reviews This is the famous local drink of Crete. It is produced in late October or early November and it is distilled from grape skins. It is transparent, very strong and in the summer it is served cold. Raki...

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164.

Traditional Products Crete Island

2 Reviews A major draw to the Lasithi for the many buses of day trippers is to see the 'thousands of whiteclothed-sailed windmills' which irrigate the high plain ringed by mnountains. But there are apparently...

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165.

Children Crete Island

1 Review The Greek people love children, if you travel there with children, especially an angelic looking one who`s parents gave her a Greek name, little old ladies will stop you in the street to admire, kiss...

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Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Never Hand a Knife to a Friend!

by janetanne

PASSING THE KNIFE PLEASE!Greeks never hand knives to someone who ask for it for they consider that if they do that they will fight with the person; so they set it down on the table and let the other person take it.This same custome is true of money! I still get upset when the clerk at the supermarket throws my change down on the counter, even when I have put my hand out for her to put it in! They think that if they give you the money in your hand, it will bring them bad luck!

Kiss the Priest's Hand???

by janetanne

GREEK PRIESTS FIRST THING IN THE MORNINGGreek Orthodox priests (papas) are very revered and the custom is to kiss a priest's hand in respect when meeting one; today this custom is mostly followed in villages. It is, however, believed everywhere in Greece, that seeing a black cat and a priest during the same day is bad luck.It is also considered bad luck to see a priest first thing in the morning...!!!! Maybe this is because, if you see a priest first things in the morning, it may be because you are going there to see him inorder to 'CONFESS' about something bad you had done the night before...and if your wife or husband finds out....You will really have BAD LUCK! hehehe!

Beware of the Evil Eye

by janetanne

THE EVIL EYESome Greeks, especially in villages, believe that someone can catch the evil eye, or "matiasma", from someone else's compliment or envy.A person who has caught the evil eye usually feels bad physically and psychologically.To avoid the matiasma, those who believe in it wear a charm: a little blue marble glass with an eye painted on it or a blue bracelet. Blue is believed to be the color that wards off the evil eye but it is also believed that people with blue eyes are givers of the matiasma.Garlic is another way to ward off the evil eye, so it sometimes hangs in a corner of some houses. Garlic, as well as onion, is also considered to have great healing power by many Greeks. If someone is feeling ill, they will advise him to eat garlic.

Touch Red

by janetanne

Tuesday the 13th Unlike the western belief, in Greece the unlucky day is Tuesday 13th and not Friday 13th. The expression "Piase kokkino" (touch red)When two people say the same thing together they immediately say "piase kokkino" to each other and then they must both touch any red item they can find around them; this is because Greeks believe that saying the same thing is a bad omen and that the two persons will get into a fight or an argument if they don't touch something red! Why the colour red is associated may have its roots in the fact that 'red' often symbolizes the 'blood of Christ.'

Spiting 3 times

by janetanne

SpitingSome Greeks believe that spiting chase the devil and the misfortune away. That is why when someone talk about bad news (death, accident, etc…) the others slightly spit three time saying "ftou, ftou, ftou". Another example is when someone compliments a baby, a child or even an adult for its beauty he will also spit three times on the complimented person. I thought it was very fascinating, to find what most would consider a superstition, in the Greek Orthodox Church ceremony for Baptism, where both the priest and the person baptising the child, spit 3 times inorder to renounce the devil! It isn't really 'quite' a 'spit' but it mimics the motions and the sounds of 'ftou, ftou, ftou,' are made instead.

Greek Superstitions

by janetanne

Greek superstitions have mostly originated either from modern Orthodox religious beliefs or from more ancient remnents of paganism. In some cases, paganistic beliefs still exist but have been so deeply hidden and overlaid with new rituals, that seldom are they recognized as being pagan. Nevertheless, they remain within the veins of Greek existence. They vary from region to region and are much more intricate than space allows here.

Kite Flying Day

by sinequanon

Right after Carnival we celebrate Clean Monday in Greece. This is a religious celebration and denotes the beginning of fasting until Easter. On Clean Monday Greeks have pic nics with taramosalata, shellfish, and other fasting dishes and a large and flat bread made specially only on this particular day, called "lagana". This is a kite flying day. Kites are seen sold and flying everywhere. A traditional kite, is made out of thin wood, coloured paper and a very long tail made out of paper strips. To fly such a kite you must be quite a master at it, but also the weather plays a major role. A slight breeze is the best. Otherwise most of them end up hanging on elecricity wires or on tree branches, torn and miserable.

Eating

by viddra

Olives are grown throughout Greece and olive oil is used a great deal in cooking.Salads are often eaten with the main meal.Lunch, served in the early afternoon between noon and 2PM is traditionally the main meal of the day. It usually consists of souvlaki, a shish kebab with cubes of meat-often pork or lamb- and vegetables. Pasta is also popular.Desserts are usually fruit or sweets such as baklava.Most people eat their main meal in the evening, after 9PM.

Sailing boat

by olja1234

Sailing boat - mosaic workIt was so amazing... so many courtyards and pavements are paving with small stones in mosaic shape. Little stones are usually inwhite and gray colour, and sometimes composed in a proper little piece of art.

Greek Churches

by nickandchris

Here, in England, churches are closing down and either left to rot or turned into housing schemes or put to some other such use. I have never seen a new church under construction in England. Religion is not on the same scale as in Greece.

Top 3 Hotels in Greece

Grand Bretagne Hotel Athens Athens

17 Reviews and 637 Opinions Every visitor to Athens cannot fail to notice this huge hotel. It's right on Syntagma Square,...

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Astra Apartments & Suites Santorini Island

1 Review and 404 Opinions My husband and I finished off our honeymoon at the Astra Apartments, an all-suite hotel. The website...

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Marni Village Crete Island

1 Review and 219 Opinions Stayed in October 2006, and really have no complaints about the accomodation,Very friendly and...

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4,324 Hotels in Greece

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Questions and Answers

Q: Hi! Last holiday I had to give up on Greece but this year I ve decided to visit there. I am planning to go on mid-October , but I...

A: I have been to Athens during the winter months and it can sometimes be quite pleasant weatherwise but colder in the evenings even in October.. It is a capital city...

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