GreekBoston for the iPhone!
Posted on August 14th, 2008 at 9:45pm

You can't avoid the rapid growth of the iPhone and all the websites and apps created for it. So we here at GB decided to create a section specific for iPhone (and Touch) users. Even though any mobile user can access the section, we optimized it for the iPhone. Restaurants, clubs, churches, news, and more optimized to easily map and call right from a click of the iPhone! We also threw in some nice Greek backgrounds. Enjoy!

Best of Greek Boston
Posted on July 30th, 2008 at 4:48pm

We love our city, and not just for the history and culture, but because it also has such a great and vibrant Greek community! So now we need your help - we need to show the rest of the world what's best about Greek Boston and what our fellow Greek Bostonians love. Let's show them the best places to eat, drink, where we like to go and what we like to watch, and just be Greek!

Fill out the Best of Greek Boston survey and share your favorites with us! The winners will be announced on GreekBoston.com.

500 Wineries and Growing
Posted on May 14th, 2008 at 11:39pm

Greece has one of the oldest wine cultures dating back to over 3,000 years. You have probably heard the comment, "Greeks were the first to make wine and introduce to it all of the winemaking regions of today". As a fellow Greek, its great to hear and so much pride felt when others acknowledge that historical fact. Believe it or not, Greece’s ‘New World wine culture’ is younger than ten years. As shocking as it sounds, Greece’s wine culture has gone through many phases of suppression that has now allowed it to blossom unlike other countries. The timeline of events such as, the occupation of the Romans, Ottomans, Axis powers and Greece’s domestic issues throughout the 20th century have contributed to the lack of wine production.

Greece’s 'New World' wine culture has finally begun to emerge from the labyrinth. In 1998, there were close to 200 fully operating wineries throughout all the regions of Greece. Ten years prior to that, the numbers were relatively low, since the production was mainly grape growing that was sold off for many different purposes. Thanks, to the support and efforts from The European Union collaborating with the government of Greece, programs and financial assistance have been implemented to grow and develop one of the world’s oldest wine region. The programs have assisted in developing and educating viticulturists and oenologists on many different levels from nurturing their vines to handling sophisticated equipment.

Since then, there are 566 fully operating wineries (produce the wine and bottle it on premise) throughout Greece, a significant increase that has shown the promising potentials of the country’s future. The region with the largest amount of wineries is Peloponessos, 135; Central Greece 131: Makedonia 114; The Aegean Island, 57: Crete, 52, Thessaly, 33; Thraki 13; Epirus, 8. Of course there are many more operations throughout Greece, but they are technically a full operation and their production levels are relatively small for the supply of their respected local market.

This in my opinion is a 'renaissance', of what used to a mirror image of the wine culture in Greece millenniums ago. Domestically, sales of these productions have gone to record levels, it is now the time where investments and development need to be directed towards the exports of these fine wines. Continue to watch the selections that appear on the shelf at your local wine shop or on the wine lists at some of your favorite restaurants.

Greek Easter
Posted on April 20th, 2008 at 6:39pm

Most of us know all about Greek Easter, it's meaning and traditions. But we get many questions here about why it falls on different dates than Western Easter. A big question we get is "How is Greek Easter calculated?" This is a good question - the day is governed by three main conditions:

It must be based on the Julian calendar, not the Gregorian one
It must be after the Jewish holiday of Passover
It must be on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, which for this purpose is fixed as March 21st.

Every few years, "Western" (Catholic and Protestant) Easter and Greek Orthodox Easter coincide; these years are indicated by (same) following the date:

2008 - April 27th
2009 - April 19th
2010 - April 4th (same)
2011 - April 24th (same)
2012 - April 15th
2013 - May 5th
2014 - April 20th (same)
2015 - April 12th
2016 - May 1st
2017 - April 16th (same)
2018 - April 8th
2019 - April 28th
2020 - April 19th
2021 - May 2nd
2022 - April 24th
2023 - April 16th

In Greece, the actual Easter festival begins several days before Easter. Preparations begin on Holy Thursday, when the tsoreki, or Easter bread, is baked, and the eggs are dyed red, symbolizing the blood of Christ.

Many Orthodox fast in the days leading up to Easter, restricting themselves from meat, butter, milk and olive oil. Most also go to their priest to make their confessions and partake in the Holy Communion.

On Good Friday, the church's priest or monk takes down the icon of Christ from the cross and wraps it in linen, reenacting the ancient burial rituals. The icon is then placed in a casket surrounded by white lilies, and paraded through the town as worshipers lament the death of Christ.

On Holy Saturday, parishioners attend late night mass, bringing with them unlit candles. As the clock strikes midnight, the priest announces joyously, "Christos anesti" or "Christ Has Risen".

Worshipers light their unlit candles from the church's Holy Flame, which is said to be have taken from Jesus' nativity cave in Jerusalem.

The pre-Easter fast ends with this lighting ceremony, so worshipers quickly return home to enjoy a feast meal. The soot from the burning candles is often used to make the sign of a cross upon a home's threshold. A cross from the Holy Flame candles is thought to protect the home and its inhabitants during the coming year.

Easter Sunday is considered a festive day of rejoicing with friends and family. The traditional meal is roasted lamb-symbolizing Jesus, the Lamb of God-and dyed eggs.

Greeks have an egg cracking tradition, known as tsougrisma, which is somewhat akin to American's wishbone tradition on Thanksgiving. In Greece, friends and neighbors crack their eggs against one another's to see who ends up with the whole egg. The one holding the last whole egg is deemed the lucky one. Making the feast even more jovial is the free flowing Greek wines and ouzo, which often help these meals last well into the night.

Many of these colorful traditions are practiced today not only in Greece, but in America and other countries around the world with growing Greek immigrant communities. Whether new immigrant or third-generation, the Greek community abroad is strong-and nothing brings out that Greek pride more than the Easter celebrations.

We hope this information is helpful and we hope you all have a wonderful Easter! Kali Anastasi!

Sarbel Exclusive
Posted on April 15th, 2008 at 4:29pm

We've always loved Sarbel as a singer, but he is special to GreekBoston since he was one of the first stars we brought to Boston for a concert show along with Eirini Merkouri and Vanessa Adamopoulou. Sarbel is currently in the studio finishing his new album which will be released in May, and "Exo Trelathi" will be the first single released from the new album. We have some great backstage footage from his video shoot and you can see it here on GreekBoston.com!

See the video »