MQ & Associates has announced the acquisition of the Blue Mountain Hotel in Lawson, New South Wales, by K2 Property Development Group (K2).
Arguably the most iconic pub on the Great Western Highway in the Blue Mountains, the Blue Mountain Hotel, Lawson offers aesthetics and function with a well-diversified trade across all departments.
Situated on a high-profile corner block just one hour west of Sydney, the commanding two-storey period-style building is passed by more than 22,000 vehicles each day.
MQ & Associates’ Leonard Bongiovanni sold the venue to vendors Paul and Angela O’Brien in 2019 and has been impressed by their rejuvenation of the much-loved local.
Blue Mountains Hotel in Lawson.
“Paul and Angela have done a fantastic job refreshing the hotel and growing turnover and revenue,” Bongiovanni said.
“These improvements and the redevelopment of Lawson’s retail precinct provide plenty of scope for further expansion. We look forward to watching K2 take the Blue Mountain Hotel, Lawson to even greater heights.”
The acquisition by K2 is their first step into the hospitality industry, expanding on their existing commercial portfolio and current development sites including 1A Hill Street Dulwich Hill, One Point Piper and Bondi.
“We are excited to bring the Blue Mountain Hotel, Lawson into the K2 portfolio and work with the wonderful Lawson community. This fine establishment will continue to provide the surrounding area with the excellent service for which it is already known,” Michael Koundouris, Managing Director at K2, said.
K2 will be partnering with seasoned operators Locky Paech and Jono Spragg from Sydney-based Goodtime Hospitality Group, which specialises in high-quality food and beverage operations and hospitality consulting. Established in 2014, Goodtime’s flagship venue is the dynamic East Village Sydney in Darlinghurst.
“Our ethos is to build and operate well designed, innovative hospitality venues. As a ‘meeting place’, they form the focal point of local communities,” Locky Paech, CEO at Goodtime Hospitality Group, said.
“We will focus on implementing our style of food and beverage into the venue as the first point of call to complement an already solid mix of revenue streams.”
This week Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias met with US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt at the base of the Acropolis to sign a Greek-US memorandum of understanding on tourism cooperation.
This updates the previous memorandum signed 31 years ago, with its objective being to increase bilateral trade in travel services.
Minister Kikilias stated that 2022 would be a record year with direct flights between Greece and the US reaching up to nine per day and offering more than 460,000 seats.
Ambassador Pyatt highlighted that there will be 14 different services between Greek and US airports emphasising the importance of Greece as a market as it is in great demand by US tourists.
Marble tombstones that were a part of a damaged former Jewish cemetery in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, have been presented to Jewish community by the local and archaeological authorities.
The tombstones were found during a digging project to create a metropolitan park in the current suburb of Pavlos Melas.
The pieces of stone were dated back to the 20th century, according to the Ephorate of the City of Thessaloniki Antiquities and are said to be of great cultural value to the city.
“The destruction of the Jewish cemetery of Thessaloniki and the abhorrent looting of the deceased Jews of our city took place in December 1942, by the then occupying German forces,” said the municipality in a statement to local media.
“The materials of the destroyed cemetery, especially the marbles, were then used as construction material in several projects of the city, and this is how they ended up at the camp,” They continued on to say.
The Mayor of the Pavlos Melas municipality, Dimitris Demourtzidis said the work for the park continues at the former camp.
“We learned with sadness and anger that the Jewish cemetery was turned into a massive area of destroyed tombstones and dispersed bones of the dead,” said Mr Demourtzidis.
Labor must move quickly to find a replacement candidate for the federal seat of Hughes in Sydney’s south after local teacher, Peter Tsambalas, withdrew over section 44 citizenship concerns,7News reports.
Tsambalas was preselected unopposed by ALP branch members in January, but he had not been officially endorsed as he was waiting for notification from Greek authorities that he had officially renounced his Greek citizenship.
Despite being born in Australia and having Australian citizenship, Tsambalas acquired dual citizenship via his migrant parents.
Peter Tsambalas.
According to The Guardian, this is sufficient to trigger section 44 of the constitution which says a person is ineligible to run for federal parliament if they are “under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power.”
In a statement on Facebook, Tsambalas said: “My team and I put every effort into resolving the citizenship question but it is clear we will not get there in time.”
“I want to thank all those who have supported me to this point. We spent several months working hard on the campaign and I believe I would have taken the fight up well in Hughes,” Tsambalas continued.
Both sides of politics acknowledge that section 44 of the constitution poses a significant impediment for candidates who come from a multicultural background.
However, changing section 44 would require a referendum and no steps have yet been taken to achieve that change.
Greece’s Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, said on Thursday that Greece will ask the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate alleged Russian war crimes in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Speaking ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Dendias said Greece had a “specific, special interest” in Mariupol “because of the existence of a Greek community of 100,000 and more people…”
Με τους συμμετέχοντες στη σημερινή Σύνοδο των ΥΠΕΞ του ΝΑΤΟ στις Βρυξέλλες – With participants of today’s @NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs #ForMin Meeting in #Βrussels. pic.twitter.com/A2YH3fcWco
Western countries and NGOs have been calling for a humanitarian corridor to help evacuate civilians in Mariupol and provide relief, but Russia has not yet agreed to the move.
The Greek FM also said he would ask his NATO colleagues “to try our best to help Ukraine to protect Odessa, so that Odessa can avoid the fate of Mariupol.”
Dendias said his NATO colleagues are “willing and able to protect the city” but need to be provided with “adequate means.”
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called on Greece on Thursday to use its influence in the European Union to help save “our shared heritage” in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
Addressing the Greek Parliament via teleconference, Zelenskyy said Mariupol, where thousands of ethnic Greeks live, had been “reduced to ashes” since Russia’s invasion, and called for more humanitarian aid and efforts to evacuate those wounded.
“The suffering in both the Greek and Ukrainian communities is great from the barbarity against the civilian population,” Zelenskyy told lawmakers via an interpreter.
“This is a matter of honour for Europeans to answer.”
In a nod to the Greek links of Mariupol, Zelenskyy then invoked the Greek revolutionary motto ‘Freedom or Death’ and said it applies to his country today as Ukrainians are also fighting against Russian aggression for their freedom.
He also mentioned the Filiki Etaireia, an underground organisation founded in Odessa that set the foundations for the Greek Revolution and the creation of the modern Greek state.
“I call on you now openly to create such a union of friends which will be able to save Ukrainians and Greeks in the south of Ukraine,” he said.
Zelenskyy concluded his speech by thanking Greece for the sanctions it imposed on Russia. He also pleaded for more weapons to defend Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
Lawmakers from the biggest parties, ruling New Democracy (EPP), Syriza (EU Left) and socialists (Pasok) attended Zelenskyy’s speech, while communists and the populist Greek Solution party abstained. Diem25, Yiannis Varoufakis’ leftist party, was represented by just one lawmaker.
Azov soldier during Zelenskyy’s address triggers outrage:
Zelenskyy received a standing ovation at the conclusion of his speech to Greek Parliament, but it was overshadowed by a video message from the far-right militia group, the Azov Battalion, which was broadcast to Greek lawmakers afterwards.
Azov fighter speaking to Greek Parliament.
“I was born in Mariupol, and I take part in the defence of the city from the Russian Nazis,” the Azov fighter said in the video.
“I will not talk about the difficulties we have in defence, participating through the Azov Battalion. This is my debt to my city, my debt as a man and I must talk about the catastrophic conditions in which the Greek Mariupol is experiencing.”
In response, Opposition Party leader Alexis Tsipras came out swinging on social media saying “the speech of members of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion in the Greek Parliament is a provocation.”
“The absolute responsibility lies with the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He talked about a historic day, but it is a historic shame. The solidarity with the Ukrainian people is a given. But the Nazis cannot have a say in Parliament,” Tsipras said.
Η ομιλία μελών του νεοναζιστικού Τάγματος Αζόφ στη Βουλή των Ελλήνων αποτελεί πρόκληση. Την απόλυτη ευθύνη φέρει ο ΠΘ. Μίλησε για ιστορική ημέρα αλλά είναι ιστορική ντροπή. Η αλληλεγγύη στον ουκρανικό λαό είναι δεδομένη. Οι ναζί όμως δεν μπορεί να έχουν το λόγο στη Βουλή.
— Αλέξης Τσίπρας – Alexis Tsipras (@atsipras) April 7, 2022
Similarly, former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said allowing the video to be broadcast in the Greek House was a “big mistake.”
Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, issued a statement in response which said: “Europe is called upon to immediately put out the fire of war that ignited in its heart the Russian regime. The heinous crimes that were committed should be punished.”
Meanwhile, government spokesperson Giannis Oikonomou said the inclusion of the Azov Battalion message was “incorrect and inappropriate.”
The St Basil’s ‘1821 Greek Art Exhibition’ held in collaboration with the Athens War Museum concluded a few days ago having counted more than 1500 visitors and many distinguished guests including Archbishop Makarios of Australia, Ambassador of Greece to Australia Georges Papacostas and NSW Governor Margaret Beazley.
The artworks of internationally acclaimed sculptor Nikos Floros ‘Heroes Made of Metal’ gathered attention not only for their uniqueness but also for their boldness and creativity.
Mr Floros spoke to The Greek Herald about his art and his plans to return to Australia next year with an exhibition tribute to the 100th anniversary from the birth of soprano Maria Callas.
TGH: Niko, your sculptures have travelled the world but this was the first time you exhibited in Australia and for an event very special for Hellenism in the Antipodes. How did that make you feel?
First of all, I would like to wholeheartedly thank Archbishop Makarios of Australia for inviting us to organize this exhibition for the Greek revolution, as well as St. Basil’s organization –and especially George Koromvokis-, who organized every detail for the exhibition at Sydney City Hall! I have held exhibitions in many countries all over the world and at major museums, starting from New York, which is also my artistic base.
The invitation of Australia and the Greek community was very moving for me, because they embraced my exhibition from the first moment and I feel very close to the Greek immigrants, as I myself have been one of them. Having been living in America for many years, I dare say that we, who miss Greece, love it a little bit more! I am glad that art unites peoples, like a universal language of communication that speaks to the soul of everybody.
Australia may be a distant destination but I feel it next to me and intimate, due to the love that the Greeks of the diaspora and the Australians, who became part of my art, convey to me.
TGH:Tell us a bit about your ‘Heroes Made of Metal’ collection. What made you create outfits of heroes from the Greek Revolution with everyday life materials like beer cans?
This is my technique that is also my signature. The creation of sculptures with aluminum as a raw material, and specifically with soft drink cans.
In this particular exhibition, I tried to give flesh and blood to the heroes of the Greek revolution of 1821 and, in fact, to a milestone year of the Greek history, last year, when my work was first presented.
I am the only one in the world, right now, working on this technique. Therefore it is unique. It also has many elements of art in it and this makes my work special.
It could be integrated to surrealistic pop art, without being completely identified with it.
TGH: What are the elements that you try to capture and convey with each of the sculptures?
What I try to convey with my works is their moral greatness, the feeling and the aura they exude. I seek to magnetize the viewers, like a mirror of oneself, as if they see their opposite image through my work!
The sense of energy that still lives and exists through this work. This is my bet: to find these thin cracks, so that the viewer’s glance passes to the other side!
TGH: How long does it take you to bring your creations to life from inception to realisation?
It has taken me a lifetime. I am constantly thinking about the plans in my mind, I sleep and wake up with them. Somebody once asked Picasso to make an artifact. Then they asked him how long it took him to make it, and he answered: half a minute. The amount he asked for was huge.
Then they said to him: “Well, for just half a minute do you want so much money?” And he answered to them: “You do not pay for half a minute but for my whole life so far, so that you have this plan in half a minute!” That’s right, we need a whole life to make a project.
I do not know how much time I have devoted to my works. It looks like a whole century to me. Try to make something with love, even something very simple, like a piece of cake. You will find out that it is not the time that counts but the journey!
TGH: Which one is your favourite exhibit and why?
It all started for me long ago, when I created my first portrait of Queen Elizabeth I. It is a crimson work made of 5,000 cans of coca cola. This work was presented in New York and awarded by the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Harold Koda. This project was also my passport to go ahead and make this international career that followed.
For this reason, I would say that I especially love this work, which is completed today with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, a work which completes the collection of Heroes from Metal and is premiered in Sydney, as a thankfulness for the Australian hospitality.
TGH: Apart from a sculptor you are also a musician, an actor and were a cultural correspondent for major newspapers and magazines for many years, based in New York. Why does art matter especially in uncertain periods like the one we are going through now?
My opinion has always been that if you want to achieve something important, you must know and be able to do many things and be a professional. I was born to a poor family in Tripoli, Arcadia, and I did everything with hard work and passion for art.
Of course, it was not easy, but I deeply believe that I did it because I am Greek and I have learned to fight and not to stop at any obstacle. I have met the greatest personalities on the planet, from President Obama to Prince Albert of Monaco. They all loved my art and –through it- Greece as well!
Art has more power than a nuclear bomb. It can draw all the people in its path to unite them and make them see things. Art liberates the human beings, makes them independent, while on the other hand it brings them closer to God. This is its main purpose; not its decorative character.
TGH: What are your future plans? Do we expect to see your creations in the Antipodes again soon?
Yes, I will present a big exhibition in 2023 about Maria Callas on the 100th anniversary of her birth.
Some years ago, I had presented a large collection of sculptures about Maria Callas that had been exhibited in major museums all over the world!
I want this collection to be presented in Sydney, in order to start its world tour from Australia. There will be old and new works. Sculptures and portraits. An anthem to this great Greek opera singer.
The perfect venue for the presentation would be the Sydney Opera House! I believe that it will be held and will attract the interest of the Australian public and the Greek community. With the blessing of Archbishop Makarios, everything will certainly be accomplished!
TGH: Would you like to share a message with Australia’s Greek diaspora?
As a Greek of the diaspora, on the other side of the Pacific, in America, I fully understand how important it is for the people to keep our roots. Greece is unique and is always in our hearts.
In faraway Australia, Greeks have many times proved their love for their country and, as a beacon of Hellenism, they keep the light of Greece on. Through a great struggle, because nothing was given to them, they worked and are still working hard to offer their families all goods, but also their hospitality to whoever asks for it.
I wish that God bless them and give strength to their families. Shall they always be well and help our Greece, whenever it is needed! But I also wish that Greece stand by them in every way!
Picture this: It’s the launch night of the Kytherian Association of Australia’s (KAA) centenary celebrations and there’s a live auction of the first three 100-year Collector’s Edition Medallions, which were designed by Zoe Sophios and produced by The Royal Australian Mint.
Bids are flying back and forth between a number of proud members of the KAA before eventually, the first medallion was claimed by none other than Peter Maneas from My Greek Odyssey for $20,000.
Next up was John Sophios, who bought the second medallion for $6,000, and rounding out the bidders was the President of the KAA, Emmanuel Alfieris, who bought the third medallion for $10,000.
To celebrate these successful bids, we just had to find out what made these three proud Kytherians want the medallion in the first place. This is what they had to say:
First Medallion: Peter Maneas for $20,000
Peter Maneas’ instant response to the question of why he bid on the medallion was: “I would do anything to help the Kytherian Association of Australia.”
“They’ve been going for 100 years and we want them to go for another 100 years,” the host of My Greek Odyssey added.
“My family goes back, recorded anyway, 15 generations to Kythera. I live in Australia, it’s 15,000 kilometres away, and we just want to keep our history and culture alive as much as we can and for as long as we can.”
Peter Maneas at the launch. Photo: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.
And now that he has the medallion and a piece of Kytherian history in his possession, what does he plan on doing with it?
“The medallion is sitting on my desk in my office, overlooking the window. So when I’m working it will always be there with a couple of other little bits and pieces that I’ve collected over time,” Maneas says.
Second Medallion: John Sophios for $6,000
John Sophios tells The Greek Herald he decided to bid on the medallion as it is “a unique and succinct physical representation of the long history of Kytherians in Australia and a testament to the successful connection Australian-Kytherian diaspora have maintained with our island over the last 100 years.”
John Sophios (left) with his two daughters and wife. Photo: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.
“It serves as a reminder of our ties to our ancestors and ancestry, and it embodies the love we have for the island of Kythera as its descendants,” Mr Sophios says.
“Moreover, I feel it commemorates the contribution made to the KAA by thousands of members who supported initiatives and volunteered their time and work over the 100 years to create the success of the Association.
“My family and I moved to Sydney from country NSW in the mid 1970’s and the KAA was instrumental in helping us make new friends and settling into our new environment.
Medallions being shown at the auction. Photo: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.
“Our association with the Kytherian community has been long standing and strong and I feel very privileged to have served as president of both the youth committee and the board. In essence, I bid for the coin because of this personal connection.”
What does Mr Sophios plan on doing with the medallion now?
“I am tossing up between donating it to the Kytherian Museum in Hora or the Powerhouse Museum here in Sydney,” he concludes.
Third Medallion: Emmanuel Alfieris for $10,000
The President of the KAA, Emmanuel Alfieris, claimed the third medallion on the night and he tells The Greek Herald he made a bid because “it’s an impressive artefact that is a piece of our history.”
“I’m going to bid for more coins so that I can give one to each of my children,” Mr Alfieris continues.
Zoe with Emmanuel Alfieris. Photo: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.
“For someone like me where my grandfather, father, uncles, brother, cousins and myself have all been contributors to the Association, I feel it’s important for my children to have this memento in their homes.
“Throughout their lives, it will catch their eyes, or a guest will ask “what’s that,” and they’ll reflect upon what their predecessors did and remind them of their own community obligation.
“It’s an artefact that will remain in Kytherian households for generations.”
Mr Alfieris adds that the fact the medallion was designed by a young Kytherian and minted by the Royal Australian Mint also played a part in his bid.
“For us Australian Kytherians, there’s amazing poetry in the fact that the Royal Australian Mint has minted a coin with the map of Kythera on one side and Aphrodite on the other. This is a rare privilege to have a coin minted by the Mint,” the KAA President says.
Emmanuel with his wife and designer, Zoe. Photo: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.
“There’s quite a refined process to get approval, including having the Mint’s Board agree that it is consistent with their historic purpose. I’m proud of the fact that they felt the KAA’s Centenary year fits within their mission.
“I [also] get a buzz that the coin was designed by a young Kytherian, Zoe Sophios. Zoe is only 20 something and she spent endless volunteer hours designing this amazing artefact.
“That makes me confident that the Kytherian Association of Australia remains vibrant and still retains a promising future.”
If you want to purchase the Limited Edition Centenary Medallion, now is your last chance via an online silent auction here.
Melbourne Museum and Greece’s National Archaeological Museum have collaborated to bring the new ‘Open Horizons: Ancient Greek Journeys’ exhibition to Victoria from Saturday, April 23.
The exhibition was made possible following negotiations between former Victorian Health Minister, Jenny Mikakos, and Greece’s Culture Minister, Lina Mendoni.
In a comment to The Greek Herald, Ms Mikakos said she’s “so excited that Minister Mendoni is coming to Melbourne” for the launch of the exhibition.
“She generously agreed to meet with me during her first week as a Minister when she would’ve been incredibly busy,” Ms Mikakos said.
“She was very enthusiastic at our meeting about an antiquities exhibition from Greece coming to Melbourne for the first time ever. I think Australians, and especially Greek Australians, should be very grateful to the Minister that she has made this exhibition reality.
“Whilst I haven’t seen her schedule, I would love the opportunity to thank her personally for delivering on her promise.”
The exhibition will explore Greece’s rich history through trade, spirituality and art, offering a window into the ideas and culture that have permeated into modern times and continue to include culture, politics and sport.
Displayed for the first time in Australia, ‘Open Horizons,’ will showcase 44 treasures from the Early Bronze age through to the Roman period, introducing a new generation of visitors to the history of Greece.
See these amazing antefixes for yourself in our upcoming exhibition, Open Horizons: Ancient Greek Journeys and Connections 🇬🇷https://t.co/pZhKObXx5T
The exhibition is being funded in the 2020-21 Victorian Budget.
“The Andrews Government is proud to bring this exclusive exhibition to Victoria, providing a fantastic opportunity for visitors to learn more about the stories of Victoria’s Greek community, while exploring antiquities that are visiting Australia for the very first time,” Steve Dimopoulos MP said.
The CEO of Museums Victoria, Lynley Crosswell, added that they are excited to be collaborating with the National Archaeological Museum.
“This captivating exhibition will invite visitors to explore the cross-cultural connections that contributed to the formation of Ancient Greece,” Ms Crosswell concluded.
‘Open Horizon: Ancient Greek Journeys’ opens on Saturday, April 23 at Melbourne Museum.
Melbourne’s Rebetiki are one of Australia’s premier exponents of traditional Greek music. Focusing on the urban blues of the early 19th century, the group have performed extensively here and abroad.
Following numerous successful performances as part of the Greek Festival of Sydney program, Rebetiki will be in Sydney once again for a one-time performance.
Taking place on Sunday, April 10 at the Factory Theatre, this performance will take us back to the beginning and look at the first recordings by pioneering artists that made this music so iconic.
From the birth of rebetika leading to the appearance of the first recorded composers and practitioners with a special emphasis on the ‘father’ of rebetika Markos Vamvakaris, this is an event not to be missed.
“Performances by ‘Rebetiki’ are always a highlight of the Greek Festival program. It is a group unlike any we have in Sydney and we always jump at the opportunity to have them perform,” the Festival Chair, Nia Karteris, said.
Melbourne’s Rebetiki will bring the heart and soul of Greek blues back to life. With a variety of instruments including the traditional six string bouzouki, baglama, oud, lute, guitar and percussion, Rebetiki present an acoustic passage through a musical style just as vibrant today as it was during its initial development.
Members of the band include Argyris Argyropoulos, (Baglama, Oud), Tony Iliou, (Guitar, Lute), and Achilles Yiangoulli (Bouzouki, Toubeleki).
