KATERINI and THE COAST

PLATAMONAS and PALEIO PANTELEIMONAS

ALYKES

"MY NEIGHBOURHOOD"

Efi Porifiadou - Despina Papathemelis - Ioanna Tsivanidou - Roxanne Tinga

Efi Porifiadou

Platamonas is an attractive seaside resort, situated at the southern end of the county of Pieria. It has an eight kilometer stretch of beach and 1368 residents - at least that's what my local guide book says! It is near the Valley of Tempi, through which the road and rail links pass from Salonica to Athens. There is a wide choice of beaches, with either sand or stones, for swimming from, and they have attractive views of the castle and the mountain as a background.

The Castle. Its most notable feature is the magnificent castle, perched on a hill and commanding a fine view of both the land and sea approaches to Northern Greece. You can see the ruins, built during medieval times, a short distance from the town, lying at the southeastern foot of Mount Olympus. It is possible to see the three basic characteristics of the fortresses of this period, also known as the Dark Ages. Starting from the inside, there is an enclosure including the Acropolis and the Central Tower, surrounded by another enclosure inside the polygonal protecting wall. This can be seen from afar, and makes an impressive addition to the skyline. According to early sources, the ancient city of Herakleion must have existed on this very spot. The castle is first mentioned in texts of the 13th century when the Frankish rulers of Thessaloniki made extensive repairs to its fortifications. The Byzantine rulers of the 14th century, and the Venetians in the 15th followed their example.

After the fall of Constantinople to the West European Crusaders in 1204, Boniface Momferatikos, who had captured Thessaly, offered the castle to King Roland Piskia. He gave the castle the form we can see today. Soon afterwards it was recaptured by the Byzantines, and then again by the Turks in 1470. They repaired and fortified it in order to combat the "raiders" in the region.

The castle played an important role during the period of the Turkish occupation, expecially in the 18th and 19th centuries. Archaeological evidence also shows it to have been used by the Christian population, but the 19th century found it with a much reduced population due to the plague which swept Europe. Since then the castle has been uninhabited.

Restaurants. There are some good restaurants in the area, notably in the three villages of Panteleimonas: New, Old, and Panteleimonas Beach. The village of Old Panteleimonas, lying high above the castle, is a traditional mountain village with old houses built in the original style with wooden beams and balconies. Many are being restored at present, helped in part by European Union funds, and the shady central square, surrounded by three restaurants and the old church, is a delightful place for lunch.

ALYKES, A BIRD WATCHER'S PARADISE

Despina Papathemelis

It was 6.30. I had just woken up. I was so happy with the news the head-master had announced the previous day : we would go on an excursion to the Alykes Beach. This turned out to be very interesting for both teachers and students, because the novelty of the first day at school had worn off and the stagnant boredom had begun to take over.

All the children assembled in the yard, and in a few minutes we were on the bus which would take us to our destination.

I was surprised when I realised that there weren't many people there, although Alykes is the home of a vast variety of bird species, and on Sunday it was the National Day of Birdwatching. However, I wasn't discouraged.

First we were shown how we get salt from sea water. This is a very complicated procedure.

After that we were left to observe the birds with binoculars. The fact is that there were some magnificent birds there : flamingos, avocets, ducks, and many other colourful birds. The scenery was so rich ...........

Afterwards we returned to the bus, and then went straight back to school, from where we were allowed to leave.

I know that many of you haven't visited this place yet, but I advocate you visit it as soon as possible !

Despina Papathemelis

KATERINI

A traditional old house - 1912

MY NEIGHBOURHOOD IN KATERINI - IOANNA TSIVANIDOU

I live at 13 Agias Triados street. It is a nice neighbourhood without much noise or many cars. Life is very quiet and interesting there and that’s because of the neighbours I have. All of them are very friendly and very good to me.

All the houses in my neighbourhood are built in the same style. They are semi-detached houses. Each house has it’s own garden with lots of green grass, flowers and trees. There are also a lot of dogs in my neighbourhood, which I love very much!

I am very lucky because most of my neighbours are relatives of mine. Next to us lives my grandmother and that’s very good, because she helps my mother with the housework and we can also see her everyday. Opposite us live my aunt and my cousins! Isn’t it very good to have your relatives next door? Well, trust me, it is!

In our neighbourhood there also lives a very interesting man who sells antiques, Mr. Araniklidis. I often visit him to tell him my problems, because he is like my grandfather, who died 5 years ago. His wife died 20 years ago and since then he spends his day with his antiques and his memories and sometimes with me! I really admire him!

In our neighbourhood there also lives a 35-year-old woman. She doesn’t work! She sits on her balcony with her mother and gossips about everything in the neighbourhood! I remember once she asked me a personal question and she became angry when I intransitive " It’s none of your business and please stop gossiping about other people! Just go and look for a job!" She still doesn’t talk to me.

I have lots of friends in my neighbourhood. We gather every evening, when we finish our homework in a secret place, that we have created. We play various games there, we talk about our day at school and we arrange the time of our next meeting. I really enjoy it!

I am very happy to live in this neighbourhood. Every day is a special day there! I hope that it will continue like that and I will continue being on good terms with my neighbours!

IOANNA TSIVANIDOU is a fifteen-year-old student at the Fourth High School in Katerini. Her interests include music and reading and she has recently passed the preliminary Michigan Proficiency exam.

MY NEIGHBOURHOOD - Roxanne Tinga

My neighbourhood is in a suburb of Katerini, which is called Vatan. It is one of the quietest places in my town because there is not a lot of traffic, and its inhabitants are quiet too.

I actually live in Litohorou street which is quite big pleasant area where you can find a lot of gardens, full of flowers and vegetables, friendly people and a lot of aggressive dogs. Whenever you dare to approach them it is certain that they will rush at you. But they are the guardians of our houses so that’s the reason why almost everyone has got one.

There are a lot of interesting people in my neighbourhood, but I mostly admire Mrs. Mary who lives adjacent to us. She is a doctor at a private hospital and also the mother of three young children, Tony, Manos and Susan ( all of them less than 7 years old ). What is more, she is a member of the " Doctors Without Borders " and once a year she goes to Africa or to South America where they need her help. But how does she manage to be a great doctor and a great mother?

The answer is very simple. Firstly she takes advantage of her free time and secondly she loves her job and of course her children. I hope that she will continue her great social work.

Singular other neighbours of mine are Aunt Marica and Uncle Themis. They are not relatives of mine, but I call them uncle and aunt because they and my grandpa have contributed to my upbringing. So I love them very much and I still like going to visit them whenever I have free time.

In the same neighbourhood as me lives a boy who is a "criminal". Yes, it’s true. He is a 22-year-old boy who killed his parents with a knife six years ago. Maybe you have heard of him in the news. And when he was asked why he had done it, he said that the films he saw on TV had had a bad affect on him! Oh, my God, never could I do such an outrageous thing!

In conclusion, I like my neighbourhood and its inhabitants very much because I was born there and I have a lot of memories from this part of the world.

Roxanne Tinga is a 15 year old student at the Fourth High School. She recently passed the Cambridge FCE exam. Her interests are films and music.