The wonderful thing about this little trip of ours is that every day is different. Earlier this week we were in the chaotic city of Thessaloniki and just a short distance down the road we arrived at a relaxing beach house – in a totally different world. The beach house was owned by our new friend Harry, someone we met through the Hospitality Club website. Harry, a Greek who grew up in Germany and will soon be moving to Canada, was a wonderful person to get to know. Over the couple days we spent together we chatted a lot about his upcoming move to Vancouver, really enjoyed his specialty drink – the Pick Me Up, a mix of Bailey’s and coffee – and also swapped quite a bit of music. Harry, we really wish you well for your move to Canada and thank you so much for giving us a home away from home.

It’s visits like this that remind us how lucky we are to have been on the receiving end of so much hospitality over the past year, and how much we will have to return when we get a house one day. Everyone reading this is welcome to come and visit when we’re settled again!

After we left Harry, we cycled along the coast towards the city of Kavala. We didn’t quite make Kavala, stopping instead just outside the city. The coastline really stood out throughout the day with its clear waters, shimmering all colours of blue and teal. Even though it’s late in the season, the temperatures are still quite high during the day and the beaches are far from deserted. Germans especially seem to be out in great numbers.

It was warm enough that we felt the urge to stop midway through our trip for an afternoon frappe, a combination of iced coffee, milk and sugar that is our new addiction. Today we got ours at a little Kantina, or a roadside refreshment stand. They are everywhere here and the one we stopped at had little tables and chairs overlooking the beach. Gorgeous. If we’d had more water on board at the time, we might just have pitched our tent right there for a few days.

Looking at the map, we realise we’ll soon be in Turkey. Just three more days and we’ll be across the border. After spending the best part of the past year exploring Europe, it’s hard to believe we’ll soon be leaving it behind for quite some time to come.