Relax, it's all downhill from here!

 4770 KMS Thanks to Briana for the map and Shaz for working out the mileage 😊 Last day of riding for the Continental part of the tour. Sixteen weeks and nine countries. Memories good and bad, but mostly good to last us, at least until we do it all again. The bikes have been fantastic, the road surfaces varied and the traffic....well, those of you who have been following from Croatia, know how we feel about the traffic. Once again, as happens everytime we tour on our bikes, it's the people we meet who go toward making our adventures so fulfilling. And for me the best part of it all is doing it with my best friend. In 1986 when I asked if she would like to cycle around Europe with me and her answer was "Why would I want to do that?" I didn't think that 39 years later we would still be doing it and loving it. If you read the news, go on your phone, or watch television, the world always seems to be in a mess, with bad news the headlines. If you really want to see what th...

Both woke at the same time this morning, (well, I kept sneaking a peek to see if Julia was awake, then shutting my eyes if I thought she wasn't). Beautiful morning and our walk had "no tension" today. Swim was amazing as always and fantastic workout with no one around until we'd finished. Our second swim to finish off and a nice walk back to camp.  Dined out at the front area of the camp which overlooks the road, but has a nice setting, with trees keeping it in the shade most of the day. Called Irena and Tony for the last time on tour, well, at least the official Paris - Greece. Tomorrow we'll be up early to hopefully beat the sun and some of the traffic on our way back into Corfu. Hopefully Dimitrus has come through with two bike boxes. We need a Stanley knife, some packing tape and plastic ties, so that if/when we've got the boxes, we can start the packing process.  This is always an uncertain time of the trip, when you are reliant on other people to come th...

Made a huge faux-pas this morning. At 6.55am I gave Julia a nudge to wake her. I only did it because yesterday walking back to camp after our swim and workout, we were drenched as the sun was hot. So thought we should go earlier…. Big mistake, which I won't make again, until I make another. I know she needs sleep, especially at present, so it was a fair call, but the intention was to beat the heat of the sun.  After a very long and quiet walk down to the beach, we swam in the lovely water and then did a workout on the deserted beach. Even less people about today than yesterday. It was very calming soaking in the early morning sun on the beach and the walk back was a lot more comfortable than yesterday’s. Nice, relaxing breakfast followed by a call to Dave, who had San away at conference. Did some washing and bought more water from the shop as it closes at 2pm today. Decided to explore a bit more so took a walk up the road and down a track, through a bar...yes literally, you walk th...

I'm pleased to report the lilo certainly did the trick and didn't seem to make any noise, as can be the case when you roll over on a lot of sleeping mats.  It's 7.09 am. Sleeping beauty next to me is dreaming of her handsome prince....... Yes. I meant me....bastards. Sunrise is at 7.26am this morning. I've been over to the loos and washed my face, carefully unzipping the tent, then zipping it back up again, so I didn't wake Julia.  In this peaceful morning light, you can't help but reflect on what we've done. (Besides Ju was asleep and there was no reception up here in the back of beyond, so what else could I do?). Julia will never know how much I truly love her, or how extremely proud of her I am.....oh yes she will....she's the first one to read it. Honestly though, the mental and physical effort that we've put in has been massive. There was some self doubt there, but only because we hadn't done mountains on a continuous basis like this bef...