August 28 - September 04, 2020: Afytios (Greece)

It is not quite clear whether it is due to the exciting and longer tour from Montenegro to the Aegean Sea, the slight time difference, or the heat that paralyzes us, but in any case, we are a bit exhausted and need to slow down a bit in Afytos.

One of the fantastic aspects of our sabbatical is that we have exactly that time: sleep in the morning, get moving in the pool, on the yoga or exercise mat, and enjoy a leisurely breakfast. The clock is ticking faster than we are, and the midday heat doesn't allow for any major activities: the perfect time to do homeschooling with the kids in air-conditioned rooms. We learn nouns and division with remainders, binary numbers, how the universe was created, and much more - with varying levels of motivation on all sides, but that's no different at home.

In the afternoon, when the midday heat subsides, it's the perfect time to go to the beach or take a short hike to Mavrobara, a protected little lake where frogs, snakes, various fish, and turtles live. They seem accustomed to being fed by visitors, so they fearlessly swim towards us. However, we don't have waffles or melons as suitable turtle food, which the children - and maybe also the turtles - would have liked to see.

On the way back, we are delighted by the golden-red light of the evening sun, illuminating the sea and the hilly landscape in front of us.

Afytos is probably one of the most beautiful places on Kassandra, the most touristy of the three "fingers" of Chalkidiki - above the sandy coves with chill beach bars, the town rises with sand-colored houses, alleyways with souvenir shops, small squares, and promenades with various restaurants.

Normally, all of this would start bustling in the early evening, and tourists would fight for the best seats with a sea view. But it is 2020 and Corona also leaves its mark here: of the three rows of tables in the promenade restaurants, only two are set up with large distances, and even there, only every third table is occupied. As much as we, like all tourists, love strolling on the beaten paths with as little companions as possible, we can also feel how bitter the decline of tourism is for all the shops and restaurants, and there is a slightly melancholic atmosphere hanging over the town when masks hide our mutual smiles while buying soft ice cream.

This becomes even more evident at another stop we make on the way to Athens in Paralia Kallithia: as we walk through the streets solely focused on tourism in the afternoon, it almost feels like one of those spaghetti westerns where the wind stirs up torn event flyers on empty streets and in the background, 'Play Me the Song of Death' is playing...