Day 427 – EU – Greece [Paralia Gerakinis to Gomati]

05/06/21

48.4km

  From Paralia Gerakinis (Greece) to Gomati (Greece)

Europe

A long and hot day in the mountains and meeting some lovely friendly people along the way

Toroneos Gulf in the morning light

The light over the Toroneos Gulf was beautiful as I left Gerakinis this morning. I enjoy running by the sea and Europe is the continent I am set to clock the most miles, by far, along the coast. Let’s enjoy it while it lasts. By 9am it was already very hot and as the morning progressed we hit temperatures over 40 Celsius under the sun. Quite a jump from the mild summer temperatures of Italy I had been running under the past month.

Lindtsa offering me food & drinks on the road

This part of the Chalkidiki peninsula is not very populated and also substantially mountainous. Typically the kind of environment where I have to run longer days on the road to reach small villages. About 10km from my destination a car stopped ahead of me. Out came Lindtsa, a woman who saw I was doing something special. She offered me food and drinks, which I gladly accepted. She explained it is her father’s death anniversary today and it is the tradition for her to offer food and do something good on the special day. Her father must have been a very kind man, what a great way to remember him.

Konstantina and Theodoris, my very kind and generous hosts

I finally reached Gomati, a tiny village perched on the side of a small mountain. I was met by Konstantina and Theodoris. Some more kindness here again. Upon learning about my journey, they asked me to cancel my booking and they offered me accommodation for free. A fabulous day as you can imagine, they don’t come any better than that!

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: