TL;DR: We are still on the farm in Kalloni.

It's been over two weeks now and we're still here. And we're still having a good time. We've continued similar work as the last update: we picked some more blueberries (lots are ready now), did gardening, dug an extension to the garden, collected a lot of soil to make plant bins outside the Taverna. And when we took down an old bench that was in the way next to the tavern I could re-use the wood to replace planks in another bench in the middle of the square.

We've settled into the rhythm here pretty well and we've really gotten to know the other four volunteers and the hosts. And we have appreciated the time to do some mundane things again: I made progress with the Advent of Code 2024 and even started a new map in Factorio.

There was also a chance to set up another excursion. We left Sunday afternoon to drive into Zagori, another nature area north of us. When the hosts heard of our plan they immediately called friends (because of course they know people there) and it was arranged that we could (and should!) park in front of the hotel of an acquaintance.
On the way we stopped in Ioannina for a bit, which is a nice city. Then we got to our space for the night, which had a wonderful view and was very quiet. The hotel behind us was gorgeous too, 7 rooms in a traditional dry-stone house. We were received as if we were already old friends. The next morning we got up early for a hike and walked from Monodendri to Vikos, though the Vikos canyon. It is a very popular activity but rightly so, the steep canyon is beautiful. During the middle of the day it got very hot, fortunately we arrived at a natural spring just in time where we relaxed by the freezing water. From Vikos we took a taxi back (also a contact arranged for us) and we lingered some in the towns. We slept outside the hotel a second night and then came back to Kalloni, where we still had to do some work in the early evening.

We decided to stay here until coming Monday afternoon, then it's back to Italy. We were doubting what we could really see in 10 days driving through Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia, so in the end we booked a ferry instead. On the Wednesday after it will take us from Igoumenitsa all the way to Ancona in Italy. The ferry isn't cheap, but counting fuel, toll and vehicle depreciation it is technically cheaper than driving the full 2'000 km.

For now we will enjoy another week of sun, mountain views, working outdoors, home cooked food and good company!