Day 86 Athens

Today is our last full day in Athens; we're heading to the island of Chios by ferry tomorrow. We're nearly at the end of the trip, and we wanted to sing the praises of some of the unsung heroes that have made it possible for us to get here. 1. Food bag clips We've been carrying muesli for breakfast every day, often along with an open packet of olives, cheese, risotto or pasta. Our cycle bags would be covered in loose food, not to mention insects, without half a dozen little plastic clips. These were a last-minute purchase before we left Valencia, but they've been invaluable. Thanks, clips! 2. Komoot Believe it or not, we started the ride using Google Maps for navigation. In no way was this a good idea; it's definitely not up to the job. At the end of day two, Claude suggested using the navigation app Komoot, and we've literally never looked back. It's about €50 for a year's subscription, but worth every penny. We've used it to plan 65 days of cycling through regions we've never been to before, through the middle of busy cities, and on occasion through restricted areas (oops). It's taken us the wrong way down a few one-way streets, and it sometimes suggests slightly strange paths, but it's totally earned its place on this list. Thanks Komoot! 3. Mobile phone tripod Just before we left, Mat threw our cheap plastic mobile phone tripod into his bag; what a great addition that's been! As well as allowing us to have better-quality work video calls (our laptop cameras aren't that great), it's also been invaluable for video chats with friends back home, and also for allowing us to take selfies and videos on the road. A few times it's nearly been run over by passing cars, but it's done an amazing job. Thanks, tripod! 4. Our lunch boxes We bought some cheap collapsible silicone lunch boxes from Ale Hop before we left Valencia. They have little sporks that fit into the lids. We've used them for breakfast, lunch, dinner and just to store things in. I'm amazed they've lasted the trip, but they've kept our food safe and our cycle bags food-free for the whole trip. Thanks, boxes! 5. Sunscreen Finally, we can't imagine how much damage our skin would have suffered without all the sunscreen we've been liberally applying. It feels like magic - that we can spend 6-7 hours a day outside without any sunburn at all. We're onto our fifth bottle of the trip. Not advertising: our favourite body sunscreen is Nivea Protect & Dry Touch SPF50, and for our faces, La Roche-Posay Anthelios UVmune 400 Invisible Fluid. Thanks, sunscreen!