The north of Bulgaria was wide empty countryside and quiet back roads. As we followed the Danube east the fields became filled with endless rows of drooping sunflowers past their prime. The friendliness of the local people amazed us as every day someone gave us food and drink and we were even welcomed into homes. Bulgaria will always be special as we now have an always waiting home for us in the tiny village of Malak Izvor with Sabrina and Sabatine. – Posted by Justin

We cycled into Serbia through a national park, spending our first night as guests in a tiny farmhouse just outside Mokra Gora. The hospitality of our first night was repeated many times throughout Serbia whether by people buying us coffee, campsites offering free pitches and breakfast snacks, or an international canoeing group welcoming us to their campsite. In Belgrade we learnt a lot from our great hosts Aleksander and Milica. We left Serbia after a loop around the Danube which, despite bugs and breakages we’d started to grow quite attached to. – Posted by Justin

We’ve always loved Italian food, and while we had some substandard focaccia and gelato in Italy, overall the cuisine lived up to our expectations (oh and the scenery was spectacular as well). We left food heaven with more insect bites than we arrived with, possibly more weight (see gelato figures below) plus fantastic memories of the roads we travelled and the people who stopped to talk to us in every small town we passed. Here are some facts and figures from our time in Italy. – Posted by Emma

Arriving in Croatia to a new language, currency and climate (read very very hot) we weren’t sure what to expect. Like the rest of Europe we enjoyed some holiday time in Croatia finding small family run campgrounds, quiet beaches for swimming and many shady spots to sit out the heat of the day. – Posted by Emma