We have continued to relax in Batumi the last couple of days, though personally I've struggled slightly due to some kind of stomach bug. Luckily it hasn't held us up completely, and loaded with ibuprofen we did still manage to get out to explore the rest of Batumi city centre yesterday late afternoon and early evening.

Today was our last day in Turkey until the return leg of the trip. We were supposed to spend two more days in the Black Sea region but we've changed our plans slightly due to the lack of dog friendly accommodation in the area. As a result we are heading into Georgia two days ahead of schedule, since almost all the hotels and apartments there allow pets.

Today wasn't the day we had planned for due to complications finding a hotel halfway between Istanbul and Samsun. We got some locals to call a few hotels but unfortunately none of them would accept dogs no matter how cute we explained Summer is. One offered to take us as long as Summer stayed in a kennel outside, but we didn't think that was an acceptable compromise!

After a lot of anticipation, today was the day we successfully crossed into Turkey! The drive from Kavala to the border crossing took about two hours, and wasn't a particularly interesting drive, with low lying mountains to the West, and mostly farmland to the East.

First a short complaint: we are getting a bit fed up with the heat dome which is affecting all of Europe at the moment! Every day for the past 10 days has been between 35-40 degrees wherever we have been, which is significantly above the average of 29-32ish expected for this time of year.

We changed our plans slightly today after finding Sarandë a bit too busy for our liking, and not a great place to relax as a family. Nothing against this lively resort city in a stunning setting, but it is more a place for partying or families with older children (the streets are very un-buggy friendly).

After a busy day yesterday with a 4 hour drive, a border crossing, and a 2 hour walking tour, we thankfully had a much slower day today. I started the day by getting up relatively early to take a run around Tirana before it got too hot.