The team today decided to split into two groups after breakfast – Ammar and Taha wanting to explore the island by bike, and the rest by car. For Abbas Almosawi, his wife Sameera and Petra, it's their first visit to the island. which means I have to be their tour guide, since I have been here twice before.

Thassos is considered one of the greenest islands in Greece, even if it isn't as famous as Crete, Mykonos, Santorini, Corfu or Rhodes. It belongs to the islands of the north Aegean. Close to Kavala, it has a green landscape, clean sea and outstanding beaches. Thassos (pop. 20,000) is 379 sq. km in area and has 95 km of coastline. 

Thassos was inhabited in prehistoric times (3500 - 2600 BC). In ancient times it was  known as Odonis or Idonis and was apparently settled by Thracian tribes initially. The Phoneticians arrived later and  at the beginning of the 7th century BC, colonisers came from Paros. After an arduous struggle they eventually expelled the Thracians and were able to exploit the island's rich mineral resources gold and marble.

Visitors to the holy city Mecca in Saudi Arabia are often surprised about how the marble in the courtyard is cold... almost as if it has air conditioning under it. The answer is this marble come from the island of Thassos, which absorbs the humidity in the night and stays cool during the day.

We started our day by visiting the Iris Gold Factory, which has unique jewellery. Every visitor to the island should have this place on her or his list, the price is good and the quality is excellent.

Our second stop was the Paradise Beach, which is clean and considered one of the best here. After that, we had lunch in one of the tavernas. When we started our drive we came across some mountains, very special ones, because it is from here that you get some of the best marble in the world. 

Then we drove to Panagia, a beautiful village 7 km from the capital Limenas. After a short walk around the village we drove to another village called Kazaviti and drove all the way up to see the church.

On the way back, we stopped for a coffee and ice cream and came back to our hotel, since we wanted to watch the World Cup soccer final between Spain and Netherlands.

Thassos offers a unique relaxing holiday, the island is green, people are very friendly, there are a lot of things to see and do and you will not be disappointed.

Ali Mushaima