We all love our local pubs, don’t we? You know, sometimes you just cannot be bothered to travel to the other end of your city to drink a cold lager or a great cocktail with some light snacks.

Usually we don’t have many expectations from our local spots since… well, they are just serving weirdos like us who can’t sit still at home and watch telly until the end of the world even on a school night!

Little did I know, when I came across BarBa Ben. Not only is this a wonderful al fresco super-cool canteen, but it also has great environmental ethics. All leftovers are composted, everything is served in biodegradable plastic or paper and generally the owners have taken environmental effects into great consideration. Add a fantastic tropical-inspired surrounding with old-style fer forgé seating, stone-pebbled floor and trees and there you have it! Copa Cabana in Papafi/Thessaloniki!

It is on the east side of the city right by a very busy road but the feeling you get when you walk inside is that you are on a non-stop vacation mode! Hurrahhhh!

The music is at a low level and really chilled, which means you can actually talk to each other -or not, for that matter- and just gaze freely at the sky while enjoying a piña colada in the hammock.

What a terrible, terrible life, I say…