Stressful rest days?

Well after 4 days of hitting it hard, our bodies were starting to call it quits. If we are gonna last long climbing on this athletic stone, rest days are a must. We knew it was all coming, but waiting for a weather excuse was helpful to push us into not climbing. Well waking up to the house almost blowing off the hill was a good way to justify pulling the blankets over our heads for a bit longer this morning.

We were all running out of money, and the mysterious ATM on this side of the island has been hiding from us. Also there are no banks on our little quiet side of the island. So a trip to the east side main port city of Pothia was a must on the first day of rest. After some more delicious baked goods from our host, we limped our sore bodies down to the bus station to hitch a ride to Pothia. We had walked past bus stations every day since being here, but I had never seen a single bus. Ok, trust the system and the sign with the picture of the bus... or not. After waiting around for a good amount of time we got picked up by a nice local who swore off the shitty bus system, and offered to take us there himself. That is the second time in two days that we have gotten a ride without even sticking our thumbs out. Last night, after a long day of climbing pretty far down from our house, a pickup truck just stopped and we all jumped in the back for a free ride home! Again, the hospitality of the people here is amazing. Trusting the goodness in people is more alive here then back home. Anyway, back to our ride with the french man. He tells us about the island after WWII and how there were only 4 taxis to get around. How quiet it all was.

Well one heck of an intro to Pothia. We got dropped right by the bank so we could exchange money. As soon as we stepped out of the car it was a bustling port city. Motorbikes, horns, and tons of people. Instantly my heart rate was up. Was this really on the same island where we sip coffee and stare out into the ocean? We were all on the same page. Get our money and get back to our side of the island. I was gone for an hour and already missing my quiet little apartment. My view of the ocean that I don't even have to share! The one up side was the fresher produce that we saw. Ok, get some money, buy some good produce, get on the bus home. We ended up getting 4 giant bags of produce for a fraction of what it would all cost in the states, and we were all pretty stoked about that. We find the bus stop and start the wait. Still to this point I had not even seen a bus, but surely they exist. We sit and people watch, checking out all the crazy euro cars. Then a bus! Wow, after an hour it really exists. I walk on and say we are going to Masouri "Next bus..." Shit. Ok, we sit for another hour... And this crazy packed city is starting to get to me. I love quiet little towns. I already had gotten into such a peaceful groove of just being the only people on our side of the island. We are all getting impatient at this point and once Ryan started to get hassled by the town drunk, it was time to hail a cab. We snag the first one that comes our way and finally head back home. It ends up being about 6's for the 4 of us to be in a cab. Lesson learned on that one. Now some laundry, some good food, and maybe a movie in bed to top off the rest day. Geeze, all to get some money from the bank. The weather is still windy as all get out, but it looks like its gonna let up for tomorrow. Hopefully my body gets that memo to and we can be back to pulling down strong tomorrow.