Mario Kart Grand Prix

Waking up to the sun shinning through the French doors leading out to our patio never gets old. We begun our rest day the way we begin any day here, with a delicious egg breakfast. It was decided early in the day that we would rent some scooters and take a tour of the island, the way it ought to be seen. After our morning chores we went to a scooter rental shop, located right beside Mike’s so it wasn’t too far away, and rented 2 scooters for 12 Euros each for the day. Split 3 ways it was 8 Euros, and we spent an extra 4.13 to fill them up with gas (they came half full). Renting them from a man with half his heads done up in dreads, and a cigarette constantly in hand, he taught us how to ride them in about 45 seconds and within the first 20 seconds of me at the throttle I almost hit a parked car. Our first order of business was to drive, as safely as possible, to the big super market further into town.

Joe teamed up with me on the Mario’s red scooter and Jess took Warriors yellow scooter, which happened to be faster, and every 5mins he would fly by us. We made it to the super market no problem and surprisingly without any deaths or caused accidents. We bought our groceries and headed back to drop them off, once again Joe teamed up with me. On our way back, we encountered a hill. Team Mario was struggling to get up this hill, due to the weight and the steepness. Joe resorted to his Canadian ways and started doing a paddling motion like in a canoe. Clearly we had no paddle, no canoe and no water, so we looked like a couple of idiots, as usual. This was clarified after a local on a motorcycle drove by, giving us the most peculiar face I have ever seen. Jess at this point was behind us and drove by the local laughing his ass off, and caught the contagious disease and started laughing himself. Joe and I have that effect on people. That’s why everyone wants to be around us.

Jess Tarry making it look easy

Dropping the groceries off at the studio, we consulted the local shop owner across the road about where the best spots are. She showed us a great loop that goes right around the island. It was perfect, so we disembarked on this crazy journey.

The art of maneuvering a scooter through the cities and along the skinny, often very busy streets, isn’t as hard as one would think. We picked up the skill quite fast, well Jess and I did, Joey still had his arms wrapped around my waist enjoying the scenery from the back seat. We made it to our first destination, once again without any troubles, a small village in the middle of the island. We were told that there was a beautiful beach here, but after a good while driving around, we couldn’t find it. It was at this time during the trip that Joe switched to Team Warrior, and I almost drove my scooter off the dock, forever losing it forever in the Mediterranean. We decided to carry on with our journey after getting weird looks from the locals.

On our way to downtown Masouri, I was driving alone behind Team Warrior, when what do my eyes witness, but Joe, once again enjoying the views from the back, reaches into his bag. I remember thinking what is so damn important that he must reach into his bag at this exact moment. After about 2 mins, he turns around with a banana peel in hand. After making his evil smile, he tosses it on the ground. Being the great Mario Kart driver I am, I swerve around it no problem. Dismayed by my maneuvering skills, he sneezes, which I cannot dodge. He later calls this his oil spill move. He uses this tactic about 3 times before I sped ahead for the lead.

Joe, thinking he is going fast

After our little Mario kart dilemma, Joe finally laced up and tried his hand at the scooters. I teamed up with Jess on Team Warrior. We had to stop and wait for Joe to catch up maybe 3 times before he finally got comfortable with the intense speeds we were driving at (60km). After realizing the gas was quite a bit lower on the yellow scooter, it was decided (against my will) that I go with Joe. It lasted about 20mins until Joe didn’t like the add weight on the scooter and didn’t yet trust himself enough to take on downtown. I took over again. We reach downtown and it was a whole new world opened to driving. Honking on every corner, locals flying by you on their loud motorcycles, civilians walking in the middle of the roads. It was lots to look out for. We made it through alive. Thank God. All it all it was the best rest day, I have ever had and unfortunately it was a one time thing. It wouldn’t make sense to rent them again, as we have seen the whole island on the one trip. Later in the day we made a short trip to the shop to buy some snorkeling gear. Joe and I wore the mask and snorkel on drive home, while Jess crashed his scooter into the stairs of the shop. I laughed really hard.

Me speeding by after dodging the banana

Spending the rest of the day doing some snorkeling, making dinner and once again relaxing, getting stoked on our projects which we were hoping on sending the following day. Snorkeling was super cool, saw lots of colorful fish along the rocks bordering the beach. Joey was scared of sharks and didn’t venture out too far. We returned the scooters at 8pm, sat at Mikes for a while then hit the hay sack. Joe did his routine mosquito-killing spree, and I did my routine stealing his pillow for my back while I read.