Hot Springs

Rusty and I decided we better take advantage of the days he has off. He gets Sundays off, which is nice, but we spend those just relaxing at our apartment. Randomly, he will get Monday off as well. After talking about making the most of our time here, Rusty called Mike, the back up setter who is from Greece and asked if he wanted to go to Thermopiles, hot springs nearby that people have told us about. He did, so he picked us up and off we went!   

When we pulled up it reeked of sulfur, as most hot springs do, but the scenery was pretty. The hot springs were back against a mountain covered in greenery. There was a waterfall cascading over black and green rocks. The water was a light blue. We walked further back to another hot spring, which was basically a shallow pool that over flowed and ran down to where the waterfall was. The smell at this hot spring was not bad. The water temperature was perfect, like a hot tub. I have been to a couple different hot springs in Utah and while they were cool to go to once, I didn't really care to go back. The ones in Utah were so hot, I could hardly even stand it. Since they are so hot, the best time to go to them is winter, so if you step out to cool off, you are freezing. For me, there was no enjoyable temperature. 

Just ignore the black athletic tape on Rusty's arm, apparently it's supposed to help his shoulder

So we had the place to ourselves until...Asian invasion. There were about 15 Asian tourists who literally came running to see it. None of them were wearing a swimsuit, one guy was in dress slacks, but that didn't stop him from dipping his feet in. They cracked me up because they had no concept of personal space. Rusty was sitting on a ledge and a lady next to him bent over to put on her shoes and her butt was within inches of Rusty's face haha! They were only there for about 15 min and then they had to catch their charter bus. Mike, Rusty and I sat there for a little while longer and then decided to walk back down to the waterfall. 

Mike and Rusty went in the waterfall and I just took pictures. I had already dried off, and I didn't feel like getting wet again. I am sure we will be back, so I will experience the waterfall next time. 

We got back to our apartment and got ready to go to People. People is a popular coffee shop up in the center, which seems to be the hangout spot for people our age. On the weekends, the patio is packed with people socializing and drinking coffee. They even have a DJ there playing music, which I like because it's music I know. 

Rusty, Jay, and I got to People and met up with Mike, Andreas, the team trainer, and their two friends Alexia and Paula. I was excited to meet Alexia and Paula because they were super nice and seemed a little more relatable than some of our other friends here, aka not as emo. I knew we could be friends after Paula told me she liked Gossip Girl and vaflaki, which is the waffle dessert from Fresco Rusty and I love. Eventually Alexia's sister, her boyfriend, Paula's boyfriend, and Nikitas, the team libero, joined us. 

The napkin that came with my hot chocolate, I thought it was funny

Rusty, Jay and I went to get food at a place right by People since we hadn't had dinner. We came back and got Mike, Alexia, Andreas, and Nikitas and went to Fresco to get the vaflaki dessert. After talking about it, we just had to get one. It was a fun day and I can't wait to see what other adventures Rusty’s days off bring!

(The next day we went back to the hot springs with Mike, Andreas, and Jay)