Midnight Monastery Mountain ‘Experience’

Returning from Milos on the ferry we got into Sifnos at 11pm which is prime dining hour chez my cousins. Obviously they dragged us out for ‘one drink’. Despite craving my bunk on the boat I felt up for being festive and to recount of great trip to Milos. Two hours later we’re convinced that a ride up to the Monastery St Simeon is necessary or I will spoil the crowd. We pile into the mini Moke (an open air vintage BMW car-much cooler than a beach/dune buggy but the same concept) and go winding up and up and up and up until the road turns to gravel. The previous week the mini moke barely could climb a hill (as a new purchase as a vintage car it needed some work) so we as girls were a bit nervous and scarred to drive off a cliff. The views are so high that we are all thankful it’s not light to really see how high we are. After the adventurous twisty ride we are greeted by a huge flock of goats which causes us to burst into laughter that turns to fear as and I wonder are they going to charge us?? Instead we hear the tinkling of their bells as they slowly disappear via a cliff as peaceful as can be. I’m trying to shoot them with my camera and the mini moke headlights-the big white goat giving me a look like we ruined the party, as he’s the last one to descend. Once on the lookout ledge of the monastery we worry about waking the monks, getting kicked out as my male cousin starts ringing the bell and my female cousin tells us that chirping noise is BATS. Wackadoo! And we’re off and otta there down the mountain we go-the breeze blowing hot and blowing cool much like swimming in the Med Sea.