Waiting Around in Mykonos

The famous wooden windmills at Fabrika in Mykonos

Tourism is a big part of Greece's economy, as everyone who caters to tourists speak various languages like English, Italian and Spanish, offer a variety of services, particularly food and transport to make the visitors' time in the country more enjoyable.

We are currently in Mykonos, an island over three hours' ferry ride from Athens. It is completely dependent on tourists who are there to soak up the sun, frolic in the clear blue waters, party the night away and eat lots of souvlaki and drink alcohol. Visitors are mainly French, Italian, Spanish and American.

There are "boutique hotels" everywhere and stretching resources, particularly electricity and the internet. Last night when we were going out for dinner we could see sparks flying out of the power poles and we even had a blackout in our hotel at 5am! Internet is spotty which is why it's hard for me to upload pictures...

The monastery in Ano Mera

Today we ventured out to visit what we were told is a small traditional Greek Town, Ana Mera where there is a well-known monastery. But to get there from Ornos, where we are staying, we had to get a bus to Fabrika, and from there another bus to Ano Mera.

The bus costs 1.80 euros one way, or we could have ordered transport for about 30 euros an hour. Of course we tried the latter.

We were armed with the bus schedule and the next bus to Fabrika was supposed to be 10.10am. We waited and waited in the sun (and the moved to the shade) but no bus came. It wasn't until 10.40am did the bus come and we jumped on.

Half an hour later we arrived at Fabrika, another bay area where we saw three cruise ships anchored there. We walked to the famed wooden windmills, though one was in repair, making it not as picturesque. Many of the cruise ship passengers were hanging out here taking pictures or have lunch along the coastline which is packed with restaurants next to each other.

We had to walk past all these places to get to the Old Port to catch our next bus to Ano Mera. After securing our tickets we got on the bus. I need add these buses are not what one would think are public transit buses -- they are basically tour coaches that ferry mostly tourists but also some locals around.

The small church is very ornate inside

As a result, the bus does not have a proper announcement system to say which stop is coming next or even a microphone for the driver to tell passengers what the stop is clearly. As a result we missed our stop. The bus driver was annoyed with us, but let us stay on the bus as he was going back and would pass by Ano Mera again.

A few minutes later we were dropped off in what looked like the middle of nowhere. Across the street we could see a church with a special flag and guessed it was the monastery. It was a small church but inside was packed full of details, religious iconography, a mural of Jesus Christ on the ceiling of the dome and intricate wooden carvings, and lots of silver and gold.

Upstairs was a small museum that had more embroidered vestments, jewellery and other religious objects in precious metals and stones.

A chubby boy about nine or 10 years old sat at the entrance taking 1 euro suggested donation from each visitor who came in. Why wasn't he in school? Nevertheless, he was polite though and said thank you to each person who paid. He also liked petting the cats who hung out in the churchyard.

Following our visit to the church we got some lunch and I tried grilled sardines that were delicious with a lemon sauce. I find the food here in general is under seasoned which is unusual, but better than too salty.

We went back to the bus stop to wait for the bus. At first we got the time wrong and had to wait 30 minutes for the 3pm bus. It did not come. While we were waiting, other tourists inquired about the bus and we had to explain the bus was supposed to be there at 3pm but it still hadn't arrived. While buses came our way, but then passed right by us because they were tour buses. At one point we wondered if we would ever get onto our bus.

Grilled fresh sardines for lunch!

It wasn't until 3.30pm (when the next bus was supposed to arrive) did the bus come. It was frustrating to have to wait for buses to come when they didn't follow the schedule...

Then we had to wander from the Old Town back to Fabrika and had to navigate our way through the maze of streets filled with shops selling souvenirs and cafes to finally make our way back to the bus station.

When we finally made it back we rewarded ourselves with a trip to our hotel pool after a long day of walking around and using public transport. Oh and yes a lot of waiting around...