Spinalonga.

Still grey but warm here on this our 49th wedding anniversary. (Peter had to made a dash to town to buy chocolates and roses, better late than never.)

After a walk to the shop to stock up on throat soothing sweets I managed to fit in an hour of gardening before our Welsh class. Although the class is now three hours we had a twenty minute break in the third hour so it didn't seem too hard. 

It's disco aerobics tonight. I've done the usual check and had to stick down a few loose 'gems' on my indulgent sparkly trainers.

But now for some blue skies -

Spinalonga.

The island of Spinalonga lies across the water from Plaka and is a very interesting site to visit. Originally fortified in antiquity to protect the city of Olous (destroyed when Santorini erupted) it was rebuilt and fortified by the Venetians in the 17thC. Later it was colonised by Muslims (the Ottomans) when one of the island's industries was the export of salt. More recently (1904-1957) it was repurposed as a leper colony. The two large rectangular buildings were the hospital but many inmates lived, married and worked in the houses of the colony.

 

We crossed the water on one of the many boats that carry tourists backwards and forwards to this World Heritage site. A pair of large ceremonial gates (behind the trees) set in the fortifications face Plaka.

The tourist boats however go round the southern tip of the island and land by a larger beach.

We began by following the circular brown route around the perimeter of the island and then tackled the steep and precarious red route to the circular bastion. We didn't make it to the very top of the island as it was very hot and the paths and steps were rugged to say the least. We had stopped for a breather half-way up and were passed by ladies wearing flimsy flip-flops and getting rather worried about their descent.

This was where everyday folk and later the lepers would have entered through iron gates into a tunnel under the wall.

Once through the tunnel and inside the walls we came to what is known as the market street which is was lined by shops and homes.

Many of these have now been restored and it was possible to enter them or wander through the paths between the houses. Inside some were useful information boards in Greek and English. We found that in general on Crete all signs were in  both Greek and English or at least in the Latin alphabet. (That's how they refer to our letters.) 

Somehow, despite the number of other visitors I managed to take photos without random people in them. I do regret not taking more of the steep sections but I was too busy watching where to go to get my camera out.

The Ottoman houses were interesting. Each was built around a small courtyard off which were store rooms, kitchen and toilet with sleeping quarters on the upper floor.

On our way around the island we passed the bastion at the north end of the island (above) and later made it up to the semi-circular bastion at the south end. (below) We were extremely glad to sit in the cool of one of the cannon openings through which was blowing a refreshing breeze after walking and climbing in 30+C. I thought about climbing to the upper ramparts but the steps were narrow and I worried about coming down them so stayed safe where we were.

Eventually we made our way down to the lower levels and back to the beach. The boats must be in some sort of co-operative because you buy a return ticket from one of a number of places, jump on a boat and return on whichever boat is leaving next. Providing that is it is going back to where you came from. I was able to stop a couple, who wanted to return to Elounda, from getting on a boat back to Plaka.