Agios Nikolaos Day 4

Another boat trip today, this time a four-hour one to Spinalonga Island, site of  Europe's last leper colony. We'd sat and had breakfast and beers right beside the Ostria's mooring point many times since we came here, and it was inevitable that we would finally step on board ourselves. Cast-off time was 12:30, which meant we didn't have time for breakfast before going on board. Not to worry, since the boat is well provided with bar and restaurant.

There was a forty-minute swimming stop on the way, and we had an hour and a half to do the circuit of the island. I didn't think I'd make it all the way round, but we did, and were suitably moved and impressed by the experience. Not for the first time we heard about the checkered history of Crete and the various influences it's gone through, from earliest Minoan times to Byzantine to Venetian to Turkish to Greek. Spinalonga is tiny, but is strategically placed and was fortified by the Venetians before falling to the Ottomans. It was the Cretan government who designated it a lever colony in the early twentieth century, and it served that purpose right up until 1957, so a walk around it is a rather sad experience.

On a glorious day like today, though, it was hard not to be distracted by the sheer beauty of sea and sky and the 'sun stone' from which the Venetian fortifications were built. No time was lost getting back to base after our stay, which meant we got back to Agios Nikolaos before 5:00 and had time for a pit stop at one of the cafés which is quickly becoming a favourite haunt. After that it was a matter of browsing though the day's crop of photos desperately trying to choose a suitable one for today's blip, then a siesta, a gorgeous crepe supper on the waterfront and an early night.