Today was the day, the day I had dreamed of, to step on the island of Spinalonga. I had researched, planned so we would be the one of the first on the island before the hoards of visitors arrived from Elounda and Agia Nickolas and beyond.
How utterly disappointed was I when yet another bad night sleep due to my age, aka hot flushes, left me in sleep land (when we should have been on the road to catch that first ferry from Plaka), with a thoughtful husband thinking he was doing the right thing by letting me ‘sleep in’.
So needless to say, when we arrived in Plaka around 10:45 just making the next ferry the place was rammed. We got off the boat to hundreds of others trying to get tickets, it was madness. I left Russ to queue in the heat whilst I dropped back into the shade and actually shed tears. I was gutted, it had totally ruined the visit I had been waiting for.
Once in and the hordes of tourists following tour guides as they entered through the tunnel Russ suggested to head the opposite direction and started our tour off to the right where it was far less crowded. I tried to work out from what we were seeing from the details in the books what we were looking at. As we approached the part where the houses etc have been re-constructed the ‘tourists’ we still heavy in number. I did not feel what I thought I would feel, the sadness of the place from when it was a leper colony so one day I must return………….and not ‘sleep in’!
We ate fish in Plaka on the seafront and wondered around the small amount of shops returning back to The Stonehouse for snorkelling and chilling. We really wanted to enjoy time at this property, it was just perfect.