We went to Crete for a change this year. I'd been before but not for a long time and Jonathon had never been to a Greek island. When we went to the travel agent, we thought we were going to book a holiday to one of the Spanish islands but this hotel caught our eye so this is where we ended up. Lovely hotel - Blue Palace Resort and Spa - that gave Jonathon plenty of things to practise using his new camera on!

We left Oli in the tender care of Pauline and Paul and off we went.

Thankfully there was a funicular / lift to transport the guests between the various levels. A real bonus coming in from the beach.

A few photos from around the hotel - very stylish place.

The corridor wasn't really this dark - but it was good to see there was light at the end!

As you can see, the weather at the start of the week was lovely and sunny but ever so windy! The temperature was just about right for us - around 22/23C.

We wandered into Plaka, the nearest village for a look around and a drink. It seems the local cat population had received a message that Jonathon would be missing Oli so please show him some cat affection!

The village was obviously one of the main places for catching a boat to Spinalonga - we were planning a visit for later in the week.

A stroll back from Plaka and time for a massage for me while Jonathon took some of the photos above.

Dinner was buffet style - lots of choice and all delicious - good job there was a gym as well otherwise I'd have had to buy a whole new wardrobe on our return to the UK.

Day 3 (if we include the day we arrived) and we strolled round to Elounda. It was apparently c. 5 km from the hotel so a decent walk. After lunch, we strolled back again!

I loved the colours when the sun popped out from behind the clouds.

The footpath (when there was one) had interesting patterns built in.

There were plenty of other things to see and photograph along the way

Lunch was over the water in Elounda with lovely views and even some mullet playing round the cafe in the sea.

The cafe owner very obligingly threw some bread for the fish so we had a good view of them.

 

It's fine Jonathon having a new camera to play with but there seem to be more photos of me this holiday!

Checking whether there's any smoothie left.

Trying to get the horizon to look straight!

Just to prove I did get my feet wet.

We spent a little while on the beach. This button was fun - you press it and someone comes along, takes your order then brings you a drink - amazing!

Plaka on the right is where we went the day before.

Spinalonga lights up beautifully in the warm afternoon light.

 

I went back to our room to start looking at the day's photos and left Jonathon playing with his feline friend!

Dinner and bed.

The sunrises thus far hadn't been spectacular but this one was still very pretty and promised a good day ahead.

We decided to go to Spingalonga - what a fascinating place.

Spinalonga is an island and sits at the entrance of the Gulf of Elounda (and right opposite our hotel!). Its name, when translated from the Latin, means long thorn but there is also a story that it got its name from Longa, a renowned young lady of noble rank. Who knows!

This street is possibly the most visited part of the island. It has (obviously) been refurbished / renovated and is the Ottoman market place.

Spinalonga has been owned by several different nations over its history including the Venetians, the Ottomans and Crete.

In early times, a fortress was built on the island to protect the port of ancient Olous (where Elounda now sits). In 1589 the Venetians, who were the rulers of Crete from 1204, built a great fortress on the island that they considered impregnable.

The fortress maintained visual contact with two others so that, in times of emergency, all the fortresses around Crete could alert each other by lighting fires and summon their combined forces as quickly as possible.

These photos are of the main gate - the one on the left looking from the sea and the one on the right looking out to the sea.

There were a few darker tunnels - protection from incomers perhaps.

The Venetians managed to continue their rule of the island for 46 years after the Turks invaded Crete itself in 1669. Spinalonga became the refuge for partisans who used it as a base from where to harry the Turks (bet that went down well!)

The churches of St.Panteleimon and that of St. George were built during that period. In 1715 Spinalonga fell to the Turks and civilians began to inhabit the island.

The Church of St. Panteleimon

These stairs were a lot easier to walk up than down!

The census of 1834 showed that around 80 families were living on the island and the numbers grew significantly in the following years.

Houses, shops (as per colourful photo above) and other buildings of that era, featuring high stone fences and big glass windows can still be found around the island (or the remains of them anyway).

I wasn't sure why Jonathon wanted to photograph a rusty tank either! This tank was in the Disinfection Area from the leprosy era.

In 1903, the Cretan State decreed that Spinalonga should be turned into a refuge for those suffering from leprosy. Having read Victoria Hislop's book "The Island" it seems to me it was more of a banishment than a refuge.

A society with elected authorities, a school and a hospital were formed and the inhabitants led a seemingly normal life albeit with the terrible disease.

There were a lot of archways - some blocked in and others still open.

A posh residence, like the one on the right, would have had two storeys, a courtyard and a few outhouses.

Since the eradication of leprosy, the island has been uninhabited.

There are a lot of buildings that give a clear picture of what they would have looked like in their time.

Many of the buildings from the time when the people suffering from leprosy were living there have been destroyed.

You might notice that Jonathon's photos are "greener" than mine. He had a new camera and hadn't realised that he'd pressed some button or other. At this stage he was debating whether to go back over to the island and re-shoot.

The view from the Eastern end of the island looking across to the mainland. No filter required - the sea really was this colour.

Just to prove we were there together we are on the left!

Back to the mainland for a beer and Jonathon's friend was waiting for him

The owner of Ocean Cafe was really surprised at how often he/she went to sit on his knee - apparently this is not cat's usual behaviour but it seemed to be when we were there.

We decided to have a very late lunch / early dinner while we were there rather than eating in the hotel.

A somewhat more colourful sunrise today.

We decided to have a "not do much" day today so plenty of lounging around, Crossword and So Duku completing, a bit of a dip in one of the hotel's pools and so on - nothing too taxing!

Jonathon took himself off in the afternoon either to do cat spotting or to go back over to Spinalonga for more practice with his camera. His instructions were to be back by 6.30 p.m. for dinner!

In the meantime, I wandered around the grounds enjoying (and photographing) the lovely plants / green areas.

There were some interesting cacti around the place.

 

 

A bonus to see some wildlife as well!

The lovely green spaces made you feel cool, even on a warm day.

As you can see, there were lots of colours and textures around - paradise!

The answer to the earlier question was that Jonathon went over to Spinalonga again for another wander around so here are a few more photos from there.

It was much quieter on the Saturday than it had been on our earlier visit so he managed to get a few photos with no people in them.

A few detail shots to add to his repertoire.

These are genuine beams!

As it was so lovely and quiet, Jonathon took time to walk right round the island and saw some things we'd not seen on our earlier visit.

And now for some black and white "arty" pictures:

He just can't help himself!

This is the hotel cat that seems to have attached itself to Jonathon so he just had to take a snap or two on his way back to the room.

A more dramatic sunrise on Day 6 and another lazy day.

First we sat here and had a drink ...

... then we had a quick swim in the pool and dried off on the sun beds. It was sunnier than it looks in the photo!

We had our usual walk down to the village and cat was deemed a traitor as he chose to sit with me longer than Jonathon.

After yet another lovely dinner, Jonathon wandered round the hotel to admire (and photograph) the pretty lights.

Our final full day in Crete so plenty of lounging around in the morning, water aerobics for me around lunch time while Jonathon played with the hotel cat, then back over to Spinalonga for a final walk around (anti-clockwise this time).

St. George's Church

There were some lovely views from the island.

Various turrets provide a good reminder that this was a fortress island.

The little ginger cat on the left was quite shy. Not sure why there is a cat on Spinalonga - perhaps to keep the mice down but he/she seems to live there.

The sun through the clouds was quite pretty - I spent ages playing with this one!

 

All too soon it was time to say goodbye to the friendly folk at Ocean Cafe and, especially, to Jonathon's furry friend. He was sitting with another English couple when we got to the cafe but came running over to Jonathon. I'm not sure who'll miss the other most! Perhaps the nice English lady will adopt him for a few days.

A final dinner , a lovely sunrise and then breakfast before it was time to go home with lots of happy memories.