'Spagbol Island'

It wasn't an island made of Spaghetti Bolognese.
I just thought I should clear that up... incase any of you were jumping at the thought of an amazing island adorned with mountains of Italian goodness. I wish.

No, this was an island in Crete, Greece. It's real name is Spinalonga Island, but I was only 10 years old when I visited... Spagbol Island was easier to remember. :) At the risk of sounding painfully cliche, I'll set the scene. It was an amazing, sunny day and I wanted to stay at the hotel. We hadn't been in Greece for long, and the hotel was so enticing! It boasted the most beautiful clear blue pool, and a bar-tender that made me a special kids 'traffic-light mocktail', complete with plastic animals, coloured straws and umbrellas. But, alas, at the request of my family, I boarded the tiny air-conditioning-less tour bus with an older couple who was also staying in our hotel...

I don't remember the trip over to the island, I just remember that we took a boat - and that my dad was sea-sick, but that's no suprise, it always happens. :) Once we got onto the island, we were surrounded by ruins, and the tour guide told us the story of Spinalonga.

Spinalonga was used as a lepar colony from 1903 - 1957, and the last inhabitant of the island, a priest, left in 1962. I remember that there were two entrances to the island. One of them known as 'Dante's Gate', the leper's entrance, named so because patients were unaware of what was going to happen to them once they arrived at Spinalonga. As sinister as this makes the island sound, the leper's were actually treated well once they arrived, being provided with medical attention and social security payments, along with neccessities, like food and water.

Of course, this wasn't the only use of the island. Spinalonga was present throughout Greek history, especially in the Cretan Revolt when the island was used as a Venetian fort. But, I want this too be a travel blog, not a history lesson so, alas, I will move on and leave Google with the task of helping those of you who want to learn more. ;)

I have one prevalent memory of the island. There was a church in the centre of the island that the leper's used as a shrine. They begged and pleaded their god to save them from the disease he had placed upon them, and mourned those who had already suscepted to the illness. As a part of this, the lepers made small bronze amulets signifying the infected parts of their bodies. So, of course, their were countless amulets with images of arms and legs scribed upon them, and these hardly affected me... it was those which had babies on that haunted me down to the bone. The mood in the church was... I can't find the words to describe it... At only 10 years old I could feel something I'd never felt before. I'm not going to try and describe it, because I simply can't.

I must say, I'm awfully glad I didn't stay in the hotel. My visit to Spinalonga Island is still with me today... the feelings I felt when I stepped into that church almost haunt me when I relive the memories, whilst the ancient ruins I witnessed are perhaps one of the key things that unleashed my passion for ancient history. And who knows, maybe the island itself is responsible for the fact that I quite enjoy Spaghetti Bolognese? Doubt it... but who knows?

Tashhhh x