Spinalonga Island

Our day started off in an internet cafe and it's ending in one, too. After my last blog, we headed on the boat to Spinalonga Island. We stopped for a brief swim in the sea. Teagan got into the sea, but immediately wanted out. The other two had a great time snorkeling.

The island was very interesting, but our guide focused on the leper colony that was there in the early 1900s. I wanted to hear all about the Venetians and how they fought the Turks over that island. Eventually the Turks took it over and built some "homes" around the Venetian walls, but recently the Greeks "remodeled" and took out anything that resembled Turkish influence. (If you don't know about the Greeks and the Turks, you need a history lesson. But suffice it to say they don't like each other.)

After our trek around the island, we headed back to town for a meal out. I know, I know. I said we'd cook in, but after all that swimming and walking in the heat (at least 90-ish today), none of us were up for cooking. Then the kids got an ice cream. They were so excited. (Simple pleasures, eh?) Then they watched a movie in our room. (I have a DVD player on my computer, so we brought a handful of movies for nights like tonight.)

While we ate dinner, we watched the Germany-Argentina game. Wow! It went to penalty shots. Germany has a much better goal keeper, so they won that match. Now we're watching Italy-Ukraine. You know Italy will win this one.

I'm hoping tomorrow that England will win and so will France. Then we'll have the rivalry of those two, and England will win. Then German will beat Italy and it'll be just like 1966, except England will win this time.

Ah, one can dream, eh?

Now I'm off to focus on my beer, my ouzo, and my snacks. Oh, I forgot to say that I tried Raki today. It's a liquor made from grapes. I think it's from the pith that's left after making wine, but I'll have to do some research and let you know.

And it's noon your time and yet no one is on Skype or Yahoo. Hmm. More slackers in the crowd or are you all logged off so you can watch the game? :-)