Etna!
Well, this is about the closest we got to Mount Etna, so you get to see the one shot we got of it. I suppose a good tourist would of gone there and gone up, but Nancy and I were never very good at being tourist. So……………………………………………..
Instead we went to Siracusa, a waterfront town south of Catania. There is a lot of old world charm in parts of Siracusa, especially on the little island of Ortigia which is now connected to the mainland via bridges. You can easily walk to the island.
When you cross over the bridges to Ortigia there are several views of one of the many harbors.
As we arrived late in the day, our first experience here was of the sun setting over this island,
And soon we were enveloped in quite a beautiful sunset,
Which of course made us very happy,
Nothing like a good sunset to make an impression on your first day in a new city. Works every time.
We settled in to our new AirBnB, and what a difference! This town was quiet. That was real nice after five days in Palermo.
Almost every day we walked the town taking pictures, mostly on Otigia, and we found this town to be quite pleasant.
Along the shore line,
And in the interior,
This again had the feel of older Italy, less hurried, and at night the piazzas come alive with all the outdoor dining, mixed with the local children playing, and the “passeggiata” (the evening walk), with all ages participating.
For Nancy and I, we always seem to relate to the sense of community that the evening walk represents. Couples of all ages walking together, arms interlinked, along with the younger ages of the same family. We feel that this is missing in our part of the world. Like it was lost in the previous generation.
Anyway, along with the evening walk, there are also many good restaurants,
This restaurant however was different. Apparently there is a new certification in Italy for what is called “street food”. And the best we can tell this means no indoor dining, no real glasses or silverware, and no plates. It was good, however it did not appeal to our sense of waste. Too much plastic and paper to throw away after you are done eating.
On other days we did manage to have some really fine fish and vegetable meals. The “vedura grigliata” (grilled vegetables) are to be found everywhere which is much to our liking.
This restaurant was extremely popular on the day we were there. It was packed with many foreigners and it started to rain really hard while we ate…..
Then this man showed up at the entrance and within 10 minutes he sold more than 20 umbrellas and ponchos. It was pretty funny because by the time everyone had finished eating, and were ready to go, the rain had stopped!
On another day we did do a tourist thing and visited the ruins at an archeological park.
This cave is called the Ear of Dionysius. Apparently fable has it that Dionsysius I of Syracuse, used this cave as a prison. And deep inside up high is a small hole where he could listen in on any plans of the prisoners to revolt or escape.
Greek theater built around the 5th century BC. This may be one of the largest semi-intact Greek theaters in the world.
And a Roman theater, not in as good of shape.
As is our wont, we walked around quite a bit of the city, and this one item we had to mention,
From a distance you can tell this is a vending machine, but what is it selling?
As you get closer it becomes more apparent,
Yep, that’s pot! For sale, in a vending machine! The sign reads “sale pursuant to the law”. And somehow you have to show you are 18+, which is 18 or older. I don’t know how that is required by the machine, ’cause,well, we did not try it. Perhaps you can when you visit Syracuse. Do you think we’ll be seeing this anytime soon in the states?
So for now we will leave you with a few more scenes of Syracuse,
those blue arrow signs are everywhere!
Next we go to the mainland and visit the hometown of our family, Sestri Levante,
Travel Adventures - Gary and Nancy 