Siracusa

Greetings:

We did manage to get an earlier start today but we first had to change a 50 Euro note since nobody wants to deal with making large change. A bank eventually appeared and Chris went inside. Well, not at first. The door was locked and finally someone inside felt pity on him and pushed a button. This allowed a curved piece of plexiglass to whoosh out of the way. Since the aliens now own most of the banks throughout the world, Chris assumed it was safe and entered the vertical tube. For those of you who have successfully beamed up you would be familiar with the operation. With another whoosh a second piece of vertical, curved, bullet proof, clear plastic panel allowed for full transporting.

Using Italian, Chris asked if he could change the large bill. At least he thought he did. After a few minutes two things became clear: first, the teller understood what Chris wanted and secondly that he spoke perfect English (the teller, not Chris). “Today is a very important day for you, no?”. It was Tuesday, January 20 and Barack Obama was to be inaugurated. Yes, it was an important day.

The weather was wet and we headed south for our long drive to Siracusa. The drive which got even longer when the Autostrada shrunk to two opposing lanes and our lane would not move. So much for the early start!

Siracusa is also a coastal town more towards the south of Sicily. It was settled by Phoenicians and north Africans before the Greeks arrived. The Greeks made quite the settlement here followed by the Romans who always liked it when they had a head start and just had to do some ‘tweaking’.



The island of Ortigia is where some of the ruins sites are…sorta…We even managed to find the tourist information bureau there. But Gini’s agenda required a restroom and the informazione office did not have one since “Everyone would use it!”. So while Gini was in a small café in Archimedes Piazza, Chris was able to get a shot of the fountain in the piazza:



Back at the tourist office it was recommended we go to the tip of the small island to see the Castello Maniace and, of course, it would close at 1PM. The castle was interesting but the rain and the wind did not make for basking in the castle aura.


The restoration that was in progress did hold our interest along with a huge hall with great columns and a tunnel hallway:



























Oritigia did boast its own duomo and sprawling marble piazza that was supposed to be the scene of a statue-bearing festa but the weather did not hold promise for it:




We happened upon a somewhat curious object d’courtyard among all these alleyways and old buildings:



An art deco igloo? Post modern Photomat? Help us here.

After some slices of pizza (and a free pastry for being cute and/or pathetic) we decided the rain was too much and to get to the Parco Archeologica Della Neapolis in time before closing was just not going to happen. So we got back in the car and headed for the park’s general area where we came upon:


It’s old and it looks like there is a lot of digging. Ah, you know what they say about those historical sites.

What really impressed us was one of the most modern buildings in Siracusa. That is the church of the Madonna Delle Lacrime (Our Lady of Tears – or Sorrows). The church is a large abstract tear that only proves the aliens are running the churches and the banks!


The many chapels and alcove areas are cantilevered around its perimeter:

Not too shabby on the design side.

There was the obligatory traffic jam on the way back which only confirmed our resolve to go out for dinner. On our street in Torre Archirafi there is a restaurant called La Vecchia Posta where they only serve fish dishes. Except for Noreen’s cuisine this may have been our best dining experience. Within a few minutes the menus became irrelevant and we were brought over to a tray of fish and we negotiated for some ‘ricciola’. We are still not sure what that is but it was the most moist fish baked whole and smothered with olive oil, tomatoes, herbs and spices. This was preceded by spaghetti that also had some olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and a taste of anchovy. A lemon sorbet finished it all as we puddled our way home very satisfied and very full.

Wednesday morning saw us managing to go to the fish market in Riposto and we can try our hand at some grilling tonight with some swordfish and the rest of the lemon risotto. Hopefully we can also make contact with Michele and Tom on Skype tonight. We shall see.

A domani!