Now that I got that off my chest (this Catholic guilt thing is really starting to affect me!), I can move on to explaining our time spent in Siracusa. We had another long travel day getting from Agrigento to Siracusa: we left late in the morning and arrived in Siracusa just before dinner. The owner of our B&B made a reservation for us at a local trattoria three blocks from the B&B. He said it was the only place open near us, but that the food was very good and typical of Italy. The trattoira was typical, alright! It felt like a scene straight out of a mafia movie. The chef was bustling around in the kitchen, there was one server causally helping each of the tables, the TV was showing scores for local betting, and I was the only girl in a restaurant filled with boisterous men and soccer players. There was no menu; the server just walked up to our table and said, "we have typical food, what would you like?" So, we ordered spaghetti with a seafood mixture and house wine. The meal was delightful and I had to laugh at the atmosphere. I felt so out of place! But it was great fun.
Wednesday morning we were on a mission to find a self-service laundry facility. Apparently, those are hard to come by. Everyone kept sending us to dry cleaners where they charge per item (3 euros for a each shirt, etc.). We were finally able to locate a real laundromat, which, as it turns out, is owned by a woman who moved to Sicily from the US. She was so funny when we walked in because she took one look at us and asked: "Parla ingelse?" When we said yes, she was so relieved! "It's so much easier for me to speak English!" she said. Apparently, two years ago, she was on vacation in Sicily, met a man, fell in love, and moved here! A few months ago, they purchased the laundromat and renovated it. She told us her reasoning for buying a laundromat stemmed from having to hang dry her clothes while on vacation in Italy; she didn't want other tourists to have that same experience. She also told us we could leave our clothes for her to wash (with detergent and fabric softener!) and dry, and that the clothes would be folded and put back in our bags for no extra charge! How wonderful! She said no one should have to sit and wait for their laundry while on vacation. So, we left our clothes and went out to explore the city!
We made our way south to the little island just off Siracusa called Ortygia island. On a map, Ortygia looks like it's a pretty decent size, but it took us less than an hour to walk around the entire island! The sun was out and the day was perfect for wandering around Ortygia - not too hot, not too cold, and the sun wasn't too intense (my poor face is getting too much sun). We walked along the outskirts of the island on a small sidewalk that runs the entire length of the island right on the boarder next to the water. There are no beaches on the island because it sits up on a rock wall, but there are beautiful views of the sea and Sicily. We sat on a rock outcrop with a few other people just to enjoy the sunshine and the gentle, cool breeze. A few college-aged girls (study abroad students from what I could tell) were sunbathing in bathing suits on the rock piles below; above, a line of Italian men stood gazing down at the girls not even trying to hide the fact that they were obviously staring at (admiring) these girls. So typical! After enjoying an afternoon drink in Piazza Archimede with an enchanting view of the Fontana di Diana, we headed back to the B&B to rest our tired feet.
This morning (Thursday), we visited the Parco Archeologico della Neapolis: the Archeological Park of Siracusa. It is the most important area of the Greek and Roman city and covers over 240,000 square meters. Sadly, much of the park was closed, though we're not entirely sure why. Nevertheless, we were still able to see some very impressive, and very ancient, ruins. Hieron II's Altar was built in the third century B.C. and is said to be the largest know alter! Only the foundation survives, but it clearly shows how important Siracusa was in the past. Next, we saw the Ear of Dionysius, which is a huge, peculiar shaped cave. The Greek Theatre and the Roman Amphitheatre are both impressive, but the amphitheatre is largely covered by overgrown weeds, so there is not as much to see. The Greek Theatre is very impressive as the entire structure is completely hewn out of the rocks at the foot of mount Temenite. There was construction going on well we were visiting and Ian and I speculate that concerts may still be help in the theatre during the summer. While it's not Red Rocks, it would still be quite an experience! After leaving the park, we wandered around the border to see the century-old tree (Pagoda Ficus) and the tomb of Archimedes. After today, we are officially done seeing ruins in Italy.
Before calling it a day, we saw the Santuario Madonna della Lacrime, an incredibly modern, cement structure in the middle of town, and we also visited the Archeological museum, which houses an impressive collection of artifacts, ruins, and art from all around Sicily. Tomorrow morning we're off to our last city in Sicily and the last stop on our tour of Italy. We'll be staying in the city of Catania for three days and three nights. We're hoping to visit another volcano, Mt. Etna, and we also heard that Catania is known for having a great nightlife. We haven't gone out at night much, mostly because we're too tired from running around during the day. Maybe we'll take it easy our last three days and explore Italy's night life. Disco club here we come!
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