Trip to Sicily

This is a very different blog post for me, as it is not about cycling, but a quick sharing of a trip Emily and I took to Sicily the weekend before last.  We were able to get an inexpensive flight from Florence to Catania and stay with Emily's friend Paula.  We had a wonderful time.  Paula is a very nice lady who at 67 is taking her, "Junior year abroad", as she never did it when in college.  She is from Boston and met Emily in her fall Art History Class.  She had a wonderful apartment in Ortigia, as small island just off the coast (100 meters) from Siracusa.  She is very adventuresome to do all this, and she has totally landed on her feet in Ortigia coming from 5 months in Florence.  

Her landlord's sister lives down stairs and has befriended her and is just super welcoming and inclusive.  Our second night there, she organized an aperativi with 8 others to welcome Emily and I.  Another night, she took the three of us to her favorite pizza place in Siracusa, which was great.  A funny story from that outing was in the planning.  Paula has retained her American timing for dinner, and wanted to go out around 7:30.  Giuseppina told us all that 7:30 was only for children, and if she wanted to meet and see adults, we should wait until 8:30 at the earliest.  Well, we went out at 8:30, and were able to meet and see people she knows.  She has lived almost all her life on Ortigia, and is a lot of fun to be around.  She knew we were planning on a day of travel, and discussed the two good options for a trip, lent us maps, and even called places she knew were the best for lunch to make sure they were open.  How incredibly nice.  

Here are Emily and Paula in front of the entrance to Paula's 

apartment building on our first morning out.  This was Saturday,

which was stormy and rainy, which had the seas and waves

quite high and fun to watch.  The remaining days were quite nice,

so it was fun to see the area in a storm.

One of the interesting things about Sicily is the history

and number of different cultures that have had influence 

over the last 3000 years.  Below is a photo from the Duomo

in Ortigia with Greek columns from a temple with Roman

infill.  The facade is Baroque / Rococo.

Our second day Emily and I were on our own for most of the day,

as Paula awoke not feeling well.  We walked to a wonderful market,

bought perhaps the best ricotta I have ever had, then relaxed at this

cafe in the sun for a cafe machiato and a pastry.  

After relaxing in the sun, we returned to the apartment, then headed out

to Siracusa to see the vast Greek ruins on the outskirts of town there.

We found our way and had a nice one hour walk to the entrance only 

to find that it closes on Sundays at 1:30 and we arrived at 1:45.  We 

walked over to this large modern building where there is a ceramic piece

of the Madonna and Jesus and it is said that at some point real tears

came from the Madonna's eyes.  It is a very popular pilgrimage site.

Whereas I don't really ascribe to organized religions, it was an interesting

building and visit.  The picture is looking up at the roof from the inside

of the sanctuary.  

After returning from Siracusa, we went to the piazza del Duomo in Ortigia

and sat outside at the old bar / cafe there and had cocktails and a snack.

It was very fun as the place came to life as we watched with kids playing, 

tourist groups visiting the duomo, and this small duo started playing music.

The person playing this "stand up bass" was fun to watch.  There is only

one string and he moved the arm closer and farther away to change the tone.

I had never seen this instrument before.  Great afternoon in the sun at the Piazza.

This is the Baroque / Rococo facade of the Duomo 

taken while we had cocktails and enjoyed the scene.

The next day we rented a car and had a fun adventure.  This picture is 

of a Greek Theatre on the top of a hill around 50 kilometers from Ortigia.  

It was very beautiful and there were ruins of a whole complex there.

We ended up driving small back roads to a town called Piazza Armerina

where we visited an old Roman villa.  The villa was pretty much destroyed 

in a landslide or more at some point.  There are some remains of the structure,

but most of the floors with incredible mosaics are intact.  Apparently two people

spent most of their lives restoring the mosaics and removing the mud that had

accumulated over time.  It was a very fun visit, but I neglected to take any

pictures of the mosaics.  We stopped at the restaurant that Guissepina

had called and had a wonderful lunch on the way.  Grazie!

The piazza Minerva, with the Duomo ahead on the left on our last morning.

We had lunch at a restaurant on the water with fresh fish and this 

nice view of the small fishing boats.  For some reason, almost all

the boats have some portion painted blue.  Anyway, it makes 

for a beautiful scene.  Grazie, Paula and Guissepina for a 

great 4 days in Sicily.  Ciao.