Tom’s 5:45am alarm was not very welcome in the early hours of this morning, but we were up and dressed quickly and outside for the sunrise, and very well worth it it was too! The sky was clear and the sun a beautiful red. After many, many photographs had been taken, and Tom had sent his drone up to get even more photos, we enjoyed about half an hour of bobbing around in the pool for the final time, with the “golden hour” in stunning full flow around us, creating incredible reflections in the still water.
We both indulged in a final outdoor shower. It’s a shame it’s a little chilly for this in the UK – plus I don’t think the garden to our terrace house is quite secluded enough! Then it was onto the packing. We’d done much of it the day before, so it wasn’t long before we were basking in the warm, early morning sunshine on the terrace, eating some breakfast and waiting for Dario to arrive, which he did in due course.
I had discovered some post when opening the gate for him and couldn’t believe the coincidence of the name of the owner! You may remember that we had christened our robotic pool cleaner “Claudio”. Well, we later discovered that it was actually a girl (long story). Here is the letter that arrived:
We must have been psychic!
Once Dario had sorted his paperwork (well, checked the electric meter and given us our deposit back – he didn’t even go inside the igloos!), we set about photographing the inside and Tom did a video tour of the interior and exterior of the whole site.
With our little Fiat 500 packed to the rafters, Tom took advantage of the short run-up to gain the momentum needed to make it up the steep track and onto the road, while I admit that I shed a few tears at leaving this wonderful place. The first journey was just 25 minutes, as we had saved one of the best sights in Siracusa until today – the Parco Archeologico.
A man with a whistle and some simple yellow tickets with numbers on guided us into a parking spot near the entrance. We did, for a short moment (after we’d paid him the 3E fee), ponder whether he was just a scam artist making a quick buck, but we returned later to no parking ticket, so we presume not!
Actually getting into the place was a little more complicated. We starting walking down the hill into the park, to discover multiple signs insisting that we must have a ticket to enter, and signs back up the hill to the ticket office. We followed these back for around 300m, paid, and headed back in, only to find that there was another kiosk right by the main entrance down the hill! Ah well. We’ve grown quickly used to Sicilian “organisation”!
It was only 10E to get in, and worth every cent. The first “exhibit” you come across is a Roman amphitheatre, which is most impressive, even though much of it was taken down by the Spanish in around the 3rd century AD, in order to build the walls around Ortygia!
After more confusing signage, we eventually found the main event – an Ancient Greek theatre. We climbed the steps up the side and had it revealed to us from above. It’s incredible how much of it is still complete, and it is still used for performances every spring.
Above it, the rocky landscape is riddled with catacombs, including one with a small waterfall flowing into it.
Finally, we walked through the beautiful gardens (enjoying the relief of the shade on what has been the hottest day of our holidays) to find the “Ear of Dionysius” (or, as Tom called it, the “nose of Archimedes”!) – an incredible cave.
Back up the hill, we indulged in more granite made from freshly squeezed local oranges and topped up on water, before clambering back into a scorching hot car (thank goodness for the air-con and the the fold down roof!) to head to Catania.
The drive was straightforward, providing us with fresh views of Etna, and the hotel easy to find. The parking is secure and under the building, making us feel better for only packing an overnight bag so that we could leave most of our heavy luggage in the car.
Tired after the early start and the heat, I dozed while Tom wrote up yesterday’s blog. We then popped out to “Cafe de Paris”, which is about 50m from the hotel, for a small bite to eat and some refreshment. It looked quite posh and the food was yummy, so we were very pleasantly surprised by the small bill at the end!
We’ll shortly be sprucing ourselves up and heading out to a restaurant that was highly recommended in our Lonely Planet guide book, and happens to be only 3 minutes walk from our hotel. Also, from a quick look on their website before we came away, they seem to have an excellent selection of vegetarian specialties. Tom will update you about it on tomorrow’s blog!
Recommendations
Parco Archeologico in Syracuse. Get there early if you can, as the parking fills up quickly.
Cafe de Paris in Catania – on a main road, but delicious food and not expensive.