May 23, 2004

After some fantastic homemade cornettos and espressos personally served to us by Max, we headed out through throngs of Syracusans on their way to church. In the Piazza del Duomo, Emily found a young kid selling balloons. We had seen the same kid the day before in Noto. We weren’t in much of a rush, so we watched Emily play with the balloons. We also let Emily wander and meet another young girl her age. We laughed and took photos as the two girls hugged and kissed each other. We tried to go into the cathedral but there was a sign inside that told us that Mass was taking place. The sign “prayed” that we would not disturb the services.

We continued walking and spent a couple hours walking through the streets of Ortygia, admiring its piazzas and alleyways and little courtyards. What was especially pleasant about walking was that we were always within sight of the sea. Other than a brief nap on Eraclea Minoa, we’d only been able to catch glimpses of the sea from the highway. In Syracuse, the sea is all around – you can hear it and smell it and even feel little water beads on your face as you walk along its seaside promenades.

We reached the large Piazza Archimede, a central Syracusan Piazza, and spent about a half hour at the fountain. Fountains fascinate Emily. (Whenever she sees one, she demands coins to throw in.) We finally finished our walking tour of Ortygia and pulled up to our last stop, the Temple of Apollo (or Artemis according to Cicero) near the Ponte Nuovo Bridge. Artemis is apparently the oldest Greek temple in Sicily built in the Doric style, dating from around 565 BC. This temple had been turned into a Byzantine church around 600AD. When the Arabs were here in 800AD they turned the place into a mosque. It remained a mosque for a hundred years before it was converted back into a church around the time of the end of the millennium.

View image of Piazza Archimede in Syracuse

We continued walking to the bus parking lot next to the Ponte Nuovo Bridge. We waited for about a half hour before our bus departed. It was then a quick ride to the Archeological Park. We got our tickets and first visited the Greek amphitheater. The theater was very well preserved and was set up for a showing of “The Medea”. We walked to the top of the theater for good views of Syracuse and the sea. We also visited a little waterfall at the top of the theater.

We next visited the limestone quarry next to the theater. The quarry was supposed to have supplied much of the building material for Syracuse during the Greek period. At the quarry, we walked to a cave called “Ear of Dionysus” (Orecchio di Dionisio). As the name suggests, this famous cave resembles the cavity of an ear both in the shape of the entrance and the winding internal space. Caravaggio, the painter, had supposedly given the cave it’s name after he’d heard the story told of a statesman named “Dionysus the Elder” who used the sound-carrying abilities of the cave to hear his enemies. The shape of the cave shows the way the quarries were dug – like an upside-down funnel.

View image of the Orecchio di Dionisio

We finished the trip at the Park by treating ourselves to juice and snacks at the tourist stands. I should note here that most café’s that we visited had fresh oranges which they used to squeeze juice for Emily. Often, the oranges were “blood oranges”, a cousin of the orange that has red juice. When this wasn’t available, we could usually find refrigerated blood orange juice in the shops. This was Emily’s drink of choice. After our break, we took a brief walk to the Roman amphitheater where there is evidence today that water was piped in for water battle scenes and competitive games held on water.

Stephanie and I had been walking for most of this very hot day and were exhausted so we decided to abandon our plan to next visit the Paolo Orsi Regional Archeology Museum and the San Giovanni Catacombs. Both of these places were just a 10-minute walk from the quarry; however, we decided to return to Ortygia. We just couldn’t miss the opportunity to see more of it. I was a bit disappointed not being able to see the museum as many consider the Syracuse Archeology Museum to be the finest in all of Sicily (Palermo’s museum included.) Alas, I easily gave in, as I preferred to relax in the hot afternoon sun.

Instead of taking a bus back into town, we decided to walk back along the seafront admiring all of the colorfully painted boats in the old harbor. The seafront was marred a bit however with lots of trash strewn about. Back over the bridge, we turned in the direction of Ortygia and continued to walk along the waterfront promenade. We had missed this area entirely during the morning and were glad to be able to enjoy the sunshine and lapping waves.

We were hungry and looked for restaurants on our walk back but weren’t satisfied with any of the places we found - too touristy. We finally came upon the Spring of Arethusa, which takes the form of a large round fountain. The fountain sustains palm trees, papyrus and ducks. Emily was delirious seeing the ducks. Stephanie and I were overjoyed on the other hand to see a nearby cluster of smart-looking restaurants next to the Fountain. We settled on one that had a decidedly hip feel. It was the first urban, chill-out place we’d come across in Sicily. There was some groove-lounge music playing and comfortable sofas laid out underneath umbrellas. We quickly noticed a huge table overflowing with antipasti. We dug in and I filled my plate with cold octopus salad, squid and seafood pasta. We also ordered some Tasca d’Almerita Chardonnay. The sun was shining, we were eating, and Emily was running around playing with the café’s guests’ dogs. It was a great thing. I got a 2nd and then a 3rd glass of wine and before I knew what was happening, Stephanie looked at her watch and announced that it was 5:00 and that the puppet show in the city’s regional puppet-theater was starting. We quickly paid and ran off to the theater.

When we arrived at the theatre, we learned the show was running late. I took this opportunity to run out to get a cookie treat for Emily. The show eventually started and it turned out to be a lot of fun. The puppets were gorgeous and the players did a great job. Puppetry is widely regarded as the most typical form of traditional entertainment on Sicily. The Spanish brought it to the island in the 18th Century. I haven’t been to any other place in the World (other than a few places in China or Southeast Asia) where puppetry was so highly regarded as an artform. The show was a bit scarier and more violent than we expected (i.e. beheadings, dragons, devils, scary music and lighting, etc.). Emily cried several times during the show in fact. We decided to leave early but popped into the shop to buy her a stick puppet. Looking back now, I am especially glad that we were able to attend this show as we were never able to make it to Palermo’s Museo Internazionale delle Marionette (International Puppet Museum), the most famous place to see puppets in Sicily.

I was exhausted by now so I returned to our B&B for a catnap. Stephanie took the opportunity to shop. We headed back out in the evening late and decided to splash out on a fancy meal. (Syracuse was a place where one feels like celebrating.) One of the suggestions we had received from the guidebooks was a place called *Don Camillo (+39 9316-7133) – “one of the city's finest and most affordable dining rooms was constructed on the foundation of a 15th-century monastery. The cuisine of seafood and Sicilian recipes is among the most creative in town.” We headed there although Max commented that this place had recently gone downhill. Regardless, on the way there, some locals told us that the place was closed. The locals recommended another place nearby called “Il Baronie” at Via Gargallo, 26 (+39 9316-8884). The place was perfect. Already loud because of a big religious confirmation party, Emily felt right at home. Our table neighbors turned out to be from Miami and they quizzed Stephanie about her working on the “Dr. Phil” show. The food was fantastic and very carefully prepared. Seafood pasta and white wine. It was a great night and we left in great spirits. It was late Sunday night but the bars in the street were still packed with students. Did Syracuse ever sleep?