Siracusa History, 7 June 2019

We awoke early, had another nice breakfast, and packed up to leave at 8:30am. We took a taxi to the airport, and were so early that the gate was not even posted. Security was smooth, and because our filght was delayed almost one hour, we read and listened to various travelers playing the Rotary- sponsored piano in the late Gate C area. The flight was fine, and LucianDavies from Sicily Tours was waiting for us. We met Charlene and Ed, and Barbara, and Richard, fellow travelers. We had a longish bus ride from Catania airport to our hotel in Siracusa.

We arrived at Ortigia, the ancient inhabited area of Siracusa, first b the Greeks and then the Phoenicians. There is more than 3,000 yea of history here, evident in the architecture and of course the food, influenced by many cultures over time. Barney and I walked around a bit, I bought a cheap bathing suit since the ocean looked so in in inviting for Sunday when we are free.
we returned to the hotel to meet up with Dougles Kenning, our guide for the trip, and HW lecturer.

Our room was spectacular, right on the sea wall looking out over the sea, It could not have been more restful, Barney and I sat on the balcony and ate our salami-cheese-bread lunch and then headed out for a walk to see the area, which was quite interesting. This area ha been occupied in the Greeks first. And here in about 700BCE, and continuously since then, by Romans, Arabs, Normans, Spanish, Austrians, and then finally Italians. Douglass gave us a great introduction to the history.



We saw the beautiful cathedral, which began as a Greek temple and whoever columns are incorporated the cathedral, then was a church, then a mosque, the by Norman times, again a church. It is dedicated to St. Lucia, native to this area, she was a Christian martyr, and famous bth here and in Scandinavia.


We went to one of his favorite restaurant in Ortigia, A Martino?? For a sumptuous dinner. appetizers included Sicilian shad ( oranges, onions, bread crumbs, olive oil), salamis, cheese, mussels, garlic toasts, roasted r3d peppers, and more. our main was a choice of three pastas, one red (sun-dried tomato), one green (pistachio) and one white (almond said, delicious), just like the Italian flag. For dessert there was some fruit, ginger, and a raisin liquor native or this area,