Thursday, July 22, 2010

Siracusa with an “A”


Siracusa, Sicily---“I’m in Sicily.” I keep saying that to myself because it doesn’t seem real. The good news is the boat is anchored well in a mud bottom. The bad news is you can’t see the bottom and we are all spoiled by swimming in the clear waters of Greece. There are HUGE fish making long leaps out of the water which makes you wonder what is down there bigger than them, making them jump. My “boat shower” was quick.

This is the town of Archemedes. the Scientist who discovered for one, the water displacement theory.

A dinghy ride into shore and I had another town to explore. Siracusa is a large city founded in 734 B.C.. I stuck mainly to Old Town located on the island of Ortigia attached to mainland be 3 short bridges. Narrow pathways made of cobble stone, winding up mostly; to Cathedral Square (originally a Temple of Apollo) or to the Castle, Castello Maniace an example of military art, at the end of the island. Shops along the way displaying local wares, many with the logo of Sicily, the 3 legged angel-women symbolizing the 3 points of Sicily.

And yes the pizza is very good. The other memory of Siracusa I will leave with is how hot it is. Everything shuts down at 2pm and re-opens about 4:30pm…smart. I made the mistake of asking to be left in town to wonder alone after the morning run and after 8 hours, I was close to a sunstroke after being overheated. After a couple hours of nausea and a jump in the water to cool my head, I was okay.

There were many shops that carried God Father items, but other than that, I saw no activity of men in dark suits planning to hide a body. And even though the silhouette of the city looks like Hollywood, I think it all happens behind the scenes.

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