Syracuse in Italy is nothing like the college town that Bryan attended here in New York! We walked the historic town on the island of Ortigia, it felt a bit like walking thru time. There is an entire Greek temple from 480 B.C. encapsulated, integrated into the magnificent cathedral. A violinist played at the foot of the cathedral as we walked the Piazza del Duomo that Mussolini created. There were Baroque balconies covered with flowers and laundry. Duomos or churches were around nearly evey corner.
Our guide, Liliana, was listed in Rick Steves Sicily book on page 277. Liliana told us we were perfectly safe to walk around the island. It was impossible to get lost as you could almost always see the water. (After dinner, a cloud burst soaked us and we were turned around a bit, but found our way back to the convent/hotel) Barb was as usual, gushing over the oldest Doric column in Sicily dating back to 580 B.C. It was part of the Temple of Apollo and predates the Parthenon in Greece. Imagine!
From Liliana, we learned about the Fascist style of building - uniform, cold, and stern buildings around the Corso Giacomo Matteotti. It was ironically named for an Italian patriot killed by Mussolini. The very name of the square, LargoXXVLuglio - Jly 25th is the date Mussolini was deposed and arrested.
One of my favorite experiences was looking at the young players operating the puppets at the Teatro dei Pupi. They told the medieval story of Orlando and Rinaldo and of course there was a strange monster to defeat by swords! So wonderful that the craft and art of puppeteering which began here in the first half of the 19th century was saved. et theater.
The puppet theater (,https://www.teatrodeipupisiracusa.it/museo-dei-pupi-siracusa/ )
the island views and the Temple of Apollo are shown above.
If you have the time and energy, we really enjoyed the Bellomo Palace Gallery! Get the combo ticket for the other nearby attractions to Neapolis Achaeological Park or Paolo Orsi Archaeological Museums. The most amazing painting we saw was Antonello da Messina's Annunciation from 1474 AD (https://useum.org/museum/Palazzo-Bellomo-Museum
Food in Syracuse
It's a good thing we walked a lot. In case you were unsure about the food, Jim gained 5 pounds even while walking over 5 miles a day!
Breakfast at the convent turned hotel was very filling - we loved the fresh persimmons and almond encrusted croissants.
The street market is filled with choices! We decided to have sun dried tomatoes, cheese and sausage on a roll, so good! It was hard to pick just a few ingredients from the many!
For dinner Jamie led us to a tiny side street to a restaurant called Osteria da Mariano. (Sadly they have no website at present!) The chef is from the mountains of Sicily. and specializes in rabbit and pork. I had developed a craving for yet another camponata followed by pasta. Jim tied the pork. Excellent1
Wine in Syracuse
One of the things we loved about Jamie, our guide, was that he was such a wine connoisseur! This was just one of the several wine tastings we did in Sicily and certainly one of the most fun! The three main wines in Sicily are: Grillo, Cataratto, and Inzolia. We also tried Nero D"Avola an amazing red. Jamie and the owner of Enoteca Solaria (https://enotecasolaria.com/) considered our tastes and hand selected four different vintages for us to try. There were of course a few snacks to clear our palates. Wonderful way to experience the different wines made around Sicily.
