http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Italy , Sicily , Siracusa en-us Tue, 08 Dec 09 07:41:21 +0000 Tue, 08 Dec 09 07:41:21 +0000 Day 26 ModicaYesterday we took the bus into Noto about and hour from here and walked around the baroque city for a few hours...everything here closes down from 100 pm to 300pm...so it's hard to plan a trip of any distance since we end up arriving just before closing time at 100 We managed to see the cathedrals and the Theater after they reopened and before our bus the last of the day...s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-453655.html Sicily was never a place high on my to do list but when the opportunity arose for Adam to present at a conference in Catania it seemed the perfect excuse to book a car hit the road and see what adventures there were to be had. Before visiting I knew very little about this Italian province. I had some vague awareness of Palermo being the capital alla Marco Breciano Socceroo star and midfielde http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-441673.html We decided to head south for Easter. Sicily seemed the perfect place warmer way older and friendly sicilians We rented a car and drove wherever we wanted....when we got tired we found a hotel. The children really enjoyed the trip...we all loved loved loved Siracusa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-395700.html wonderful historical city great for culture and architecture lovers http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-358984.html 02 Oct 2008We headed back to see the archeological area of Syracuse and maybe the catacombs and to check out another beach. Today was again set to be a lucky day all day we dodged the rain. First we visited the archeological area. Although most towns have greek or roman ruins of one type or another this is probably the first real ruins as opposed to existing structures outside of Rome that http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-334657.html 01 Oct 2008The aim today was a drive to Syracuse to see the sights there and at the island of Origia. We decided first however to visit a beach the Fontane Bianche that was recommended in Frommer's. The exit off the A that we needed for FB was closed so we ended up at a place called Avola with long yellowy sandy beaches. The waves were enormous and Joseph Liam and I had a ball romping aroun http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-334633.html A week in Siracusa in Villa Scogliera stopping off at Fontane Bianche Mt Etna Siracusa Ortegia and tasting the best pizza in the world twice... http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-332693.html Siracusa was my first stop http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-331757.html Monday 8th August LicodiaOn Monday Giuseppe took us to a pretty place 45 minutes away called Noto in the town of Syracuse. There was a tiny theatre that sat less than 400 people and was named after Vittorio Emanuele the first leader of a united Italy. There have been monuments dedicated to him everywhere. All around the theatre were busts of famous artist politicians and musicians. The guide http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-326581.html June 13th We got Friday off this week as the previous week we had worked 6 days in a row. This trip was taken by everyone as most of the weekend excursions are optional since it's extra money to go as we were told that this is not a place to miss. We visited the Siracuse museum where Pietro actually helped organize a number of the displays in the Sicilian archaeology collections they had t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-295514.html We went down to Siracusa in August of 2005 to see my friends Federica and Georgino get married. It was beautiful. We stayed in Ortigia which is the historic center and travelled around the southeastern part of Sicily a little bit. I was there with Kampari Zava Galvin and Kirby. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-204225.html From Caltigirone we cut across the interior of Sicily passing farm land and distant views of Mt Etna to the East coast and made a right turn south. We arrived in Siracusa after about two hours of uneventful driving and spent the next three nights on the island of Ortygia. Orytgia the site of the original settlement Citta Vecchia is the jewel of what remains of ancient Siracusa.During its pri http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-179448.html Chapter 24A Greek tragedy and the mines of MoriaThey arose at a reasonable time and headed for the archaeology park about twenty minutes walk from the town having bought another map and consumed breakfast. A section of the park right next to the athletics track was a Greek amphitheatre. Set in wellkept grounds the theatre lay in front of them. A cosy wellpreserved theatre dug from the rock http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-99696.html Chapter 23Syracuse in times of CarnivalThey arose round 11 orsquoclock having missed breakfast again and headed for the bus station to catch the interbus direct to Siracusa 3 hours which lies on the south east coast on the completely opposite side of Palermo. The coach took them right across the island at a speed which made Maya a little apprehensive as the oncoming traffic was at times c http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-99310.html Visited the archeaological zone where you can view the fourth largest greek theatre of the ancient world see dionysus' ear as the call it... a roman amphiteatre and the ancient altar of hieron..the guides call it the ancient bbq area...as many animals were slaughtered here...and distributed to the people. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-94746.html