One last cannoli...

Here it is- the final posting about our trip to Sicily a few weeks ago.

We left Agriturismo Savoca near Piazza Armerina and headed to Siracusa (Syracuse) via Caltagirone. Caltagirone is famous for its ceramics, especially tile. To be honest the town was nice, but not the tile paradise we envisioned. The highlight was a massive staircase just off the main piazza where the rise of every step was covered in a different artisan tile. Eli and I hiked up the entire way (I carried Eli for most of it), and we checked out a few ceramic shops on the way down. There was beautiful stuff, but alas it was not in our budget. We got back to the car, took in the view of Mt. Etna from the parking lot, and made our way to Siracusa through the rocky hills of southwestern Sicily.

One oddity relating to this leg of the trip- Caroline and I had been talking about the movie "Wonder Boys" with Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire and how much we wanted to watch/buy it since the local video selection at Wonder Video in Viterbo is lacking to say the least. While we stopped for gas and panini out in the middle of no-man's land on the way to Siracusa, we found a rack of DVD's with, you guessed it, "Wonder Boys" for sale for all of 7euro. Not only was it odd that we found it in this of all places, but also it was cheaper than we ever could have hoped. As it turned out this was a harbinger of good things to come in Siracusa. We pulled into town, got a little lost, then settled into our last hotel of the trip.

Our hotel (really it was a mini-IKEA apartment) was located just off a main drag between two of the prettiest piazzas on Ortygia, an island and the oldest part of the town. One piazza contained the significant remains of the temple of Apollo (the oldest peripteral Doric temple in the world) and the other had a beautiful fountain and more exquisite buildings than you can shake a stick at. The more we explored this island, the more we fell in love with it. A lot of the island was destroyed in an earthquake in the 17th century, and it was rebuilt quickly in the Sicilian Baroque style which is very romantic and beautiful. We spent a lot of time wandering down the narrow streets and taking in the views of the water. Our three days there were relaxing and fun.

In terms of sites and highlights, we visited the duomo which has a beautiful baroque facade and two rows of massive columns on the inside that were once the outer part of a Roman temple to Minerva. This stands out as one of the most interesting and breathtaking churches we have seen in Italy. To make it more dramatic, the piazza outside is absolutely gorgeous. We spent a fair amount of time there letting Eli run around and taking in the atmosphere. We also took a small boat ride to see some of the natural grottoes just up the coast from Ortygia. The water was unbelievably clear, and we were out on a glassy morning which made the underwater view all the more dramatic. The last tourist note during our time there was a visit to the Archaeological Park which contains a Roman and Greek amphitheater (we only went to the Greek one), an ancient quarry where Athenian war captives were sentenced to labor, and lots of other stuff that we didn't visit. This was a great spot and it was a fitting end to our tour of ancient Greek history on Sicily.

As you might expect the real highlights for us in Siracusa were the food. First of all the pastries were amazing. Cannoli to die for, and fried foods like arancine (fried risotto balls filled with meat sauce or other stuff) and bombe (doughnuts stuffed with ricotta) that were the best we've tried. The real winner was a seafood restaurant we went to two times while we there. It was recommended by the manager of our hotel/apartment place, and we were skeptical at first. We have been burned with recommendations in the past, but this time the place was called a "cooking school." We have had good luck with cooking schools in the States, and we thought we'd give this one a try. We walk in, and they said that they were full. We pushed a little bit, and they moved a table or two and made room. To our surprise there were no menus. Food just started showing up...and it kept showing up. All in all our meal consisted of nine courses, eight of which were fresh seafood. Our jaws dropped and drool pooled as each new dish made it to the table. All told we were there for over two hours, and Eli made it through like the little champion he is.

Our meal there was so good that we decided to return the following day for our anniversary meal (the big 7!). This time there were only seven courses, but one was a lobster (that was still crawling when they took it to the kitchen) accented by a flambe. The wine was spectacular too (a Sicilia Rosso IGT called "Tripudium" that tasted like an amazing Zinfandel), and we left that meal feeling like we had been treated like royalty two days in a row. Almost too much...but not quite.

The last day we headed back to Palermo to the ferry. We stopped for Eli's first Happy Meal at a McDonald's in Caltanissetta. In Palermo we simply sat by the water, took in some sun, and waited for the time to board the ferry. The trip back to Civitavecchia was pleasant and uneventful. This ferry was not quite as nice as the previous one, but we enjoyed the view from our cabin and arrived home well rested and eager to stay put for the next several days.

The trip was a huge success, especially thanks to all of Caroline's careful planning. We definitely would like to get back to Sicily at some point. We'll see how things go. Here are some more pics:



Above: the view of Mt. Etna from our parking space in Caltagirone
Below: Eli and Dad climbing the tile steps in Caltagirone


Above: the facade of the duomo in Ortygia
Below: the piazza outside of the duomo


Above: Eli and Caroline on the boat tour of the grottoes
Below: the water view (the water was about 20 feet deep here, and amazingly clear)

Above: a heart formed by the waves along the coast
Below: Caroline and Eli walking through the archaeological park in Siracusa.


Above: Caroline and Eli at the Greek theather
Below: Caroline and Eli at the seafood restaurant (don't mind the toilet in the background)

Above: a hilarious sequence of road signs. Note the way to Siracusa on the one in the foreground, then look at the one in the background. Typical Italy.
Below: Caroline in Eli with a water view in Ortygia.