Historical Syracuse, Sicily

Syracuse was the home of Archimedes and history is rich and runs deep. There is an archaeological park which is UNESCO listed (along with the entire city of Syracuse) and really fun to walk around, although there are/were plenty of big group of tourists, so makes it hard to enjoy the enormity of it all sometimes, as you feel you are being pushed along. But, fight the urge to be swept along and enjoy taking your time around the site, it is really a nice thing. In summer they also use the amphitheatre for concerts so you can feel like a Greek or Roman enjoying a cultural event, but maybe don't throw fruit and veg if you aren't happy with the performance.

No matter what you think of human history, nature will always eventually take over.

Concession stand and poster advertising for up coming events, I swear that is what it is.

When the tourists clear out, it gets more etherial 

Orecchio di Dionisio ("Ear of Dionysius") a cave built by slaves, it is 23m high and 65m deep

The "Inner Ear" 

A couple of birds having a drink in the sun.

Sicily in Spring is such a great experience, there are wild flowers everywhere.

and everywhere

and everywhere

Sicilian flag first of course.

The man and his mirror to burn boats with a parabolic reflector.

street cat. It was so small, but the meow echoed throughout the hallway.

One of the great reasons to go to Sicily (or anywhere in Italy) is the wine. Regional wine in Sicily is great! Nero D'Avola one of our favourites.

Then the night comes, the last one in Sicily, always a great place to visit. We'll be back.

Syracuse, Sicily.

After the driving and the freakishly narrow roads it was time to park the car and not drive for a few more days. It was our last stop before we were to head back home and it was to be Syracuse, a city which has around 2,700 years of history to it. Having been part of differing groups history such as the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines, who all used this city as a safe harbour and base to rule Eastern Sicily.

In more recent years you could see distinct quarters dedicated to different trades and skills. Even now walking around if a door is open you can catch a glimpse of someone working on a boat, a fishing net or stone plinth. It makes the winding laneways an adventure no matter how many times you walk them.

winding ways

The antenna brigade.

Yep, more stone churches

But this one had a wedding

All the locals dressed in their finery 

Notice the drone top left

Bald spot photos must be all the rage in Italy.

Back to my growing collection of Sicilian street cats.

looking tasty.... for ceramics.

Syracuse Market, Sicily

The market is the life blood of many towns around the world. Something Warsaw had missed out on in a reality for years as the bazarek is handy but not always consistent in regards to volume, freshness, variety, protection from the elements, and the push for local goods. This is changing now, and you are really seeing people talk with pride about their own produce. A great move. In Warsaw you can find small market stalls that spring up on roadsides in summer, but they vanish again come winter, this is why I have a love of the Adelaide Central Market. A place where things have a history behind them, local is promoted and you can visit in all seasons. It set me on a path for the rest of my life. That is to seek out markets in every town I visit. Italy, is a magical place for this. The market life here is full of vigour, love, passion and quite often humour. On a "fresh" morning in Syracuse we got up a little earlier than normal to visit the market before it closed and was too flooded by people. It is certainly worth the visit, purely for the fresh fish. I think the volume and variety here is great, Trapani to me was better in one way, because it was a lot of small boat owners selling their wares. That said, the vendors here in Syracuse were great with us and our pigeon Italian but desire for good food.

Parking can be hard to find, but I don't recommend parking your hire car in the harbour.....

The local and DOC registered tomato here is sundries. I do like that it is called the Pomodoro di Pachino, makes me think "Hollywood diet" but of course that is the name of the region it is from and the one we just visited from Noto to Ispica to Syracuse

One of the tastiest things around, a blood orange. I strongly recommend them, we brought back 2kg of them!

The cutest little artichokes, I still haven't mastered the eating and cooking of these yet. Very fiddly.

One of my loves, Octopus.

We bought some of this for lunch. It was really lovely.

It is not just about the display, but that helps. These are also locally grown.

bucket of fish.

One of my favourite photos.