"More than 2 days in Siracusa" a Siracusa Travel Page by hquittner

Off season travel can have its difficulties as well as its rewards.We arrived after stopping just beyond Augusta at Megara Hyblaea and then visiting the Euryalos Castle (see OBP) to find our expected hotel closed for 6 months for renovations; this was joined by torrential rains. Our intended time was expanded to 3 nights. We easily found a hotel across from the towering new Sanctuary(with secure parking). We had planned to use taxis but the lack of tourists led us to use our car and the rain helped limit our walking. There was one bus using the large lot at the Archeol. zone so we drove there and "illegally" parked too. On Ortygia the big lot by the Riva Garibaldi was also empty. In spite of this there was plenty of easy walking. PLENTY.It was a dull day,no rain; what is this like in mid-summer?

We headed for the Piazza Archimede with its old builings being refurbished by banks to compete with its 19C fountain and then continued on to the Cathedral along the Via Minerva. I do not think we identified all 12 Doric columns in the N. wall. We did not enter at this time but went on to the Palazzo (Museo) Bellomo with its Antonello and Caravaggio and more (no cameras and no pictures for sale!) The fountain-spring of Arethusa looked "scruffy".We looked at the Castello Maniace further S. but it was not open.(I read in the Smithsonian Mag. (Feb05) that it is ready to be shown!) Now to the Duomo for a unique experience! After that it was very late lunch time back near the Riva where there are a lot of good seafood places, A glimpse at the ruins of the Temple of Apollo and back to the mainland.

The next day we were much inconvenienced by long fits of rain. We started nearby, indoors, first with a personal English-speaking guided tour of the Catacombs of S. Giovanni (no pictures) and then in the rain to the adjacent Archeol. Museum (Paolo Orsi), where pictures were also not in order, After a nearby pizza lunch a break in the weatther allowed a lenghthy study of the Archeological Zone (Neapolis). This earned us another seafood dinner on Ortygia.