"There is plenty to see and eat in Siracusa" Siracusa by Lcannar

Siracusa is an absolutely beautiful city. It felt like home. It is very confusing, however, with twisty streets and construction everywhere. Most of the guide books I read and travel forums said not to stay in Siracusa because there wasn't enough to do. However, my husband's grandfather was from a small town near there and I thought, "Hey, how could we go all the way to Sicily and not go there." I'm so glad we did. I found so much to do there that I booked 4 nights in the B&B Magnolia, which was a lovely place. For one thing, they had some of the best food we had had, and we had had some really good food. The town is easy to get around in and easy to get lost in, but you are never too far away from anything to help you find your way home.

fontana Aretusa

We never ran out of things to do and we left before we had seen everything. We went to the archeological park and the archeological museum, which between the 2 was a whole day. The museum was very nicely laid out, leading you naturally from the oldest to the most recent. In the Piazza del Duomo there is the beautiful cathedral and another very pretty church, Chiesa di Santa Lucia alla Badia. The fontana Aretusa, which has a legend attached to it about the goddess Artemis, is right next to a nice little aquarium, which I went through. We didn't go to the Piccolo Teatro dei Pupi, because we really aren't interested in puppets, but it's supposed to be quite nice. This area also has a lot of nice outdoor cafes overlooking the waterfront.

Greek theatre

This was probably the most disappointing thing we saw. Pictures in guide books look fantastic. Because they use this for real plays in the summer, they were busy putting bleacher seats over all the stone. You can see them behind me as well as scaffolding and plywood over the stage on the bottom. It really took away from that "ancient" feel. In the distand background, you can see the Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime (Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Tears) This is a place of pilgrimage for many people.

• Pros:Plenty to do, inexpensive, on the coast
• Cons:Stay on Ortigia, not the mainland
• In a nutshell:It was a beautiful, clean, safe city--I could live here.