I am in Syracuse, after a day in Agrigento and another in Sicilian medieval towns. Getting to know the Greek side of this island.

Some days things don’t go right. This is one of them.

I had planned, long before I came to Sicily, to spend today in the Archeological Park in Syracuse — the east coast city that was founded in 733 by the Corinthians and then taken by the Greeks and the Romans (with lots of skirmish in between).

I booked a non-refundable hotel here weeks ago.

So, even though rain was in the forecast, I set out at 9 am from Josie’s on the 2.5-hour trip (which turned into 3 hours because I had accidentally asked Siri to avoid tolls which took me over interesting agricultural terrain until I corrected the error).

No matter. The Hotel Teocrito turned out to be wonderful and the concierge could not have been more lovely.

But the promised rain arrived and when I stopped in at the excellent Museo Archeologico Paulo Oreo, I was told by the museum staff that the park, and thus the ruins, were closed because of the weather event. Oh well, I spent a couple hours wandering the museum which contains an extensive collection of artifacts, from prehistory to the Romans. The bust above is part of the collection.

Then I went back to the hotel for a siesta before heading to the Isola di Ortogia, which is essentially the old town of Syracuse and the place where the concierge said I would find the best bars and restaurants. But when I set out at 5 pm it was pouring. My shoes were quickly soaked and I was a drenched bunny by time I got to the Isola. The rain was teaming down and none of the restaurants were open because Italians don’t eat at 6 (something I had forgotten since the last time I was here.)

So I ducked into what was essentially a gelato place but one that served wine and some actual food. I ordered a glass of red wine and a plate of caponata (mushroom, olive, eggplant, and roasted pepper salad) and it is lovely.

And I have the chance to write about the past couple of days.

On Sunday, I jumped in my car and drove 2 hours south through the mountains to Agrigento to see the valley of the temples.

First a word about Sicilian roads. Because the country is all hills, the roads are mostly bridges over valleys or tunnels through mountains. The roads themselves are flat. But there is almost nowhere that they are not under construction. So the 100 k speed limits are reduced to 60 or 50 or 40. But the Italian drivers, for the most part, care little. They still drive at 120. When I drove 20 k over the posted limit, I was a traffic hazard blocking the road.

Anyhoo… the first glimpse of the Temple of Concordia (at least I think that was what I was looking at), which can be seen from the highway, took my breath away.

I toured the museum, which is just chocka with artifacts that have been dug from the site over the past 200 years. Then I took the long walk from one temple to another. If I revisit this place, I will pay to take a guided tour. As informative as the many signs along the route try to be, they all read like someone ran Italian through Deeple. They are a litttle difficult to comprehend, and they don’t bring the life to the site that I could tell was being imparted by the English tour guide whose path I crossed several times.

That said, Agrigento is an amazing place. It is collection of towering pillared edifices erected 2600 years ago that are, to varying degrees, still standing.

I returned home to have dinner with Josie — and Chris and Chris and Lisa, as well as Sandra (Josie’s niece) and her husband Stewart who had returned from their own travels around the island. We had hamburgers. And the wine (which is delicious and costs $1.39 Eu per litre) was more than welcome after the hours I spent on the road.

On Monday, I headed to Castelbuono, a medieval hill fort town about an hour over winding mountain roads from Josie’s place. I was on a mission to get Josie three panatone (which are like large golden pound cakes but far more delicious) .

After walking up the cobbled street to the main part of the town, I came across the castle which is the community anchor). It is actually the Castile di Ventimiglia (which is Josie’s last name). It is also a museum.

This is the chapel that lies on the top floor.

I strolled the museum and then found my way to the town centre which was almost empty — possibly because it was a Monday in the off season or possibly because it was a dark day. Either way, I found Josie’s panatone, took a quick walk through the local cathedral, and got in my car heading for Cefalù.

Cefalù is another Greek town that was taken over by the Romans and eventually transitioned into a medieval port village. When we visited the market there on Saturday, we did not see the old quarter. So I parked on the beach, and then stopped a pizzeria for lunch. The pizza was a bit soggy and nothing like that at the Roxy Bar near Josie’s villa.

By the time I finished lunch, it was the daily siesta time so all the stores were closed. But I did talk a walk through the town as it started to drizzle.

Then I had a gelato by the sea and returned home to a dinner of calamari and eggplant and all kinds of delicious things. And of course more fun banter over wine.

And now I am in Syracuse … maybe heading out to find a real restaurant now that they are open. And I am off to Taormina tomorrow. Hopefully the archaeological park will be open in the morning so I can see that before I leave. Ciao!

FURTHER ….

It was pouring when I left the gelato place so I popped into a restaurant around the corner called O’Scina … had the tagliatelle with clams and mussels and I am very happy..