Today we would be leaving Agrigento and travelling to Syracuse which is on the east coast of the island. We weren't leaving until 9:45am. We had to have our bags outside the room by 9am.
It was another bright sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky. The forecast maximum was 19C and the current temperature was 12C. When we went to breakfast just before 8am, there was a breeze blowing which made it feel cooler.
Before the bus left, we had time to admire the hotel gardens again. I'm sure it would be a good place to stay for more than one night because you could just relax and enjoy the garden and the view of the ruins.
From the bus, we got the opportunity to admire the Greek ruins on the hill near the highway. I managed to get some more photos from the bus - a different angle and perspective from yesterday.
The road took us through pretty undulating green hills. Once again, we saw numerous abandonned farm buildings. These were mainly stone buildings in the farming fields.
We stopped for a coffee break at about 11am in a small town. Since it was a public holiday (May Day), there weren't many shops open. Delores sat down at one of the tables and started chatting in Italian to some of the local men.
It seems to be a tradition that men spend their time at these cafes discussing the problems of the world. Appently the women stay at home to do all the cooking and cleaning including looking after the children.
The next part of the journey took us past more farmland with catle and sheep. We also saw tall viaduct bridges over the valleys.
Just before noon, we stopped for lunch at Trattoria La Ruota. It was a stone building with a timber roof. On the glass of the door, they had numerous stickers showing the awards that they'd won including Michelin awards.
They had a good choice of meat dishes and a nice red wine (Syrah). We occupied two tables and for some reason, we split according to our hemispheres - the Australians and New Zealanders on one table and the North Americans on the other.
It was only a short distance to this afternoon's attraction, the Roman Villa (Villa Romana Del Casale) where we were met by our local guide who would take us on a two-hour guided tour through the complex.
This site dates back to the 4th century AD and is famous for its mosaics - there are mosaics in every room. Because of this, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Most of the excavations started after WWII and are still ongoing.
Generally the mosaics tell the story of what each room was used for. Most of the mosaics are on the floor but there also some on the walls. We walked up timber stairs cand along timber walkways that have been constructed for the tourists to be guided through every part of the site.
One of the rooms shows women in bikinis. Apparently these women were the athletes competing in various sporting events. Some of the mosaics told stories about events such as battles or cultural activities.
The final destination of the tour was the basilica. Luca took advantage of the acoustics to sing an opera song for us again.
On the way back to the bus, Suzy was tempted by one of the stalls to buy a gadget that delivers juice from a lemon by screwing into the end of the lemon. We'd never seen anything like it before. She bought more as gifts.
We stopped at the top of the hill to look back at the town.
The next destination was Syracuse. The bus took us along rural highways and motorways including viaducts and tunnels. In Syracuse, we were delayed by heavy peak hour traffic.
Our hotel is located on Ortigia which is an island off the coast of Syracuse joined by a short stone bridge over a canal. Tourist buses are not allowed in Ortigia (probably because of the narrow streets) and so we had to change to taxi vans for the last part of the journey. The bus and taxi drivers transferred our luggage from the bus to the taxis.
Our hotel, Algila Ortigia Charme Hotel, is on the coast overlooking the sea. It consists of two buildings on either side of a cobblestone laneway. Our room was in the main building whereas most people were in the other building.
It's quite differnt from a modern hotel - it's improvised inside an old structure. Our room had a large double bed with an ensuite, traditional timber furniture but no desk. There was a balcony with steps up to a higher level overlooking the sea.
We went on an orientation walk of Ortigia with Luca at 7:15pm. He took us through laneways and plazas. The buildings and pavements were mainly constructed with limestone. The streets were busy with evening crowds.
After Luca's tour, we wandered down to the waterfront just in time to see the sun setting over the sea. Luca had suggested that we find a restaurant along the shore but that looked too crowded and so we walked back up the hill towards the main plaza to find a suitable restaurant.
By this time the other couples had gone their own way and so Suzy and I explored on our own. Because the sun had set, the buildings were now now lit up. After going down varous laneways, we found a restaurant called Do Scogghiu Trattoria.
It was quite busy. Most people seemed to be local customers - probably because it was late (by our standards) and localk people had come out to eat. The restaurant was decorated like a street scene with pretend balconies.
We had to wait for another couple to finish their dinner and vacate their table. Staff didn't speak much English but we managed to get our message through. We ordered a half litre carafe of red wine. I had a delicious dish of prawns.
We were back at our hotel in bed at 10:15pm after a long day.
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