drron29

Now it was time to walk back to the bus. some interesting sights. And an election coming up. It was getting dark. I was on the right side of the bus so basically saw heavy industry all the way.

The policeman was right. But the real treasure was out the back.

We wouldn't book with anyone else but our Virtuoso agents. Knows the ins and outs of SS and always gets a price we are happy with. Plus fantastic if anything goes wrong.

A hospice with it's Saint. And for the tourists. I stopped at this building which turned out to be the Town Hall. An older policeman walked by who had good English and told me I should go inside so I did.

I was looking at this building- when I noticed a queue down the street so I went to investigate. It was a hole in the wall cannoli joint -Cannoli Del Re. And the queue was right it was delicious. So here am I about to devour a pistachio cannoli. The woman serving asked if I was English and I said no Australian. She replied I have a lot of family in Australia to which I said Griffith. Indeed that's where they were. Having worked in Griffith it has a large Italian population and most are Sicilian so it was an educated guess. We had free time now so I walked around a rather large block. And this sign meant nothing.

The street widens into the Piazza Duomo. The Cathedral is here and surrounded by lovely buildings and tourist restaurants.

Now what would a bus from the Factory outlets be doing here. Now on foot. and there she goes. About to cross over to the island of Ortigia which is the old city. Ruins everywhere. And up a narrow street.

Behind the Greek Theatre are caves which are thought to have been used as tombs. The theatre is one of the largest Greek theatres and is used still as a theatre. Good views of modern syracusa and on the day the MSC Splendida which was preparing to leave. We now drove down to the modern Syracuse. The bus dropped us off near the MSC ship.

This cave has good acoustics. It is said prisoners were shut in here and guards up top could hear everything that was said. Often led to an unhappy ending for prisoners. We then started walking towards the Greek Theatre. At the entry point for the Greek theatre a contented cat an an Ad for a police light show at night.

At the bottom is a garden with many fruit trees and berries.

As you walk in on your right is an ancient quarry -Latomie Del Paradiso. On the left all that remains of the biggest sacrificial altar ever -the Altar of Hiero where it is said 450 bulls could be sacrificed at the same time. We now walked down into the quarry. Magnificent.

But a lot of industry along the coast. And a lovely hilltop village. Now we are in Syracuse and our guide buys tickets for Neapolis Park. An incredible archeological site. But once again a lot of cheap junk at the entrance.

So off we go on the adventure. First our ship then views from the bus. Street food. It is an industrial city. But soon out in the country. Citrus grapes and olives were common.

Rojaan wanted a quiet day so she stayed on board. I signed up for a tour of Ancient Siracusa in the afternoon. So what better way to spend a morning than watching the comings and goings of trucks from the cargo ferry. And to add to the bliss a Japanese lunch before going on tour. My favourite lunch place on board.

Some rather disheveled buildings here. But time to chill out.

Next morning we are in Catania,Sicily. views of a warship,parked trucks,silo art and Mt.Etna. What more could you want. What more could I want? Well let's start with a Ryanair plane taking off!

The Captains welcome night. Notice 50% of the senior officers are female. Then to dinner. The days extra menu. I forget what Rojaan had for an entree but I had the tuna ceviche and the tomato soup that I really enjoy. We both then had the lobster for mains and declined dessert.

And now waiting for the tender. On the tender. Wharves and tenders leave their marks. The Dawn is just 4 months out from her inaugural cruise.

Some lovely scenery.

The last before we leave the site. The view as we descended then looking back. And now back on the bus.

The source of the destruction in the background. The forum. must have been magnificent prior to the destruction.

A direction sign.

The stroll continues. Was taking a toll on some as this was our hottest day. Not as severe as earlier in summer but 32C. Lupanare. In other words the brothel.

The last of the villa.

Again had to be careful with the uneven surfaces. And Roman fast food joint. The urns were to display the food and faced the street. And now we enter a 2 storey villa. Amazing the detail that has been preserved.