Siracusa, Sicily

We moved on to the next Sicilian town, Siricusa. About 130,000 people and the same dense housing with narrow streets and buildings transcending a multitude of eras. There are some interesting Greek ruins that are a couple thousand years old. As the birthplace of Archimedes that is not too surprising. 

It is interesting to note that Siricusa itself has some islands around it that are connected to the mainland by short bridges. Our excursion today was a walking tour of Ortigia island and a small boat trip around the island to better view the historical and contemporary sights. 

Ortigia has lots of historically narrow streets, tourist shops and upscale (very expensive) retail stores. One item that Ira was looking for on this trip were some Italian hats in the style that he wears. Sure enough, there was a small, hole in the wall store that sold only hats. I now have two new ones that were not outrageously priced. 

Our excursion also included lunch at a local seafood restaurant. The calamari and pasta was quite good, but the branzino did not work for me; it did for Luanne. 

We also managed not to get lost on our way back to the ship from the hat shop. With those narrow streets all looking fairly similar, it could have happened.