Day 12--Syracuse, Ortigia and Zafferana

 We said good bye to Ragusa shortly after breakfast.  An hour and a half later we arrived in Syracuse.  Our local guide was waiting for us and she lead us over the bridge to the small island of Ortigia.  

There were two cruise ships docked in the harbor.

You didn't need to see the ships to know there was an abnormal amount of loud rude groups who were blocking the sidewalks and roadways.   

It's hard to believe how old these are.  In the states if something gets to be 100 years old you think that is a long time.

I believe this was Piazza Del Duomo.  

These steps inside the church lead to a huge bomb shelter that would hold all of the townspeople.  There was more than one entrance.

Our guide was very knowledgeable of the town and we would dart down an alley way that the large cruise ship tours did not use on there tour.

It was a beautiful quaint town.

The architecture was like nothing in the states.

Our guide showed us where we would meet after our free time.  

Here's what I ordered for lunch.  Gail and Gary were with us and I wish I would have ordered what they did.  

This man was a 3rd generation puppet maker.  

On the bus this morning Nunzia gave us a talk about law enforcement.  

We were told that we could take photos of the cars but not the officers.

We went to the Da Vinci museum with Gail and Gary.

We were shown some papyrus in the square and then Nunzia took us for a demonstration.  We'd seen a similar one in Egypt but this was a little different.

You were then given the opportunity to try it yourself.  It was a tiny shop and we had to wear our masks and no AC.

These next photos are from our room at the Airone Wellness Hotel Etna.  It is located within Mount Etna National Park.

 

It was a beautiful village with no cruise ships crowds.

Even though we see a church everyday, we didn't pass this one up.

Even for this small village it was lovely and worth all the steps to see it.

This is where we had dinner.  Notice the black rock from Mount Etna?

You can even eat the chocolate flower pots!

Nunzia suggested we try an Americana cocktail.  We tried it and the first couple of sips were terrible, but after that we enjoyed them.

Turtle Safely........