Siracusa

On September 21st I took the train to Siracusa, a quaint little town about an hour and a half south of Catania. It was my first time on the train, and I enjoyed it. I sat with 2 older couples from Switzerland; Bern exactly. They were very nice although I couldn’t understand a word they were saying so they could’ve been plotting how to distract me and steal my bag for all I know. They were speaking German, which at first I couldn’t figure out if it was in fact German because it almost sounded Swedish or Dutch to me (as if I know what that sounds like other than the Swedish chef from the Muppets!). Later that night when I got home I told Carla this and she said that Swiss German sounds very funky, so that is why I couldn’t recognize it.


Siracusa was gorgeous, but not as cute as Taormina. My first stop was the Archeological Park where they had the Greek Theater, the Roman amphitheater, and the Ear of Dionysius. All very cool. The Greek Theater was huge, I guess it could hold 15,000 spectators in its day and it looks out over the ocean. The Ear of Dionysius is this cave that looks like an ear from outside. You go inside and the cave is gigantic and dark. Then you yell or whistle or whatever you want and listen to the echo.

After that I walked the length of Siracusa to the other side of town that has the Temple of Apollo in the middle of its piazza. That was pretty cool. What I like about a lot of these sites is that they are out in the open, and anyone walking by can observe it. I had myself a gelato and people watched.