Sicilian Campagna

After breakfast in our beautiful hotel, we packed up and headed to Ragusa which took less than an hour. Ragusa is probably the most well-known and popular of the Valley of Noto towns - the others are Modica and Noto. Apparently, it has also gotten popular due to an Italian show that’s filmed in Ragusa called “Inspector Montalbano”. Here’s a picture as we approached the hilltop town:



The town is split into two parts - the older town is called Ragusa Ibla, and the newer and higher part is Ragusa Superiore (Upper Town). The two halves are separated by the Valle dei Ponti, a deep ravine. Apparently there’s a church called Purgatory of Souls that is positioned in between and the town is known for its baroque architecture.

After meandering through the town, we parked and headed up the steep incline in Ragusa Ibla to the Cathedral or Duomo di San Giorgio. There were bikers going up and down the hills, so thought it was fun to include them in the picture:







After descending the staircase and walking through the piazza, we stopped into a café to rest. I ordered a latte while my family indulged in chocolate and mango gelato as it was quite sunny and warm. We then walked to the Portale di San Giorgio which is an ancient door from a destroyed church. Many of the buildings had been affected by the Sicilian earthquake of 1693. Here you can see Saint George killing the dragon over the doorway:



The door was right next to the Garden Ibleo where we enjoyed the weather and a flutist playing Star Wars and other music:





It also had nice views of the valley:



Then we walked back to our car. In Siracusa, we learned white lines mean free, blue means paid parking, and yellow means residents only - we confirmed the system was the same here with a local. The street where we parked for free:



As we were leaving, you can see steps - there were steps everywhere - there’s even a church called Saint Mary of the Steps! Kudos to Mama Kim who was a trooper and whom I had to convince to bring a hiking pole:



We then drove two hours generally west to Villa Romana del Casale, near the town of Piazza Armerina known for its impressive mosaics - it’s considered one of the most extensive in the world and the site continues to be excavated. Upon arriving at the parking lot, there was a tourist plaza and we enjoyed an arancini ball and a hot dog for a midday snack. We then walked up to the over 4,000 square foot villa, potentially of a Roman aristocrat:





The mosaics….From the Great Hunt mosaic which shows animals being captured and shipped off, potentially from North Africa as you see animals like elephants, tigers, and etc:







Nicknamed the “bikini girls”, these are women competing in various sports:



The Giants:



Exploring the basilica:



After the villa, we continued to drive through the sunny Sicilian countryside:







After a detour due to a closed road, we arrived at our farm stay at Agriturismo Baglio San Nicola. Here, we’re entering through the gate and up the hill lined with olive trees:



The reception area doubles as the restaurant and right next door is a courtyard of rooms or baglio (meaning courtyard in a fortified farm). Our room is on the right and is named “limone”:



Our view out our window:



Before the sunset, Mama Kim and I walked around in the windy weather to check out the pool and surroundings:





The farm offered us dinner for €30 per person and we opted in. There was no menu where we could choose, but the meal was homey. The starter included ham, chickpea fritters, couscous, and crostini; the pasta with a light tomato sauce and bread crumbs; pork scallopini Sicilian style (with tomatoes, raisins, capers, pine nuts) and potatoes, and a cannoli for dessert. Collage below:



Today was our longest drive day for a total of about 4 hours - 1 hour from Siracusa to Ragusa, 2 hours to the Villa Romana, and then another 1 hour to San Nicola. We definitely soaked in the Sicilian countryside or “campagna”!

Siracusa

Some last photos from our Taormina hotel:



The hotel clerk took this photo and he joked that he wanted to make sure to include “The White Lotus” hotel (on the way right). We were sad to leave and the shower probably had the strongest water pressure I’ve ever experienced - it was like hydrotherapy on my head!



We navigated down the cliffside and made our way to the highway, where we headed south through Catania and less than two hours to Siracusa. Our first stop was to visit the church of Santa Lucia al Sepolcro in the main town. Saint Lucia is the patron saint of Siracusa and apparently was a virgin martyr who gave her wealth away to the poor. Here’s in front of the church which was built on top of the place where she was supposedly killed:



We were here to see “The Burial of Saint Lucy” by Caravaggio. After leaving Malta, he fled to Siracusa where he painted the moment her throat was cut before her beheading. After seeing his paintings in Malta, I stumbled upon some helpful websites about where his paintings are located and saw that we could conveniently stop here. In order to see the painting, folks had to pay a donation for the lighting. When I first came in, I thought the painting was really dark, but the light timer had just run out.





Here’s a map of all Caravaggio’s paintings in Italy plus Malta that was posted outside the church, along with some other information about the painting and Caravaggio. We may see one of his paintings in Naples, but unfortunately his painting in Palermo was stolen (potentially by the mafia).



About five minutes away, but took us about twenty as we searched for parking and got stuck in some traffic, we visited the Archaeological Park of Neapolis which means “new city”. After figuring out how to pay the meter from a Belgian, we parked right next to the entrance. When we entered and walked down the sloping hill, first, we saw the Altar of Hiero II, one of the largest altars known in the ancient world:



Then we walked up the hill to the top of the Greek theater where there were many caves:





There were also many school groups with different color hats learning about the Greek Theater - one of the largest, if not the largest. My mom also noted there were groups of senior citizens learning nearby and we chuckled at the juxtaposition.





What we enjoyed the most though, was the Paradise Quarries which are ancient stone quarries with an installation of huge sculptures and several grottos:











One of the grottos was called the “Ear of Dionysius” that was incredibly tall and dark with impressive acoustics:







After the archeological park and just ten minutes away, was Ortigia Island which is the oldest part of Siracusa. Here we were staying at the Ortea Palace, a Marriott Autograph hotel and converted post office. We succeeded in finding parking in front instead of the valet (which the hotel didn’t seem that excited to provide). Our room is a duplex again, but this time with a bathroom and queen size bed on each floor.  Here’s one of the bridges that is used for crossing on to the island:



After settling in, resting including naps, we enjoyed our welcome drinks which were granitas and headed out. Our first stop was the Temple of Apollo:



Then to the Piazza Archimedes named after the famous mathematician who was from Siracusa. In the center was a fountain of Diana:



We then headed to the Duomo known as the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Holy Nativity of Mary. It’s actually a church that incorporated a Greek Temple of Athena. We also got to see the beginning of a wedding:





What’s also famous in Siracusa is the Font of Aretusa which is a natural spring and I’m a little unclear on the legend, but in any case, it’s the most visited landmark in Siracusa. It’s also been written about by various literary writers and poets such as William Wordsworth and Alexander Pope. It has papyrus and reeds in the middle and various waterfowl:





We generally wandered around the island - the hotel clerk said it takes just twenty minutes:







As part of our walkabout, we stopped into several pharmacies as Justin’s friend had asked him to pick up these cough drops that can only be found in Sicily according to him. Apparently they are strong and are / were used by opera singers like Luciano Pavarotti:



For dinner, we ended up at La Locanda di Vicolo IV and ordered octopus salad, pasta Siracusa and Carbonara style, and the Fishermen’s linguini - all delicious with a refreshing glass of Chardonnay:



We also learned today that the local Museo dei Pulpi was not about octopus, but puppets! And with that, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for tomorrow.