Eclipse 2006 Trip

Day 3 - Syracuse, Sicily

As we traveled south along the coast of Sicily in the morning, the dominant feature of the landscape was Mt. Etna, one of the active volcanos in the Mediterranean. You can see it for a hundred miles and the day was pretty clear, so we had no trouble seeing it as we traveled south along the coast. Even when we pulled into Syracuse harbor, it was still an impressive sight. We were not able to dock at Syracuse, so the ship was attended to by "tenders", boats that could take 100 or so passengers at a time from the ship to shore. The scenery was terrific, the weather was wonderful The weather was clear and mild, (temperature in the morning in the mid 50s rising to a high of 70) and a great time was had by all. Some went on excursions that the cruise ship offers. But we chose to stay in town and wander the streets and sightsee on our own.

My first order of business was finding an Internet access point where I could upload the previous days entry. I found one place but they would not allow me to use my pin drive. Neither would a second (an only other) place. So I was bummed. But what could I do except enjoy the day.

What a wonderful place. You must put aside any stereotypes of Sicily that you may have. I certainly had to. We spent our time in the "old town", which is phyically separated from the "new town" by a channel. Many of the streets in old town are only 8 feet wide. We might think of them as alleys. Vespas are a common form of transportation, but even cars and trucks would drive those streets. Most of the vehicles are smaller than American cars. In some cases much smaller. Syracuse is an old city, founded by the Greeks about 600 B.C. There are a few ruins of buildings from that era. There are many more buildings from Roman and Renaissance times. Today there is much restoration going on of these ancient structures.

Sicily is known for desserts, especially Cannoli, a fried pasta shell with a ricotta cheese mixture squeezed into either end. We had to sample same. Very good indeed. My wife and I took a ride in a horse-drawn carriage. The horse's name is Giorgio.

During World War II, Sicily was invaded by the Allies on their way to wrest Europe from the grip of the Third Reich. There is one build that is kept standing which has bullet and cannon ball holes in the facade as mute testimony to the tremendous bombardment that took place prior to the invasion.

As we headed to the tenders for our return to the ship, I decided to see if I could find any Diet Coke to take back to the ship. I walked past the first Internet access point we had tried earlier in the day and saw that a different person was at the desk. I spoke with him and he spoke English. I pleaded my case with him about needing to upload pictures to a web site for my students. He was concerned about viruses and I assured him that the files were clean and he said, "For you only with I allow it." So I uploaded the files and was on my way. I have no idea when I will get future updates posted. Check back and see.

Mt. Etna in the background.
Fort at the entrance to the Syracuse harbor.
Our ship could not dock, so we had to transfer to and from shore in boats called tenders.
Boarding the tender.
Some of our group: Bonnie, Chap, Nancy, Amy, and Milt.
The temple of Apollo, built about 500 B.C.
Interesting iron work on entry way in the Old Town.
The main square in Old Town.
The Syracuse harbor front is very scenic.
Our ship - MSC Sinfonia
A cannoli on the left and another dessert on the right. Delicioso.
The biggest fountain in Syracuse.
Gorgio taking us for a ride.
This building is covered with cannon and bullet holes received in the allied invasion of Sicily in 1943. This building will be kept this way as a reminder.