Siracusa

Although we had been scheduled to tender at this port, we were able to dock right beside the old town. Docking in the tight space here is apparently impossible for a ship the size of ours if there is wind, so we were lucky to have a light breeze enabling the favorable situation. I expect that the Captain will have an interesting post on his blog about it.

The peninsula of the old area is quite small so we easily walked to many of the sites, including the Duomo, the Fountain of Artemsia, the Museum, and the ruins of the Temple of Apollo. The Baroque façade of the Duomo masks the façade of the 5^th century BCE Temple of Athena, which can be seen quite clearly from the side street.

One of the shops had Easter sweets on display in the window – quite elaborate. Again turning each corner brought another charming street into view. Many passengers had lunch in the restaurants, but we were back onboard in time for lunch.

On one of the ship’s tours, they were not far from Mt. Etna and heard it rumble, saw it spew steam and then felt a sprinkle of ash fall on them. Very exciting experience.

Right now we are delayed in our departure from Siracusa. The second time we have been delayed in leaving a port because a lifeboat required repairs. And this time it is our lifeboat, number 2, so I want them to take their time and fix it right. I don’t know what the problem was either time, but on one of the tender trips I took a photo of some kind of a device on the windshield of the tender that had a missing screw and was hanging down with wires exposed.

Two days at sea as we make our way up the Adriatic toward Venice.