Awoken by the three alarms we had set for 4:15am, we roll out the house by 4:45am and arrive at Manchester airport at 5:45am. Ben’s hand luggage is hived off for closer inspection and annoyingly he has to ditch some of his toiletries only to rebuy them in the Boots in Terminal 1. Grrr. The flight goes well, however, and by 1:30pm we are on the airport bus to Ortigia. At our Airbnb we make tea which tastes vile. Realise the water is desalinated but it still retains a salty tang, so we have to buy bottled water for all drinking. This brings a sobering revelation of just how much plastic waste this creates by the end of the week. In the evening we head to Evoe for excellent wine and tasty morsels (stewed aubergine is a highlight and something we seek out to eat more of over the course of the week).
Viola Bakery becomes our regular breakfast stop for squidgy pistachio croissants and buckets of cappuccino and we arrange bike hire from the excellent, helpful Francesco in an attempt to work off a fraction of the calories consumed! All this planning has made us hungry so we head to the hilariously comic Sicilian Delights hole in the wall snack bar to gorge on arancini and tempura vegetables! Later we head out to Chiodo for dinner with good wine and interesting food. A pattern is emerging!
To avoid becoming the size of a house, we head off on e-bikes to check out two snorkel spots in the Plemmirio nature and marine reserve. We wouldn’t normally use e-bikes, being quite capable of cycling the 15km or so to the beaches. However, it’s 32degrees, feels more like 37, and we don’t think we would last on normal bikes. The e-bikes are great fun and enable us to explore once we reach our destinations rather than just expiring! They also give us a bit more oomph to accelerate away from any crazy Italian drivers heading out of Siracusa! The first spot we aim for, for snorkelling, is rocky and choppy and we abandon the attempt fairly quickly. The second, however, is a great success with loads of brightly coloured fish, beautiful emerald water and great visibility. We later realise why the sealife is so prolific in this area when we spot a man on a floating chair bobbing about, feeding the fish! Oh well, the experience is amazing whether natural or not.
Our other attempt to burn some calories is with a hike to Cava Grande, a fabled limestone gorge with beautiful looking waterfalls, pools and shade to cool off in. We hire a car in Siracusa and head to the parking spot. Attempt no. 1 to reach the gorge is aborted after the path turns to jungle and we incur many lacerations as the vegetation closes in! Attempt no. 2 is a stunning success, however, with a lovely, well trodden path, leading straight to a range of pools, perfect for relaxing. On the hike home we watch a helicopter trying to put out a fire pouring buckets of water from the sky. It’s scary to think how quickly that could spread in these tinder dry conditions. For dinner that night we head to Moon for unbelievable vegan food including ‘burratta’ made from rice paper which more than passes as the real thing. We have no idea how they do it!
We also take a day trip to Noto by train with the usual Italian chaos at the station! Firstly the ticket machine is out of order, then the sales kiosk is closed, resulting in a huge queue at the Tabacchi to buy tickets. We get on the train and have to ask people to move bags both ways so we can sit, but at least we do manage to get seats. Noto is so pretty, immaculate streets and picture postcard perfect buildings. A highlight is climbing to the town hall terrace to look out over the cathedral, it feels like we are seeing the city all over again for the first time from this perspective. Lunch is also a highlight, eaten a few streets up from the main drag at Bottega Duefratelli, which offers platters and interesting salads. Beck offsets this great experience by choosing the hottest, most basic cafe for mid-afternoon granita! The waiter even says to a customer that the pizza is not good! On the way back to catch our train we stop at the supermarket for some basics. A kind lady picks up that we are going for the train and let’s us go in front with our few supplies.
From Siracusa station we get the shuttle bus back to Ortigia island. The driver seems perplexed to have passengers and tries to eject us at the very edge of the island. Given that taxis are 15eur and the shuttle bus is 3eur for both of us, it seems strange that not more people use it! Back on Ortigia we eat dinner outside at the attractive La Foglia. Ben has an excellent filet steak.
Our last day in Ortigia is a long one as the overnight train to Rome won’t leave until the evening. We check out of our Airbnb, leave our bags with the helpful Francesco back at the bike hire place and hit the town beach in an attempt to keep cool. Later we head to a beer garden to read books and chill out. For our last meal in Ortigia we find the fantastic Osteria Bazan which is only half a mile from the train station. We eat a late dinner in true Italian style and then head to our sleeper train to cross to mainland Italy by ferry on the train, and wake up in Rome!