Bredbenners vs. the Volcano

*Note: I've spent a lot of time trying to get these pictures to format in a nice looking way, but this blogspot site is just not cooperative. Sorry for the sloppy appearance.*

Ok, so we didn't actually conquer a volcano, but we did get a wonderful visit to the slopes of Sicily's Mt. Etna, the highest and most active volcano in Europe. But before we went all wildery, Allison and I explored the charming city of Siracusa. Founded by the ancient Greeks in about 730 BC, Syracuse was at one point a leading city in the Mediterranean rivaling even Athens. At its height, its population was about a quarter of a million people or roughly double what it is today. Its most famous inhabitant was Archimedes, one of the most brilliant and productive mathematicians and engineers in all of antiquity.

The beach next to the port

We arrived in Sicily in just an hour and a half on the ferry that runs between it and Malta, to find a land quite different than we expected. I think between the undeserved poor reputation that Sicily gets and having been island locked on Malta for so long, we were expecting basically a larger Malta. But Sicily offers much, much more. It's like comparing a city to a large state. The countryside was so verdant, punctuated by paintball splashes of yellow, white, red, orange and purple from the multitudinous wildflowers and lemon and orange trees. Malta, especially where we live, is decidedly lacking in things that grow, especially trees. Once ashore and having turned down a pesky "cab driver" offering a bargain 80 Euro cab ride to Syracuse, we met some helpful teens who took us to the bus stop, which was excessively far from the ferry port. 

Taking in the Greek ampitheater

Ruins of the Roman site

Soon we were in the ancient city, dropped our bags off and hit the streets. When visiting Syracuse, there are essentially two parts of town to visit: Ortygia and the archeological park. The ruins were first up as they were closer to our hotel. Home to both a Greek theater where ancient tragedies and comedies were and still are held and the Roman amphitheater where more gruesome entertainments took place, the ancient sites offer plenty of walkable gardens and grottoes as well. The Roman site was spectacular with its combination of overgrown neglect and stony permanence. Having it almost all to ourselves helped as well.

Ortygia is the small island section of the city and was where the Greeks first established their foothold. It's fully walkable and is as charming as can be. After reaching the main entrance to the island and asking for good weather for our volcano hike at the temple of Apollo, we meandered through the back streets until we reached the Cathedral, a beautiful building that was built overtop of the existing 5th century BC Greek temple. You can still see the Doric columns running down the side of the building. After watching the sun set over the bay, we bought a piece of local art, a painting of a Greek urn on papyrus. A river marsh just outside of Syracuse is the only place in all of Europe where the original paper plant naturally grows. We ended the day gluttonously with a full course Sicilian meal of anti-pasta, bruschetta, a pasta course, swordfish steak (for me) and calamari steak (Al), and finally a canoli for dessert. We were stuffed to the brim and with only 3 hours of  sleep under our belts it was off to la la land.

kids playing kayak waterpolo

fisherman tending his nets

Sunset Cafe

Europe does desserts way, way better than the U.S.

harbor between Ortygia and the rest of Siracusa

Day...

and night

The next day it was time to tackle that volcano, so we hopped on the train and met our guide Vincenzo in the bustling city of Catania. We're not usually much for these organized kinds of trips, but a combination of winter conditions, not speaking the language, lack of transportation and the fact that it's an active volcano, we thought going with someone who knew the lay of the land was a good idea. And Vincenzo turned out to be wonderful. He trained locally as a naturalist learning about the weather, topography, volcanology, and just about everything else you could want to know about the area. As we drove up the mountain through quaint little towns, he explained how the volcano mostly erupted through 'lateral craters' which generally cause slow and mild lava flows more similar to Hawaii than the famous Mt. Vesuvius on the mainland of Italy.

Me and our guide, Vincenzo

running up the rim of a volcano crater

holding a 200 year old 'lava bomb'

looking down on a crater

                                             We were excited to see this fox until we found out he just sits next to                                           the road waiting for tourist handouts. Don't feed wild animals, people!

We spent the day driving to several different sites to visit, each offering a different landscape, some snowy with some green growth through the cooled black lava, others looking like an inhospitable alien landscape. One stop was inside of a lava cave about a kilometer long that was formed hundreds of years ago. Pretty cool.

dark cave

Cave entrance

 

We were really pleased and a bit surprised at how much we enjoyed Sicily. We hope to get back once more before we leave, this time to do some real hiking and take in a Greek play at the amphitheater in Syracuse.

Next up, we head to Swingin' London where we see some family and friends, and a riverbank full of drunk Brits sing me "Happy Birthday." As always, Allison and I love reading your comments. Thanks for reading!