Sicily and Naples

The shipped docked at Catania, a very old city with a lot of new parts that were built following bombing in WWII.  The influences here range from early Greek, Romans, Saracens, Normans and Bourbons, living in the shadow of Mount Etna, an active volcano.  We had visited this famous landmark on a previous trip, so went exploring the nearby towns this time.  It was the first day of rain on this voyage, but that didn’t stop us from seeing all the sights.

John went on a tour to Syracuse, a city that was once part of the Greek empire.  There are more well preserved Greek ruins here than in Greece, as well as many Roman ruins.  After all, Archimedes was a Sicilian from Syracuse and not a Greek.   Gail went to Taormina, which was founded in 358 BC, but looks like a Baroque town, as it has also been rebuilt more than once.  We were both escorting tours from the ship, which is always good, as lunch, with wine, is included.

2300 year old Greek theatre

Remains of the Temple of Appolo in "downtown" Syracuse

Cave from which St. Paul spoke

Roman ampitheatre, about 200AD

Balcony in Syracuse from 1800's shaped to accommodate women's large skirts

Looking up in Taormina, a home with an English garden - unusual for here

Taormina is built into a mountain, so everywhere is either up or down stairs

We did not sign on for a tour out of Naples this time, as we were quite ready for a day of relaxing on the ship.  We did get off and walk around a bit, remembering when we had our first taste of lemoncello with an authentic Napoli pizza many years ago.  The city seems somewhat depressed.  Maybe it was the drizzle, but it is more than that.  The centre near the port is all torn up for construction of a subway, so it is less than beautiful right now.  The streets were quite crowded, and twice someone tried to pick pocket John by undoing the zipper on his jacket pocket.  One guy actually had his hand in the pocket when John pushed him away!  Nothing was stolen, as we are very aware of these dangers. 

The Galleria shopping area looked partly empty, so that was not very exciting.  We went for a nice walk along the waterfront when the rain let up, so it was, after all, a pleasant outing in Naples.

square in Naples