Siracusa: Swimming … I Think Not!

Remember how I said that bus 105 runs on a loop route? Well, that becomes a bit of an issue when you are trying to get from the museum back to Ortigia Island. You see, the last stop on the route is also the first stop of the route (if that makes sense). You have to finish the loop so you can then start the loop again. That’s clear as mud isn’t it?

Let’s try it this way. Assume there are 30 stops. You want to go from stop 19 (museum) to stop 4 (the apartment). You have to pay the fare to ride the bus from 19 to 30 to finish the loop; get off at 30; wait 10-15 minutes for the next departure; board the bus you just got off … at the same stop (except that it is now stop 1 of the loop); pay the fare again; and ride to your destination at stop 4.

OK? Well, never mind. We decided to walk from the last stop since it would take us less time to get where we wanted to go than it would to wait and ride the bus.

Today was planned as sightseeing in the morning; swimming for Mui in the afternoon.

Well, Mother Nature had other ideas. Riding the bus on our way to Neopolis, we had noticed the surf was rough … very rough. Nonetheless, hoping against hope that the sea would have calmed down by mid-day, we detoured to the waterfront to check the sea state. Alas, the surf was still rough … in fact, the wind had picked up even more … strong enough to spray us with saltwater from the waves crashing onto the rocks.

Sorry, Mui … no swimming today.

As it was after already 1:30p, we jiggled our plans and before returning to the apartment, we went to a nearby street food spot — ScrocchiaMare Ortigia — for lunch. The place is known for the crispy focaccia-style bread it uses for its sandwiches. Mui ordered the stewed octopus scrocchia; I got the all things fried platter, which included mozzarella sticks, homemade chips, mini arancini, speck, and provola. Both were delicious. The portions were huge, however, so no room for dessert.

Thus we wrapped up our time in Siracusa today. Tomorrow, we head back north. A bit of backtracking, direction-wise … but, hey, the trackwork on the rail lines necessitated changes to our planned route when we were buying train tickets.Read more