(at the end of the blog is a link to some video Tommy took, hopefully it works out)
How he didn't pack any Syracuse shirts in his luggage, I don't know, but he didn't.
In Siracusa, there is a large archaeological park with both Roman and Greek ruins.
So we headed in to see what there was to see.
First you come to the Roman ruins, you are not allowed to walk around in the ruins, just look from above.
Then we walked over to the area of the Greek ruins. The first Greek ruins we came across was the Orecchio di Dionisio. This is a cave that is shaped like the ear. In English it is the Ear of Dionysius. The legend is that Dionysius used the cave as a prison. He would put them in the back of the cave, and because of the amazing acoustics, which allows for no echo, he could stand outside the cave and hear what they were saying! So cool!
As we approached, we could hear chattering from inside, but since it was likely all in Italian, we could not understand it.
Here are the kids standing just outside the cave. You can see that the opening looks like the opening to the ear canal.
The kids are entering the external auditory meatus (forgive the audiology speak, but Mike and the kids had to hear it as we were walking through =)
You can see Mike (striped shirt on the right) and Tommy (and Sam if you look to the left of Mike in front of the woman) as they approach the tympanic membrane.
This in not a beautiful picture, but it is the tympanic membrane, and so I had to include it.
Looking out from inside the ear. I sent the kids out and called their names, but they said there was too many people talking for them to hear.
Another little cave.
The kids loved squatting in this tunnel for the picture!
Finally, after what felt like a long walk, we got to the Greek ampitheater, or as Tommy called it, the Carrier Dome.
This is the theater, obviously looking down from above. There was a level path around the outside at the upper level, and on the other side were cave-like areas carved into the stone.
As you sat in the bench where Tommy is, you could see not only the stage, but the sea off in the distance.
Tommy figures these are the luxury boxes, and let me tell you, on a 100+ degree day, sitting on that bench shaded from the sun, it sure felt like a luxury box.
From the box looking out
Then, in one of the little openings, was this cute waterfall and pond. Not drinkable water, but people were splashing themselves to cool off.
To the right of Sam, there was a doorway that would bring you to this room, and the window looked out toward the path. The kids figure this must be the concession stand.
just another little cove
Sam and Mike with the sea way off in the distance.
Sam on the edge above the theater, notice no picture of Tommy in this spot
We made our way down into the theater a little ways on our walk out.
After spending time in Siracusa, we drove a little further to the island of Ortigia. It was beautiful and I want to move there. I will tell you now that the pictures in no way show the beauty of this little town. One street we walked along, on the harbor side, had what looked like a permanent street carnival with little rides, and gelato stands along the way. The rides were not going, I would guess they open up at night.
This was driving into the marina area where we parked.
The street behind the kids was just so perfect and beautiful. You really can't tell from the photo.
Same street, slightly different angle. I need to work on my photography so I can really show you the beauty in the pictures.
This is a fountain in the middle of one of the town squares.
I just liked this building and intersection.
The cathedral in the big plaza
This is the plaza area
And of course, what is the best way to finish a busy day? With gelato! We seemed to have kept the shop open later than they planned. As we sat and finished our gelato, they were pulling all the signs in from outside and putting all the chairs away. However, not one person told us it was time to leave.
