Ric and I set off for a day of sightseeing taking a taxi to the Neapolis Archaeological Zone in the northern side of Siracusa townThe stepped base of the ancient ‘Alter of Hieron 11’ which was a sacrificial site of large proportions standing at 198 metres long and 23 metres wideWe come across an enormous extremely old Magnolia treeThe rock faces in the area have rectangles and squares carved into them which are called ‘votive niches’The site of Archimedes Tomb – entrance to it is on the rightThe Greek Theatre in Siracusa which was set up for a live production in the evening, is believed to be one of the most important examples of ancient theatre architecture anywhere. Designed in the 5th century BC and enlarged in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC, a lot of the stone was removed 500 years ago to build the walls of Ortigia.We recognise the our fellow sailor’s boat ‘Destiny’ out in the Grand Harbour and there is also a navy vessel in town too!!We head towards the Grotta del MuseionThis cave carved out of the rock wall above the Greek Theatre has a rectangular basin where the aqueduct flowedThe colourful flowering bushes everywhere make a nice backdrop for this ancient areaOrecchio di Dioniso or ‘Ear of Dioniso’This massive cave is in the Latomie (stone quarries) area in SiracusaMillions of cubic metres of stone for buildings have been extracted from this areaThis cave until recently has been used by one of the local rope makersUnfortunately the Roman Theatre was under restoration and was closed during our visitBack to the MarinaWe have a wonderful view of Ortigia Island from our berth at the Marina
Drinks tonight aboard ‘Restless of Auckland’Roland kindly picked us up from the Marina in his dinghy as they were anchored in the bayConsie and Liz prepared some amazing nibbles for usAfter joining our friends for a drink we had dinner in a delightful restaurant called ‘Dioniso’ which was not far from the marinaAn amazing dessert after a two delicious main courses of Snapper in Fish Soup with Vegetables for me and a Fillet Steak for Ric
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