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| My mobile phone rang at 7:30 am and it was the carbinieri from Valderice....the conversation was in Italian but the gist was that they had recovered some of "documenti"--including our passports--and had them at the station. It was hard to get too many details but I ask if they could send them to Reggio di Calabria to the friend's house where we would be staying for two nights. Since I was not sure that I understood all that we discussed, I called our friend Giuseppe in Reggio and asked him for his help. He called the carabinieri and found out that they intended to send the documents to the carabinieri in Reggio by mail, but with no real assurance that they would arrive in time. Since we really wanted our passports in hand before we left Italy, we decide to drive from Siracusa to Valderice (coast to coast)--it is about 210 miles...almost all on the autostrada-- to pick them up in person. I had previously arranged two business appointments--visits to two of the hotels I use frequently in Siracusa--for around 11 am so we won't leave for Valderice until around noon. It is a beautiful morning in Ortygia so after breakfast, we take a short stroll to the Piazza Duomo. This is one of the most attractive piazzas in Italy....lovely palazzos surrounding the "square" and the Duomo as the focal point. We go inside the Duomo for a short visit....it is relatively simple inside with old Greek columns used as supports for the side walls. [NOTE: Somehow I have lost my Cadogan Sicily and my TCI Sicily in the last two weeks and we are now using the Blue Guide, Rough Guide and the Green Guide for our touring information. I REALLY miss my Cadogan.] Diana reads the descriptions from the Blue Guide as we walk around the interior. The piazza is beginning to fill up as we leave the Duomo.....Ortygia is really a beautiful and manageable "centro storico". It is small...maybe a mile long and less than a half mile from south coast to north coast at its widest. There is a small commercial district, some Greek ruins, a wonderful market, and lots of places to walk along the water. And there are small, narrow streets to wander around and lots of restaurants and cafes.....there is a reason it is becoming so popular. We go back to the hotel, get the car and head off to the Domus Mariae Hotel. I have been corresponding with Cinzia for five years and this will be the first time we will meet in person. We are very happy to see each other and she takes us around the hotel--it is owned by nuns and even has a chapel. The Gutkowski is just down the street...it is very stylish--the outside is painted a pastel blue. The original Gutkowski was a Pole who came to Siracusa around 1900 and settled down. We meet Gianpaolo, the desk clerk, and he gives us a tour of the hotel. It is not fancy but has lots of sophisticated touches.....rooms vary in size and desirability but the public area is very nice and it looks right over the sea. The owner comes by and takes us around their new annex which is also very "hip". We had bought some sandwiches and fruit in town for the trip and we leave Siracusa at noon. The traffic in town is congested and it takes us about a half hour to reach the highway. The trip to Valderice goes smoothly....once past Catania, the road is straight and wide. Etna is to our right....and the countryside along the autostrada varies from rolling farmland to higher hills, with many hilltowns off in the distance. We are making very good time--you can cruise on the autostrada at 140/km an hour--about 80 mph--and still get passed frequently. The road turns to the north coast in the middle of the island and the drive through the Madonie Mountains...peaks reaching 6,000 feet. ..is quite spectacular. Cows are grazing on the sides of mountains and there are flowers everywhere. On the coast, the road heads west past beach towns and rocky harbors. The autostrada around Palermo is still unfinished (they are working on it) but the traffic on a Saturday afternoon is light. From Palermo to Valderice is about an hour...the countryside is as striking as it had been the week before....and we pull into the carbinieri station just before 4 pm. The same young officer who had met us when we reported the theft opens the door, takes us back to his office and gives us the documents...which are slightly damp. He can't give us any details about the recovery and he can't reach his boss on the phone, so we sign a receipt and get back in the car. We have our passports and the cancelled credit cards and various other cards and papers--but no driver's license, business cards, address book or keys. We immediately start the drive the back to Siracusa and make it back there by 7:30 pm...no traffic, no delays. As we drive up to the hotel, there are no parking spaces available so we have to "go around the block"--in Ortygia, this means taking the road along the water (which is one-way) out of town and then retracing the route back to the center....about a ten minute proposition. We leave the car in the street next to the hotel (we find that Italians are fond of parking cars anywhere as long there is room for traffic to get by) and go to the room. Since we have had a long day....the equivalent of driving from DC to New York and back in a day.....we look for an informal place to eat dinner. We pass by a place (mentioned in the Rough Guide) called U.Scoggiu (a Sicilian name) which looks appealing. It turns out to be a great choice....the proprietor is extremely friendly and outgoing to everyone--tourists, young Sicilians out on dates--which makes the meal very pleasant. The food is also very simple but good--spaghetti with ricotta for me and spaghetti with garlic and oil for Diana followed by a wonderful grilled spigola for Diana and fried fish for me. We enjoy ourselves watching the owner interact with the customers...a good people watching experience. The bill is very moderate....less than Euro 40 for a lot of food. We shake hands with the boss as we leave and head back to the hotel. |
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