Sicily - late March

• Traveling
• Syracuse Overview
• Getting Food
• Restaurants
• Culture Part 1
• Culture Part 2
• Passegiata

Emilia-Romagna - early April

Tuscany, Florence - April 8

Umbria - late April

Archeology and Culture in Syracuse, Sicily Part 1

I think that trying to convey anything very interesting about the art and archeology we are seeing is going to be difficult for me. I have no training and no practice. So mostly I will concentrate on living experiences and how things currently are in the various communities we visit and try to keep the guidebook stuff to a minimum. But, be assured that we are soaking up ancient culture like mad.

As I mentioned earlier, Syracuse, and especially Ortygia, has a varied background and has been traded with and/or conquered by many different cultures--Greek, African, Spanish, Turkish, as well as being a major agricultural source for the Roman empire and a focus of medieval and Renaissance interest. But even before the Greeks, Ortygia, at least, was populated by indigenous people--the Siculi, the Sicani and the Elymians. Either not much is known about them or current Siclians aren't very interested, because we found nothing about them in our guide books or museum visits. Sicilians are very proud of the fact that they were eating pasta long before Marco Polo went wandering off to the east and brought back Chinese noodles. (Since it is almost certain that Marco Polo bringing back noodles is just a legend, with little basis in fact, the next best guess is the Arabs; I don't quite buy the Etruscans. At any rate the Sicilians have a good claim as "early adopters.")

The multi-race mixture continues here; we have met a Morrocan, an Ethiopian, a Sudanese; and most of the street vendors are Indian or African. But the commercial culture reflects very little of this, except, of course, food flavorings. But there's no such thing as a Morrocan restaurant, for example.

One of the most obvious things about Ortygia (and Syracuse too although not as dramatically) is the contrast between medieval and Rennaissance development. Medieval streets are narrow and wandering, with many dead ends and turnings so that you (well. I mean we) often come out at an entirely different place than one expects. The buildings have narrow entries and, it appears, seldom an inner courtyard. Rennaisance streets are wide and straight, often laid our for a view of the sea, or Mt. Etna, or a pretty piazza or fountain. This fountain is in Piazza Archimedes, dedicated to the great mathematician and favorite son of the area. As a math major, this was one of the main reasons I picked this town to start in. Well, mostly I wanted something warmer than Oregon, but then the Archimedes connection appealed to me. It was a serendipitous choice.

Every day we pass beautiful palaces and sculptures, grand buildings with ornate wrought-iron balconies and window decorations (often festooned with laundry). Many of them are also festooned with green netting, indicating that some crumbly bits are being restored--or at least contained so they don't fall down on your head. Indeed, this country has been through so much with earthquakes, wars, volcanoes and rapacious and egotistical conquerers, it's a wonder anything historical is left at all. But there's lots and Ortygia is nearly resored to its former glory.

One day we took a boat trip around the island. Dawn negotiated a quite reasonable price (compared to what was posted) and we were guaranteed that our captain, Benino, spoke English. Well, Benino spoke English, but mostly he had memorized his spiel in English (a good feat, I admit), so it was very nasal and sing-songy and the letter H was randomly inserted or omitted (Italian Hs are often silent), but quite amusing. "In front the boat, on the highland (island), the Castello Whatevero...one-thousand-seven hundred and two... Style: Bah-row-kay (trimuphantly). Now an exclusive otel!!" Most of the palaces are now hotels and quite lovely ones, too, but not anything the likes of us could afford.

The sea was pretty calm that day (Benino said), but I got a little woozy and they fed me sugar out of a little packet. Seemed to work okay. The trip was an excellent way to get a sense of the island and we took lots of pictures. Here's one of a cave where Benino claimed the rope-makers used sit all day, weaving away, because it was cool and the spray kept the strands flexible. I think this is unlikely, because everything I have read about medieval rope-making says you have to stretch the twine our to make it into a rope. So maybe he meant net-making? Pretty little caves, anyway.

One of the best sights is the Maniace Castle (named for a Byzantine) at the very tip of the island. It is currently closed for renovation and you can't walk to it, so this is the only way to see it. The castle was built in 1235 and has been used as a residence, a barracks and a prison. It is quite elegantly Gothic with great arches and windows and also the practical touches, like the stone tunnel/slide where one can drop unwanted prisoners or guests into the sea.

I think I will finish this up in the next issue, there's still quite a bit to tell.