They say the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. As we learned on this day, such basic geometry really did not apply to Sicily's transportation system.
We began the day by eating pastries in the sunshine just across the way from the Temple of Apollo. Unfortunately, when ordering a cornetto (croissant), I again accidently said "cornuto." Here we go again. The woman behind the counter laughed. I apologized and walked out with sweet, cream-filled goodies. And my glazed sweet bread Danish with tasty cream inside was my best breakfast pastry yet.
We had a handful of sights we wanted to take in before continuing our travels across Sicily. But what was the best way to do so? Walking was out. We needed to find a way to see various sights while making it easy for Lori, and the rest of us. We could take a taxi but that would be a bit costly. Across the piazza, we saw a man driving a covered Ape advertising tours. I went and talked to him. His name was Antonio or "Tony" as he preferred to be called. He offered two different sightseeing packages for $60 apiece. We wanted to see several sites on each of the tours so I asked if we could do a hybrid. He agreed, we loaded up, I jumped into the shotgun seat and off we went.
Our first stop was to see the Madonna della Lacrime (Madonna of the Tears) sanctuary. Though we did not enter due to a lack of time, I just wanted to see it. When I was a missionary, I visited the original site of the plaster image of the mother of Mary, learned of its story and heard about a campaign to build a sanctuary. That was in early 1983. The story goes that a couple received it as a wedding gift back in the 1950s and hung it above their bed. She later became pregnant and lost her sight during her physical struggles. One night, her sight was restored and she looked up to see tears coming from the small image running down the headboard. The incident caused a bit of a frenzy among locals and a pilgrimage for others. Critics questioned whether the claims were true. Now the plaster is inside the sanctuary built in 1994. It was built in the shape of a tear drop. As Tony pointed out, some locals say it looks more like an upside down ice cream cone.
The book of Acts in the Bible's New Testament chronicles the journey of the Apostle Paul. Acts 28:12 states, "And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days." So where was that in Siracusa? Though not scientifically verified it's believe Paul spent time in or around the site of Church of Saint John. The basilica was built in the sixth century but the crypt underneath dates back to the first century AD. As per just about every other historic building, it's believed the Church of Saint John was built in the same place or on top of a previous edifice or collection of buildings.
Our last stop was where we spent most of our afternoon - Neapolis Archaeological Park. Tony said we needed at least half a day to see it all but we only about an hour or so. At the entry point, we found out wheelchairs were available so we got Lori hooked up and off we went, up and down over the rolling hills. It was a good and worthy workout. The park has a series of historical sites that served different purposes. The expansive Greek Theater, built in the fifth century BC, had a seating capacity up to 20,000. The old stone benches are being covered by wood as seasonal classic performances currently take place on the stage from May to July. Too bad we missed that window.
There were just so many sites to see. Lori and I saw a couple but Ron and April got around much better. There was Altar of Hieron, dedicated to Zeus where animal sacrifices take place. The Ear of Dionysius was an ancient limestone quarry with an impressive echo inside. Latomia del Paradiso was a quarry site where stone was harvested to build ancient structures including parts of Ortygia. Riddled with catacombs, it's also where 7,000 prisoners of the war between Siracusa and Athens were kept. There was also a Roman amphitheater that hosted wild beasts and gladiator fights.
After wheeling Lori back to the Ape, I returned the wheelchair. I originally had to leave my passport as collateral at check out. When the attendant returned my passport, I opened to the photo and in Italian I said, "That's not me."
"What?" he said, rather perplexed.
"This guy is a lot uglier than me."
He then just busted up laughing.
As we waited 10 minutes or so for Ron and April to join us out front, it was fun to just talk with Tony. He was really friendly and easy to chat with. Like with many other locals we met during our trip, he was intrigued how we, as Americans, spoke and understood the language so well. I told him how I lived in Siracusa 40 years earlier, and how Ron and I were missionaries who returned to Italy for the first time since then. "Still, my friend, that was a long time ago," he suggested. Tony wasn't wrong. It amazed me how the more I spoke, the more I listened, the more the language continued to come back. I'd referred to that previously but it's one of the most surprising and welcome happenings of the trip for me. Ron was smarter. He studied and prepared (and it showed). I just winged it. But it also speaks to the power of the brain to recall things learned basically in a previous life. That just made things so fun.
Tony shuttled us to the Siracusa bus station, we said our goodbyes and then the travel weirdness began. Even though it's basically 130 miles from Siracusa to Agrigento, there's no direct kind of highway or rail line so we had to head north to Catania instead of almost straight west to Agrigento. Once a bus took us to on the 40-mile ride to Catania, we missed our next bus connection so we passed the time in the train station. And that's where I purchased my best arancino of the trip so far. The outside was crispy and the rice inside was soft and loaded with both sauce and flavor. It was just plan the best, juiciest rice ball so far in Italy. And it was bought in a train station bar, of all places.
After another relatively short bus ride, we caught the first of two train transfers. We headed west toward the small town of Sicilia in the central portion of Sicily. From there, you'd think we'd head south to our destination. Nope. Instead, in order to get to Agrigento, we had to head north 55 miles to Termini Imerese, which is only 24 miles from Palermo and back on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Once there, we got off the train and boarded another that took us almost straight south 50 miles to Agrigento. I'm not complaining. It was nice to just relax. It was also nice that Lori did not have to be on her feet. Plus, I got to see a part of Sicily I'd never seen before. Or at least, a portion of Sicily I didn't remember seeing when I made that trip a couple of times back in the early-1980s when I was a missionary. We also got to view another beautiful Sicilian sunset.
It was a lovely warm evening as we left the Agrigento train station. We found a taxi driver and asked if he could take us to our apartment for the night. He said it was relatively close and we could walk there. When he saw Lori was on crutches, he offered to drive her there for free and the rest of us could walk. We asked if he could take all of us. We finally talked him into it and he took us up a narrow, very crowded street. The drive was really slow going as we basically parted a sea of Italians out on a nice summer's night's stroll. When we arrived, the driver would not take the $20 offered, even though I insisted. Instead, he settled for $12. What a nice guy. He just wanted to make sure Lori was comfortable and taken care of.
Our Airbnb was a nice place but it took 62 steps from the street to climb the stairs to get inside, making it was a bit of a challenge for Lori, but also par for the course. The apartment was elegant with new flooring and wood throughout. Giuseppe was our host. He talked a mile a minute. And even that description didn't do him justice. He was super, super hyper yet friendly. After showing us around, we told him about our schedule and he said he would allow us to leave our bags at his place after our checkout time the following morning-bonus! Our quest that evening was descend the Street of Arts on Via Atenea to join the throngs of people and find somewhere to eat that wasn't too far of a walk for Lori.
We came across several restaurants nearby. I entered one of them, Le Boccerie, and was told if we didn't have reservations, we were out of luck. This restaurant, like several others spilled over into a nearby piazza across the way. Ron talked to a server there who said she would squeeze us in. And that's exactly what happened. He must have swayed her with his boyish charm. Either way, she led us to the back of their designated area and up a couple of stairs to a table and four chairs on the landing of stairs that ascended to the Church of San Lorenzo, also known as the church of the lost souls in purgatory. Why purgatory? Because the church is the featured structure in the Piazza Purgatory, where we were seated. What an amazing ambiance.
Great food! Great friends! And a great Italian atmosphere!
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