Sicily, Italy

We arrived Friday afternoon at our B&B next to Piazza Santa Lucia in Siracusa to see a huge outdoor stage being erected and a big banner announcing Giornata Regionale dei Giovanni being held right there on Saturday and Sunday 12 and 13 October 2013. When we asked if this was a festival, we were told that it was a church related event. Oh, we thought, it will be a church service and will not unduly disturb us. That wasn’t quite correct.

The workers were still busy the next morning as we prepared to visit Ortigia, the oldest part of Siracusa.

The island of Ortygia was settled by Greeks as early as the 8thC BC but was ruled there after by a succession of rulers from the Mediterranean region as well as Europe. The island is now connected to the mainland by several bridges and was an easy 25 minute walk from our B&B.

The small, 500M by 1 km, island is full of narrow, winding streets lined with Sicilian Baroque palaces, mansions and churches, all intersected by busy palazzos with fountains, welcoming cafés, Gelaterias and restaurants. We walked to the end of the island along a long waterfront promenade overlooking the rocky shoreline. We stopped to watch bathers sunning on a large wooden platform and swimming in the sea.

Swimming platform in Ortigia

Castello Maniaci, a fortress built by the Swabian ( a part of southwestern Germany) ruler Frederick II in the early 13thC, sits on a spit of land at the very end of Otigia. It is now open for tourists and includes an interesting slide presentation illustrating its history. The fortress also gave excellent views back over Otigia and out to sea.

Back in the center of town we entered the huge Baroque style Duomo to find more displays and artifacts of the beloved Santa Lucia.

We learned our lesson yesterday. Our main meal of the day while in Siracusa was to be lunch. We chose the very good restaurant, Osteria de Selby, where we feasted on shared dishes of antipasto, fish ravioli in scampi sauce and a mixed salad. On the way back to our B&B we bought wine, prosciutto, cheese, olives, buns, and sun-dried tomatoes to have in our room that night.

We arrived back at Piazza Santa Lucia to find the stage set up, ready for the evening. I have since found out that the event was sponsored by the Sicilian Bishop’s Conference for young Catholic youth. The event started slowly with small groups of scouts, both boys and girls, accompanied by their leaders and various priests and nuns. A band and singers were practising and trying out their sound system. It seemed loud and clear enough for us. As the evening progressed, the crowd grew larger. We were drawn out to have a look when we heard what sounded like a lively stage production in progress. It was full audience participation, with song and dance routines. It reminded us of the ‘Up With People’ performances we had seen long ago in Canada. Groups in the audience cheered when an announcer called out the names of cities in Sicily. It was a noisy but well behaved crowd. When I took a few photos of the stage, a group of young people near me asked to have their group photo taken with their camera. Of course I obliged, which pleased them no end.

Back in our room the music came in even louder than before. We kept expecting the event to wind up early, given its rational, but no, young people like staying up late if they can. It finally packed up at 12:45 AM. Ray slept through everything. I did not.