On the 6th day in Sicily, we bought some tomatoes, basil, cheese and salami during our visit to the market and had them for lunch on the patio of our villa. I made some bruschetta using the bread the owners of the villa had left for us. A very simple lunch but we really enjoyed it.
Even when the temperature outside went above 30C, inside of the villa felt very cool, often even a little cold. As long as we were in the shade the patio was also very comfortable.
We visited the Archeological Park of Neopolis in Syracuse with a professional guide from 4.30pm, when we thought it’d be cooler. I wish I could upload larger photos because these smaller ones don’t seem to show the impact of the places we saw.
The Greeks built their theatre here about 2,500 years ago. The sea was of course much closer those days so the audience used to see the plays with the sea right beyond the theatre – it must’ve been beautiful. Even now, they have plays in May and June so they were preparing the safer seats for the season.
Even though it was 5.00pm and was slightly cooler than the middle of the day, the sun was still very strong and it was very hot if you get the sun shining directly on you. I wished the guide would give us his explanations whilst standing in the shade but he would keep stopping where there was no shade and explain something at length…. I guess he is used to the heat. I was suffering even with my parasol protecting me.
It took about an hour and a half look around both theatres, and we finished just before closing time. It’s very hot during the day so I recommend you to visit there early in the morning or after 4.00pm during the summer. The guide told us that there were many groups of children from school during the day – and they were extremely noisy that day – and visiting the place later in the day is a better idea for this reason. There was one group of very loud children when we were there, too, so we waited outside the cave until they came out.
The guide has been doing the job for 20 years or longer and has a lot of knowledge. Apparently he’s taken Japanese groups, too. He told us that Japanese are on very busy schedule so they can spend only a very short time here. Yes, I know, they are always on a tight schedule on their trips and rushing from one place to another taking many photos. They can take only short holidays so have so much to do!
