Nov 7 Syracusa to Pozzallo Sicily

There was a new cake at breakfast this morning:

Very very rich. How Italians stay so slim with their sweet breakfast is beyond me!! Maybe because they often stand up by the coffee bar and tip back their espresso there. I prefer to sit and linger.
I did start out with yoghurt and an open faced sandwich of toast and cheese, and grabbed a plum for later:

Between 8 am and 1030 it was pouring rain. We had to check out at 1030 and we're able to leave our luggage at the front desk. Goodness the street is full of water, it's still raining, the group checking out before us were covering their shoes and heads with plastic bags to get to their car which was parked right in front of the hotel. I plunked myself down on a chair in the lobby and announced I was waiting it out. This caused a lot of stress I felt sick to my stomach and wondered if I was having a heart attack; apparently I live for drama, half an hour later there's a light drizzle and the storm sewers had done their job I could now navigate around the puddles. So we trekked out and eventually got to our habitual coffee spot, too wet to sit outside but we had a slow coffee indoors. We can't poke around here forever so will move to another coffee shop, our bus doesn't leave til 230. But now it had stopped raining the sun was poking out occasionally so we headed for the old town where we saw the Temple of Apollo from the market side - a different vantage point:

It's 22 C now and hot in the sun.

Our goal today is the waterfront.
The Ionian sea is an elongated bay in the Mediterranean.

Porta Marina, the entrance to the old city was built in Spanish style. It is located along the narrow streets of the medieval quarter of the island of Ortigia. The Porta Marina preserves traces of the Catalan period in an elaborate aedicul - carved and pierced stone resembling a flower motif above the arched entrance:

The Ficus magnolioides Borzì or the Strangler Tree -
(Sounds like magnolia but isn't). The trunk sprouts like arms reaching out of the ground. It has an extensive external (surface) root system. Creepy.

Arethusa Spring is a freshwater spring that gushes out near the seashore, forming a small lake inhabited by fish and plants. According to Greek mythology, this freshwater fountain is the place where the nymph Arethusa, the patron figure of ancient Syracuse, returned to Earth's surface after escaping from her undersea home.
It had inspired poets and writers like Ovid, Virgil, John Milton, and Alexander Pope.

Maniace Castle overlooks the entrance to Siracusa’s sheltered bay. Built by Frederick II in the thirteenth century between 1232 and 1240, it was used as a royal residence, and then under the reign of Ferdinand II of Aragon it became a prison.

This headless Statue is to the left of the fortress/castle
It is not old, done within the last 20 years. Read into this as you will but his codpiece is a face.

This has been a long walk and we had planned on taking a bus back to the hotel but after stopping for a snack we persevered:


We are taking a bus from the train station. Booked the tickets online.
It is a twisty route south, several tunnels, kind of lurching stops:


Jeff is happy when we get dropped off - not sure where - thank goodness for Google maps! Another long walk to our one bedroom apartment.
I wash clothes - this took many many hours with the lid locked and when I was finally able to open the lid the clothes were soaking wet! I wrung them out by hand and hung them to dry at 330 am. I will have nothing to wear, How many days will it take for them to dry? Nowhere to put them outside, This sucks, Travel fatigue may be setting in. It is Nov 8.