Into the Western Mediterrranean. Syracuse, Sicily May 13

The limestone cave known as the Ear of Dionysus

The Ancient Greek theatre is being made ready for a show

This is a fountain commemorating Archimedes, who was born here

The main square in the old town

St Lucia in Ortigia, home of the Caravaggio painting

The water is so blue here. The ship's tender's tent is in the background

Another glorious day. Leaving Syracuse

One of the very best parts of waking up in our suite each morning is seeing a brand new piece of scenery for the first time.  Sometimes it's still moving, but quite often we've anchored overnight and our new home for the day is right there in front of us.  Some port scenes are not especially pretty eg industrial ports like Ashdod (Israel) and Piraeus (Athens), but most are  really interesting.  Santorini and Kotor are the absolute standouts so far.  Arriving in Syracuse, Sicily today showed a surprisingly varied starting off flat with low scrubby trees  on a flat featureless landscape, eventually shifting to higher cliffs and fishing ports with elegant old buildings set back off the waterfront.   I started writing this before dinner out on our balcony shortly after we left port and enjoyed watching the Italian coast go by in the afternoon sun.  RIght now I can see the shadowy outline of Mt Etna on the port side.

The captain has promised to take us past an island volcano, Mt Stromboli, late tonight after we pass through the straits of Messina. 

But back to our day in Sicily and please, no jokes about the Cosa Nostra.  There were enough Godfather tee shirts in town to outfit a whole convention.

I'm pleased to report that I was feeling much more like myself today.  I still have a bit of a  sniffle and a wheezy cough, but was well  enough to join the four hour walking tour of Classical Syracuse, which involved a hike around the archeological gardens and then the highlights of the old town (Ortigia), without drooping like a faded rose.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
The archeological garden is on the site of an old limestone quarry and there was one chamber called the Ear of Dionysius which has the most superb acoustics.  One of the guides - not ours- burst into song - and that created a magic moment right there.  There was activity around the ancient Greek theatre too, which was also built in the limestone quarry area and is remarkably intact.  Each year at around this time the city runs a festival where Greek comedies and tragedies are performed at the old Greek Theatre.  The old stone benches are temporarily covered with wooden shells to protect them from modern feet etc. and other than being performed in Italian, all the dramatic traditions are followed. The event is incredibly popular and attracts audiences from around the world.

We found another Caravaggio painting today.  That's two for two!  This one is in the Church of St Lucia, the patron saint of Syracuse, who was martyred in the time of Diocletian.  Caravaggio certainly had a flair for the dramatic, showing the gravediggers hard at work, while St Lucia lies in a crumpled heap between them.  Yesterday's painting, in Malta, showed John the Baptist about to be beheaded.
An unexpected highlight of the day was having lunch ashore with some friends who were keen to introduce us to a Sicilian delicacy: black pasta with cuttlefish.   The black comes from the cuttlefish ink and gives the dish a subtle lift.   It was delicious with a local beer served with lemon.

The true highlight of today though was the weather.  The sea is as smooth as silk and the skies were a brilliant blue all day.   It was almost uncomfortably hot on a couple of occasions eg while we were checking out the Greek theatre ruins, but there was plenty of shade to be found.  Other than a wet day in Istanbul and a late shower in Venice, the weather has been wonderful every day.
Tomorrow we have two whole days in Sorrento and we will spend part of one at Pompeii.

Update: midnight.
We passed through the Straits of Messina while we were in the dining room.  It was a little strange to see lights so close on BOTH sides of the ship.    The strait is only a few kilometres wide. I was relieved that the water didn't get too rough as we passed through - especially while eating.

I killed some time waiting for us to pass Stromboli, then went up on deck at around 11pm.  I was surprised how close the captain had been able to bring us.  Although it was just a large black mass in the middle of the sea, it looked close enough that you could put out your hand and actually touch it.  Some nights Stromboli is very active and gives a wonderful natural fireworks display - but not tonight unfortunately.  There was a dull red glow on one side, which was enough to indicate it is still active, but not bright enough for me for a photo.  One fellow managed a good shot though by putting up the ISO number as high as possible and using a a quarter of a second exposure .  I would love to get a copy of it as he managed to shoot more than the human eye could see.