Month: August 2015
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Tango at Palazzo Biscari, Catania
Towards the end of our trip in Sicily, we spent a night in Catania before catching an early morning flight home. Relative to Taormina or Siracusa (including Ortigia), Catania is a much bigger urbanized city and looked a bit gray and tired. We wandered around looking for a sushi restaurant near the port and found this point…
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Museo Archeologico Regionale ‘Paolo Orsi’, Siracusa
While in Siracusa, we explored the Parco archeologico della Neapolis where the Greek Theatre is situated (see earlier post here). For the remainder of the afternoon, we visited the Siracusa Archaeological Museum (Museo Archeologico Regionale ‘Paolo Orsi’), which is not far from the park. But we found it only after some serious map-reading. And unfortunately we had barely…
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Teatro Greco and Latomia del Paradiso, Siracusa
In Siracusa, the Teatro Greco (Greek Theatre) is a major historical and cultural landmark. It overlooks Siracusa and commands a view of the bay and Ortigia. The theatre was first built in the 5th century BC, rebuilt in the 3rd century BC and renovated again in the Roman period. This aerial view of the theatre…
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La Ciboulette, Annecy
It was August 1, Switzerland’s National Day and everything was closed around us. Our friend A and F thought – why not spend a day in France ? Since many shops were holding an end of the summer sales, we could benefit from some dernière démarque, tax-free shopping. So off we went to Annecy. Annecy was super-busy and we were…
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Siracusa, its duomo and patron saint – Santa Lucia
Let’s take a look inside Siracusa’s most celebrated landmark. Siracusa’s Duomo (cathedral) sits on the highest point on the island of Ortigia. The cathedral incorporates the remains of a Greek temple dating back to the 6th century BC. The temple was dedicated to Athena (Minerva in Etruscan) – the Roman goddess of wisdom and sponsor of…
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Fratelli Burgio, Siracusa (Ortigia)
While in Siracusa, IT and I(Chris) had lunch at a very popular salumeria – F.lli Burgio – next to the market on the island of Ortigia. They claim to be a specialist of artisanal products of Sicilian gastronomy. On their website, they listed a taste laboratory and a showroom (which was where we were). They also…