The pictures above (oh I wish that I felt more comfortable with a camera and could really take better pictures, but you get a sense of what I am seeing!) are of the Duomo, the Cathedral of Siracuse. It is a stunning Baroque masterpiece, but what is more fascinating is that the palazzi and church were the site of Siracusa's acropolis. The columns that you see along the wall both inside and out, are the Doric columns from the Temple of Athena. (5th century BC)..the columns are all that survive of the Temple that was known throughout the entire Mediterranean. Now on the outside of the church is an amazing statute of Mary, which is the exact spot where a golden statute of Athena served as a welcoming of sailors at sea.
It is the ever present sea, that softens and heightens the experience as you walk through big palazzi or tiny little streets.
Yesterday was also market day in Ortigia. We bought fresh pasta in a tiny little shop, pasta shapes and sizes that I have never seen. Serafina says that there are about 200 different types of pasta - I am working my way through them that's for sure. So we get raviola with ricotto, and then they put the pasta on this cardboard tray that is decorated so beautifully, and then they wrap the tray of pasta with this amazing paper! I am keeping the tray, was not able to save the paper before it went in the garbage. I see the most beautifully wrapped packages being carried home from the shops as I walk around the city. Then off to the market. Fresh greens, spinach, radishes, fennel, and then off to the fish stand where I buy big big shrimp that I am cooking for supper tonight!
Today is first time that I have seen clouds wafting by in the sky. It is a soft blue sky today, and each night I am enjoying as the moon is reaching it's fullness.
What a trip. I have seen so much, and also I am remembering to rest. Many afternoons are filled with naps, the mornings often leisurely. I like sitting on the balcony and watching the people walking up and down the streets, there is lots of traffic this a.m. and the city is beginning to close down for the Easter Holiday. We had planned to go to Palazzolo to stay at B & B, see the Easter Procession, and have a Easter meal, but there are not buses that run on the holiday so it is only in my imagination that I get to see this tiny little town further down the coast!
What is also happening is that I am beginning to feel the tug of home, a preparation is starting for me. I like the feeling of immersing, of going away, and the sweet call of home, that signals a readiness to return to my dailiness. I miss Daisy and Lola as I see so many people with their dogs. I am looking forward to sharing stories, and hoping that the return to week is not overwhelming.
I know that there are flowers and trees blooming, and other signs of spring that I will see when I return. Linking our early spring with all the emerging of spring here in Sicily.
More Later, Ciao MariaAlicia
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