After breakfast we wrestled our luggage to the lobby for storage and later pickup. Then, our morning began with another stroll into town – walking up that steep, steep road one of the last times. We shopped around for fun, Robbie bought the chocolate she wanted, and we ended up having lunch at a lovely café. We sat outside with a view of the street below and enjoyed an appetizer plate and our first pizza. 

Then, back to the hotel to relax for a short while and await the group gathering. The final walk up the steep road, and then a walk through the Villa Comunale to enjoy the gardens and the little buildings. We learned the buildings were not part of the original palace, but were built in the Moorish style in the late 1800’s by the woman who owed the grounds. The little buildings were used for her house parties to have tea, picnics or entertainments for her guests. The guests also used them for “trysts”, (wink-wink.)

Our walk continued out of the gardens and down the road where we met our mini-bus. 

The 1 1/2 hour bus ride delivered us to Siracusa. We were dropped off at the edge of town and walked in with Allison (our tour leader) to learn about the different sections of Siracusa. Our hotel is a B&B with simple rooms. They also have permanent residents. Because of that, there are many doors to lock and unlock in the evening for security. The room key chain has 4 keys on it! This evening we again had a group meeting with lots of info and introductions. Then, we all went to dinner at a restaurant in town that served a mixed appetizer plate, a pasta dish and a very nice little cannoli for dessert.  Back to the hotel: time for bed!! Tomorrow morning we have a cooking class … yay! 

ps: the city is Siracusa ... but auto-correct makes it "Syracuse" sometimes and I can't seem to fix it!