It's History Dear Watson

         I'll start with yesterday. I have a dilemma sometimes in the morning when I wake up. My father and mother are at work and when Pier isn't here I don't really have a way to get around. This is because, though it is truly killing me, I am not permitted to ride the Vespa's and motorcycles, even though I am of right age for both. I just don't have a license. So when this happens I am stuck in the house for a few hours. I can still go out on the street and everything to look around, but at around this time all the shops in my area are closed so there's nothing to see anyway. This is usually when I find time to talk to you, dear reader. After being in the house, I went to the local river and went kayaking for about an hour. That's always pleasant because at the end of the river where it meets the Porto Grande (Big Port), you can see Ortigia in its glory. After rowing back, Francesca picked me up and home we went. When we got home Valerio was waiting for us and we stayed there for about 15 minutes then out we went again. Mr. Valerio said it was only going to be about a 20 minute ride, but knowing the traffic at that time, it turned out to be more like an hour, but no worries, I brought my Nook and got a good 20 pages done in 'The Two Towers'. We arrived at a house on the sea where there was a party being held with some of the different players from Valerio's water-polo team. Now it may be just a team, but these guys have basically been a band of brothers since they were little and started playing in their teen years. The party was fun, there was alot of different food and gelati and granite.
         I want to take a second to describe someone I met who is a new friend of mine. He is also one of Valerio's friends (once school started I'll work on friends my age, this is more beneficial for now). He is the father of one of Pier's friends and the nicest guy you'll meet. His name is Caruso Concetto, but everyone just calls him Concetto. Valerio and he introduced me to everyone at the party, and then he went to talk to women. He is good-hearted and very generous.

         After the party we went home and I quickly fell asleep from exhaustion (it was 1:15 when we got back). This morning I woke up and me and Valerio hit the historical town. First we went to the fish market in Ortigia. This has to be one of the worst smelling places ever, but it's neat to see all the fish lined up. There are pictures to the right if your interested. We also looked at the old Sicilian Temple of Apollo. It is basically in ruins, but is good to look at. Did you know that all Greek Temples built are facing East? This is because they wanted to be right with nature and they set their temples to face the rising sun. The Christians later on to break off from the old religion made sure to face their temples and churches west as to not be confused with the old temples. After this we rode his bike to a museum named, Piazza Belluomo. We went inside and looked at all the old artifacts from the Spanish, German, and Bourbon eras. It was mostly all medival, but some of it was renissiance. Then we walked to the old castle on the tip of the island. It spans over many centuries and was built by many different rulers. There is one room that was funded by the Siracusa Rotary club. They build replicas of a ram that was lost and that there is only one of that is in Palermo. After leaving the castle we went over to the Piazza Duomo and walked into the Church of Saint Lucia. She is the patron Saint of Siracusa because when she lived there was a famine in the land and the people prayed to Saint Lucia for food to be sent soon. The legend is that she prayed to God and pleaded to save her people. He said yes and days later ships from the mainland came with food and saved the town. The church is very beautiful and one of the pictures on this post is that of the church. Afterwards we came home and I am now typing this. Be sure to comment and look at the pictures. Ciao!