Day 4 - Wednesday, June 14th, 2023 - Syracuse, Sicily, Italy - Part 2

Day 4 - Wednesday, June 14th, 2023 - Syracuse, Sicily, Italy - Part 2 

It was SUPER hot & humid so we wanted to do something else that would cool us off a bit.  We found a little kiosk by the bridge back to the ship that offered a boat cave tour for only 90 Euro total for all of us so we did it.  It was a tiny little motor boat which scares me to death (remember I have a fear of water), but the kids were SO excited to get out on the water so I was brave.  Our tour guide was this super old, hilarious, Italian guy who we ended up absolutely loving.  Our tour lasted a little over an hour & it was great. 

We went inside 3-4 caves & went around the Ortigia Island.  He showed us all the main sites from the water & just let us have a great time.  It was just what the kids needed to feel refreshed & ready to play some more. 

He told us a hilarious story about the most famous person from Ortigia - Archimedes.  Archimedes is known for so many amazing things like the invention of pi & several mathematical & scientific theories.  There is a statue built for him on the island of Ortigia.  Because of his mathematical & engineering skills, Archimedes designed weapons to defend Syracuse from the Roman armies.  In 212 BC, he used over 100 bronze mirrors to focus sunlight on the Roman ships & set them all on fire.  He literally saved Syracuse with mirrors.  We made sure to get a picture with the bronze statue so we’d never forget the story.

After that, the kids wanted to get back on the ship.  We had seen all of Ortigia so we were fine to call it a day.  We were all hungry from walking so much so we stopped at the buffet for lunch.  They had your typical hamburgers/hot dogs/chicken sandwiches plus salads, fruit, & breads.  It filled our bellies & then we grabbed another ice cream on deck 9 before all going to take short naps to rest off our weariness.  Then we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming & sitting at the pool. 

Trek took his drone off the boat for some fun pictures & videos of Ortegia while the rest of us enjoyed swim time. (He loves his drone.)

We ate dinner at 5:30 in the dining room.  Dinner was Mediterranean Food & I absolutely LOVED my Greek salad, Chicken Picatta, & Panna Cotta dessert.  Right after dinner we went to the theater to watch the Rock & Roll musical.  We absolutely loved the singers & dancers that put on the shows each night.  They were SO good.  Each of the songs showed how Rock & Roll evolved through the years & it was SO well done.  We loved it.  After the musical we were off to bed.  We were crossing time lines that night so we had to move our clocks forward an hour, but we could sleep in because the next day was our day at sea.  The kids couldn’t wait to JUST PLAY ON THE BOAT all day long.