Saturday 12th September 2026

Woke around 0400. Couldn’t get back to sleep…the fridge kept making noises, then the street cleaners came round to clean the piazza…twice! Managed to doze for an hour or so before rising…breakfasted in the lounge with half a dozen fellow guests. Finished packing and checked out. Walked our luggage through the streets…not too busy this morning. Hooked up with Shelly and Kim at the car park. Drove out to the Parco Archaelogico to take a gander at the enormous Greek theatre…it had 67 rows of seats carved perfectly out of the hillside, and could seat 15,000!!! Gobsmacking!!! 

Returned to the car as we were suffering in the oppressive heat. Took to the road once more and headed southwest for the hilltop city of Ragusa…rebuilt after being all but destroyed in the 1693 earthquake. Hair raising drive through painfully narrow, steep streets, dodging wandering pedestrians. Shelly got stuck on a very tight 90 degree left turn…you could see the paint marks on the walls from dozens of previous scrapes. Luckily a local jumped out of the car behind and guided her round…there was evidently a technique! 

Parked up and found our hotels…we were literally just around the corner from Kim and Shelly, in a refurbished Baroque villa that had been very tastefully split into rooms. Aki was very impressed. We rested up before venturing out...walked downhill to Via Marketa and met up with Shelly and Kim for lunch at a great little cafe in the old market hall...the units were being slowly refurbished with new uses moving in, including a puppet theatre.

Walked back up to the digs for a rest. Aki feeling under the weather, so left her having a lie down, and walked down to a kiosk I'd noticed on the drive in. Had a gelato and took in the views, before wending my way back uphill. Walked into the main piazza to take a look at the duomo...there was a wedding going on. 

Met up with Shelly and Kim for a drink before finding a trattoria for dinner...luckily we'd booked a table, as the place was evidently very popular. The food was simple, and very tasty...really enjoyed my chicken stew. The bruschetta with burrata was great too. Wandered back to our digs for a badly needed shower and bed...