When we planned the trip we double booked Sept 10, not knowing whether we would need the extra night in Agrigento or Siracusa. We decided to spend two nights in Agrigento just in case we needed extra time at the Valley of the Temples. In hindsight, we should have used the extra day to explore the area around Siracusa, Catania and Taormina. Realizing that our remaining time in Sicily was short, we were up and on the road early. Instead of the leisurely pace we have taken so far this week, we drove the entire 240 km (150 miles) straight to Siracusa. 

The coastal plains between Agrigento and Ragusa were filled with field after field of plastic covered hoop houses . It seems they grow nearly everything in hoop houses here (even grapes). It is probably done to moderate sun and conserve water, but given the lack of recycling and the problems with garbage in Sicily we wonder what they do with all the plastic.
 
Eventually the plains and hoop houses gave way to mountains and small, hillside farms with fields that were neatly divided by low stone walls. We passed Modica, a quaint village nestled on the side of steep ravine. On a more leisurely day we would have taken a side trip to explore the town. From here we continued on the back roads to Ispica, before picking up the Autostrada near Rosolini, which took us straight to Sircusa. It took us some time to find our hotel when we arrived. (This time a GPS would have helped.) We checked into our room, dropped our bags and left to explore Siracusa.

By-passing the commercial district, we went straight to the old city - known as Orytigia. This is where Archimedes discovered the displacement of water (Eureka!) . One can see why Orytigia was fought over by the ancients. It is a charming sea-side town, surrounded by water. We visited several lovely piazzas and beautiful chiesas, including the Cathedral/Duomo and the Chiesa Santa Lucia. We made our way out to the old fortress at the tip of the island, then circled back through the Jewish district along the waterfront.

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of Orytigia were its streets. They are a maze of narrow old streets and small piazzettas that connect the larger piazzas and streets. In the hillside towns and cities of Italy these would have been steep stairs and alleyways. In Orytigia they were relatively level and sunny spaces. This made it easy to find ones way through the more private corners of the various neighborhoods.

With the sun setting we walked along the promenade near the port. Since we had a long overdue date with a washer and dryer, we said goodbye to Siracusa/Ortygia and headed back to our hotel.