You’ve probably heard of Syracuse University, in the New World. On June 10, I enjoyed another Syracuse, from Old World Sicily. Over here, it’s called Syracusa. I’m very much enjoying how the Italian Language tends to end words with some flare, in addition to a lot of flare in a lot of words.

Back to Syracusa, the town has a lot of sights for tourists. I looked forward to seeing some of those sights, but in the last few years, tourist sights in other countries are less appealing to me. The culture has become more appealing, and of course, people from other countries are the living parts of the culture. As the pictures show, I enjoyed ordinary Syracusans enjoying their day. Tourists are mixed into the pictures as well. They’re ok too, usually.

That last line deserves a tangent. I’m picking on tourists a bit, and that’s ironic since I am one, although I’ve always enjoyed jokes aimed at myself. Anyway, while being a tourist, I continue to get greetings in other languages, as if people can’t tell that I’m American. A couple of Americans even greeted me with Buongiorno. I’m not sure why, but I like that people have a tough time knowing where I’m from. I love many cultures, so I like the idea that my appearance shows I could fit into a few. Anyway, on to some pictures from Syracua.

On May 11, I cycled from Syracusa to Catania, the city where started this trip. The bike ride was my first chance to follow EuroVelo 7 (EV7), which is one of the routes from the EuroVelo bike network. I knew that most of EV7 was in the “planning phase,” compared to the “developed phase.” At first, the ride was great, a nice bike path by the sea. Later, the trail got rough, very rough. And even later, the trail led me to a locked gate. That gave me a new definition of “planning phase.”

After EV7 led me to a locked gate, I found a route with my Garmin and Google Maps, on my phone. On long, solo bike rides, you need multiple ways to find your route, and a lot of patience. I finished the ride in Catania. It was fun seeing the city where I started, but that’s a topic for another post.