Siracusa & Ortigia, Sicily - stunningly beautiful

October 2020

The 50nm sail from Taormina to Siracusa was a long day and we reached bay of Siracusa about 9.30pm.  We had read in both the pilot book and online that we had to call the harbour master for permission to anchor.  This was not only because of Covid-19 but also for allocation of a berth or anchor spot.  We did what we thought was right and called them.  They gave us permission to anchor but asked us where we had come from, our boat registration and informed us that we needed to complete some forms online for permission to go ashore.  We ate and went to bed saying we would sort it the following day.

At 8.30am the following morning the harbour master was calling us very loudly from their launch boat, passing us forms for us to complete and email to the 7 addresses on the form.  We explained that we had already done this but they weren't interested and told us we had to do it.  This was Monday morning and although we filled in the forms and emailed them, it took another 4 days of pestering by phoning and emailing 3-4 times a day before we were eventually given permission to go ashore.  The most annoying part of the saga was that other boats had anchored in the bay and gone ashore.  When we contacted them via Navily they had not called the harbour master and therefore did not need to complete the documents 🙉, how we wished we had not towed the line on this occasion.

In the midst of all this our friends came in their rib to visit us on the boat bringing with them the most delicious Sicilian delicacy Aracini.  Being that theres were parents of one of our best friends, they were amazing. We had never met them before but they were truly wonderful people and we make friends for life very quickly.

When finally we had been given permission to go ashore the weather was fabulous and we took a dinghy ride into the old town of Ortigia.  I cannot express enough how beautiful Ortigia is.  It is an island that is reached either by boat or by a small bridge from the mainland.  It has so many little lanes, that in fact are roads as we saw cars drive up them.  The buildings were baroque style, high and tightly packed with many different ornate balconies.  Although a lot of the facia of the buildings is missing, this just adds to the antiquated feel and look of them.  The flowers overhanging the balconies and collections of pots and plants outside the very old ornate doors was stunning.  

The colourful market in the Ortigia is also a place that must be visited.  With fresh fruit, veg and fish stalls nestled within the small lanes and singing stall holders selling their wares, it really is a must-see place.  It's opened every morning from 9am - 1pm and busy every day too.

We left Ortigia at 5pm th 12th October on our last sail of the 2020 season.  It was a 54nm overnight sail.  We were sad.  Although this summer has been relatively short due to Covid-19, we'd had a wonderful summer.  We had nothing to complain about.  We had a summer that many people would have been very envious of and would loved to have had.  This last sail was going to take us to our winter berth in Porto Touristico Marina di Ragusa.