We left the hotel around 9:15, after a so-so breakfast, and headed south along the coastal road toward Siracusa. We have a new guide, Francesca, who along with Francesco will accompany us for the rest of the trip.  The previous day’s haze had cleared so Etna was in its full glory, belching a large white plume that trailed off to the southeast.

The trip to Siracusa took about 2 hours.  Our first stop was at the Christian catacombs at the Church of San Giovanni.  We took the tour with the tour nazi as our guide.  They were in use from the 3^rd-5^th centuries. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed.

Next, we visited the Greek ampitheatre, La Tomia Paradisa Quarry, and the temple of Dionysios.  The ampitheatre is still in use.  The most impressive of the three was the quarry.  It was cut by Athenian slaves of Siracusa who were captured at the end of a disastrous military campaign in 412 B.C.  It appears to have followed a fracture in the rock back into the Cretaceous limestone plateau for about 75m.  It is about 15m wide at the base and tapers off to the top about 30m overhead.  We were in the tunnel during the hottest part of the day so it was quite refreshing, after visiting the ampitheatre.  Bob related the history of the fall of Siracusa to the Romans.  Archimedes had designed brilliant defenses of the city.  He was killed while solving a math problem by a Roman soldier who was unaware of who the man was.  This happened in 212 B.C. when Marcellus led the Romans against the Siracusa-Carthage alliance.

From there, we went to the Achradina, a small island in the Siracusa harbor.  A freshwater spring right on the waterline made it easy to defend.  We saw remnants of the wall that once surrounded the island.  The Greeks built a large temple to Athena, which is still largely intact because it was incorporated into subsequent Norman and Baroque churches.  The original structure was built around 480 BC. 

Just down the road is the temple to Apollo that was built in 570 BC.  As a structure, it was used continuously until it was destroyed in World War I when it was used as a barrack.

We spent about half an hour wandering around buying food and beverages for the evening since the Hotel Relax is situated away from commercial areas on the outskirts of the city.

At the hotel, many of the students took advantage of the pool while I wrote and ate a sandwich.  After a shower, I went down to Jesse and Dave’s room, which rapidly became the focal point for the evening activity.  More than half of the students and Francesco were there.  At one point there was plenty of wine and beer.  I left at 11:30 and went to bed.

                          Ecology   Environmental Studies    Mathematics