Day 50 - Ragusa Superiore

# Campari & Soda: 0, # Gelati: 0

Today the forecast included severe weather warnings for thunderstorms and extreme warnings for wind.  Also a top of 14C which is about 10C below the average for this time of year.  Fun, fun, fun. 

I piled on all my not-entirely-clean hiking gear (as it's the warmest clothes I have) and headed out for a visit to Ragusa Superiore.  This is the "new" part of the city on the plain above Ragusa Ibla, which is where I'm staying.  I have new in quotes as this just means it is only a few hundred years old.  Below is a picture of the main Post Office in the "new" town.  Imagine the fuss if a government wanted to build something like that in Australia.

I started (after walking up all the stairs from here to there) with a visit to the Cathedral.  I got there just in time.  It had been drizzling when I left but it started bucketing down moments after I got inside.  The Cathedral has a belltower that you can climb which has fabulous views of both the new and old city.  I was willing to give it a go once the rain had stopped.  However, in spite of a sign saying it was open on a Saturday, it was firmly shut.  Apparently, whoever it was whose job it is to sell tickets for the climb had decided no-one would be crazy enough to want to do it and had stayed home.  However, I wasn't the only tourist to show up and look forlornly at the locked ticket office.  

As a side note, the person whose job it is to open the gates to the Giardino Ibleo assumed no-one would want to visit a garden on a day like today and has left them locked.  It's a shame as you get great views of the valley from the gardens and it is well worth a visit/photo even in cold weather.

After my failed attempt at climbing the belltower, I decided to do my own Inspector Montalbano tour of Ragusa.  I used a website the local tourist bureau had put together.  It took me to several sites and explained when and where they had been used in the TV series.  The also had shots from the show for comparison.  They clearly used a lot of CGI.

I then had planned to visit the local Archeology Museum but the address for this turned out to be the local police station.  I didn't feel up to asking for directions so I gave up on that.  I've seen bits of pottery already and would have prefered a museum about this history of the city but there isn't one.  Instead, I visited the local Diocesan Museum.  Normally, I wouldn't be interested in such a place but they had a gallery full of old maps of Sicily.  I love maps.  I was the only person there.  The woman who sold me a ticket had to follow me into th museum itself to turn on the lights.  However, she then followed me all around the museum.  I'm not sure if she was there in case I had questions she could answer or if she was worried I was going to steal something.  Very odd and rather uncomfortable.

I ambled around the new town for a bit before heading back down to Ragusa Ibla.  There is a nature trail that drops down from Ragusa Superiore into the valley at the foot of town, then along the river before climbing up to Ragusa Ibla.  I had thought of walking back that way.  On a good day, it would be a very pleasant outing.  However, while it had stopped raining, it has clearly rained a lot in recent times. I'm so over mud, so I just went back by the road/stairs.

Tomorrow I head off to Syracuse, using a 2 bus shuffle via Catania again.  As tomorrow is a Sunday I'm not sure about the availability of a taxi to take me from here to the bus station - which is on the edge of Ragusa Superiore.  I asked my B&B host if I should book a taxi in case there wouldn't be many available but he didn't understand my question.  His English is good enough for arranging breakfast orders and checking people in but this was too complicated for his English and my Italian.  Instead, he gave me the card of a local taxi service. I've sent them an email and also used their online booking form but have yet to get a reply.  I guess I'll have to call tomorrow morning.  Worst case I can walk to the bus station.  It will take me around 45 minutes (not to mention having to lug my suitcase up a good dozen flights of stairs) but is do-able.  I'll miss my bus but there is one an hour later so it will just be inconvenient not a disaster. 

Below is a picture of Ragusa Ibla from the top of the stairs.  Perhaps I should view the possibility of having to climb all those stairs with my suitacase as an character building adventure.

 

When I headed out for dinner I saw a bridal couple having their photos taken in front of the very photogenic main church in Ragusa Ibla.  The poor bride had chosen her dress based on the typical temperatures for this time of year and had a lovely off-the-shoulder gown with a train she was desparately trying to keep out of the wet & dirt.  She looked lovely and I'm sure the photographer will be able to make the photos look like it was a sunny day.

I ended up at my third choice restaurant for dinner.  My first choice was continuing on the Inspector Montalbano theme as it had been used as a filming location twice.  However, they were fully booked.  My second choice turned out to be very odd.  I went in what appeared to be the front door, but there was just a narrow hallway with a reception desk on one side and the toilets directly ahead.  Off to the other side was a doorway that lead to another narrow room with a fridge full of drinks and a table which seemed to have coats and bags from the staff on it.  I had a quick look around but didn't see a single soul so I left.  

My third choice, Maredentro, had no trouble finding me a table as the only other customers they had besides me were a pair of American tourists.  I hope they normally do better as the staff were very friendly and the food was as good as I've had at places that were packed.  To start I had a plate caponata.  I would normally serve this as a side dish with a main course but it is only a lot of menus here as an antipasto dish.  It was very tasty.  For main I had spaghetti with a traditional Ilba sauce.  This was made from sundried tomatoes, capers, basil, almonds and breadcrumbs.  Clearly a peasant dish.  It would have been delicious but they hadn't rinsed the capers enough and it was too salty for me.  For dessert I had a Sicilian version of tiramisu.  At first I wasn't sure if it was made with ricotta or if the marscapone had gone very badly off.  Fortunately, it had been made with ricotta.  It tasted good but the texture was a bit of surprise.

When I was heading home after dinner I saw yet another wedding party having their photos taken.  The bride was once again freezing in an off-the-shoulder gown.  She didn't wear it as well as the first.