We are continuing our journey south with the intent on reaching Siracusa (Syracuse) by the end of the day.

The main stop will be to visit a world heritage site: the Villa Romana del Casale, noted for its extensive mosaics that have survived since the 4th century AD. Because a landslide in the 16th century covered the area the 3,500 square meters of mosaics were saved and are considered to be the largest, richest and most varied display of Roman mosaics in the world. It was rediscovered in 1929 but most restoration took place between 1950-1960. The villa is in the middle of nowhere (about 3km from the town of Piazza Armerina) and not much is known about why it was built there and who occupied it. Current speculation is that a high level Roman senator or aristocrat was its owner.

We were met by a local guide who led us through the massive compound and brought to our attention the different rooms of the villa and the unique mosaics that each room had. Important rooms have more elegant designs then less important spaces. It is thought the mosaics in the home were all completed in less than ten years. We have never seen so many mosaics and in such marvelous condition. The villa included a large Roman bath facility so large that it is thought it was used by the general public living in the area. The villa is yet another example that “it is good to be king” class of person. If you want to read about these mosaics here is a website that presents a lot of information about them: https://sights.seindal.dk/italy/sicily/piazza-armerina/villa-romana-del-casale/.

The extensive tour made us hungry and we were transported to a local restaurant where I had the opportunity to try a local delicacy, rabbit, as my main dish. Like most other dishes it sort of “tastes like chicken”.

Siracusa would be our location for the next three nights. We like the fact that we are not moving to a new hotel after a single night stay. Because Siracusa is an old city large vehicles are prevented from entering the old town (which is really an island called Ortigia) and we had to transfer our group to two smaller vans for transfer to our hotel. Logistics worked perfectly, the vans were waiting for us at the transfer point and we were quickly delivered to our new home, Hotel Roma, located right on the main square (Piazza Duomo) of the old city. It was a lovely site and our rooms were massive, and overlooked the square.

After settling in we met our guide, Guisi, for a brief orientation walk through the neighborhood before being allowed to wander off on our own for the rest of the evening. After the huge lunch we opted to simply grab a pizza but erred by ordering two of them, thinking that because of their inexpensive price they would be small. They were not!

Steps for the day: 10,056. Whew!