Our first getaway on the Island! It is still so surreal that we are here. That we just got back from exploring Ortigia, a small island on the south east of Sicily, located in Siracusa. 

According to Brittanica, Siracusa was founded in 734 BC by Greek settlers, and Ortigia is a tiny island connected to Siracusa by a small bridge. 

We started our weekend trip with a trip to the beach. 

Our first Lido (paid beach area where they have umbrellas, chairs, drinks, food, bathrooms, etc) did not disappoint.

 After our wonderful morning in the sun, we took a 35 minute drive north to Siracusa, where we crossed the little bridge onto the Island of Ortigia. Parking was crazy. 

We thought we had reserved parking through the hotel. Turns out, the hotel says they have parking and you can park on the island, but not actually at the hotel. So we found street parking and made our way by foot to the hotel. 

The door to the hotel was at least 20 feet tall, locked, and beautiful. Not knowing what to do, we called the hotel number from the website, and a nice man who was sitting at the cafe next door walked up to us, and said, welcome sweeney’s! The owner was just taking his afternoon coffee with the locals, and popped over to walk us to our door, help carry our bags, and get us checked in. 

We took a little nap and rest before exploring more in the afternoon! 

The island is small, so we continued to walk everywhere. We found a little cafe in the Piazza Archimede to sit, drink wine, coffee, eat cannoli’s and hot dogs (hot dogs are literally on every menu, its weird), and people watch with the view of the Fountain of Diana in the background.

After staying up late, we crashed hard.

The next morning, we were invited for breakfast at the hotel, and then took off for the Castillo Maniace. After more exploring, resting, eating, and more exploring, we spent a few hours at our first Solarium. I think Solarium means it’s a “sun room.” They have them in areas where there aren’t really true beaches. We pad 15 euros for chairs and umbrellas, and enjoyed a dip in the water, navigating the rocks, looking for fish, and to not be the loud, awkward Americans. Watch our video of our trip to the castle and the “beach” on day two!

After a fantastic breakfast and cafe overlooking the sea, we headed north for our home outside of Catania. Even though Siracusa & Ortigia are close enough of a drive (an hour) to make it a day trip… we would totally recommend staying the night there to experience the entire scene! The views are night were even more breathtaking, and the people come to life at dinner time! 

Overall, our trip was fantastic. We would 100% go back to the exact same hotel and explore more of the history of Siracusa and Ortigia. 

Next trip: Trapani. 

Then: Germany!