Unfortunately, I waited to long to continue this story, so I don't remember the exact order of everything else we did. So I'll just continue with what I remember.

We went to Siracusa (Syracuse for those who don't know the Italian name). The first place we visited was the Cathedral of the Weeping Madonna. We walked through the park outside, and visited the stations of the cross, and the mysteries of the rosary. There were some trees in the park unlike anything I've seen before. They looked totally alien. Then we headed into the sanctuary itself. Now, for those who aren't........Catholic I guess, the church may seem like a monstrosity. It is enormous. It's steeple easily dominates the city skyline. It also has a much more modern design than typical cathedrals in Italy. Its enormous central sanctuary has seating for 3,000, and its circular shape is surrounded by chapels, dedicated to various saints and events important to the Catholic faith. To some people, this extravagence is a bit too much. And, I can partially understand that. A lot of money went into this cathedral that may have been better spent in soup kitchens. Personally, I was , as usual with the cathedrals of Europe, totally awestruck. At the same time, I felt a little uncomfortable visiting a cathedral as a tourist, and not because I was going to mass. Especially since mass was being said in some of the chapels. I did not venture into the crypt to visit the reliquary, where the relics of the Holy Mother's miracle are held. I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, which is a big no-no in churches there.  I stayed around the periphery of the church, keeping an eye out for the nuns that patrol the place. On our way out, we stopped at the gift shop, which was kind of tacky. I know the money probably goes to pay administrative expenses and such, but it really reminded me of Jesus throwing the money-changers out of the Temple.

After we left the cathedral, we headed into Ortigia. This is the old city of Siracusa, and is built on an island. The buildings are, obviously, very old. I mean, St. Paul visited this city on his way to Rome, just to give you an idea of how old things are there. We walked along a promenade on the Mediterranean Sea, after the sun had set. It was beautiful. I had been there before, but being back, it felt like visiting an old, familar hang-out. We walked around the streets window-shopping for a while. We got a gelato (Italian Ice-cream, which is the best you'll ever taste) and decided that since we'd had desert, we'd better have some dinner. We stopped in at a pizzeria, where my wife's mom and her fiancé got to see real pizza being made (with the dough throwing and everything). As we were heading back to the car, we almost got to see one of the funniest things you can see in Italy. We heard some yelling, and saw someone throw an ashtray across the street at someone else. There was a lot of yelling before the first guy stormed off. The recipient of the ashtray looked at us, and realizing we were American said , "SO MAD!" with an Italian accent. Unfortunatly that was the end of it. In Italy, a closed fist is considered a deadly weapon. So slap fights are the common way to engage in fisticuffs. Don't get me wrong, all that practice makes them pretty good slappers, but still, it is funny as hell. I was disappointed that this didn't turn into a show. That was the end of our visit to Siracusa.