under another sun

Off today to Siracusa, all piled into cars. Toby and Romy left sensibly early. Lorraine, navigated by me and google, got lost a few times in the harbour town. Eventually we found the car park, and threaded through the mazy lanes to the Doric Temple of Apollo, where we met Toby and Romy, and Agata our guide for the morning. She was an amazing Sicilian polyglot who spoke a list of languages, and was now acquiring Japanese for fun. She talked fondly of London, and the magic of going for a job interview in the snow. Later, she lived in Norway for a couple of years, drawn there by love. She outlined the amazing historical richness of the town, a story with Ancient Greek origins epitomised by the ruin we stood beside, through Romans, and taking in arabs and Normans and the Spanish and others. She led us into a food market, the stalls piled with fruits and vegetables, spices and herbs, and fish stalls too. I noticed some had longnose, or garfish on slabs, as well as enormous swordfish. She ...