This morning we started with a walking tour of Ragusa Ibla. Since the town is on a steep hillside, there are lots of steps. We walked down quite a distance to reach the dividing square between Ibla and upper Ragusa. I thought the return trip would be tough but we just walked up a few roads so it was much easier than climbing steps. We saw a few old cave houses, much like Matera. They are used for storage. When we reached the square, there were some interesting balconies that were part of a large mansion. The balconies were supported by carved figures. These figures showed the wealth of the homeowner. One house had the owner as one of the figures. He wore glasses which were unusual for the time, and he showed his teeth which indicated that he was a dentist.
We moved up further to visit the inside of the duomo which is the church of St Giorgio. The inside of the dome is inscribed with the name of the craftsman who did the construction. A large painting of St. George killing the dragon hangs on a side wall. This is the central church of Ibla. For a one Euro coin, we lit up the statue of St George.
After a little shopping, we sat outside for lunch. It was a sunny and beautiful day. We walked to the end of the upper street to see the public gardens after lunch. It almost felt like spring.
Our next activity was major fun. We went to the town of Modica to take rides in old FIAT 500s. These cars were made between 1957-1975. There is a car club in Modica for this model. It is certainly a good car for the very narrow streets. But…no seat belts, no power steering, no synchronized down shifting, all very simple. We met the drivers thinking we would choose our car. Instead we chose the drivers without knowing which car they had. It was a crazy fun to ride up and down the steep winding streets.
We left the FIATS and walked to a chocolate store. Modica chocolate is well known because it has no fat and therefore it won’t melt unless it is in contact with liquid. They make 40 different flavored bars. Tough decision. Everyone bought a few. Then we went next door to an upstairs restaurant facing a beautiful church. As usual, we had a delicious dinner. The fava bean soup was excellent and very filling. It made the rest of dinner hard to eat.
We returned to our hotel to get ready for tomorrow. We will be visiting a biodynamic farm.
The Adventures of Anne 