Tuesday, 29 April 2014
I left right after breakfast at 0840.
Diego the owner had agreed to bring my bags to his friend’s cafe diagonally
just across the street so I could collect them later. I walked to Corso Italia
and it all went downhill from there - literally. I stopped by at the tourist
information centre and was served by a very pleasant friendly helpful lady. She
gave me a city map and some brochures and advised me the bus timetable leaving
from Ragusa Ibla back to Ragusa Superior (no way was I going to walk back up the
hills!). There are 24 UNESCO heritage buildings in Ragusa (an overwhelming
majority of them in Ragusa Ibla) and I managed to cover about 21 of them. It was all
very quick and touch-and-go as I was hard pressed for time. I took the 11:55
bus back to Corso Italia and walked up to via Archimede. Collected my bags and
thanked Daniella for taking care of them. I hurried to the bus stop and waited
for the bus. No bus came. I walked to another bus stop a few hundred metres
away and waited again. No bus came. It was getting close to 1 pm and my bus out
to Siracusa was at 13:30. I could take the train but would only arrive at 2130
and I wasn’t keen on having to locate my hotel at that late hour. Plus the
hotel specifically stated that check-in was until 19:00 only.
At 1 pm, I decided to cut my losses and
just walk to the bus station at via Zama. I struggled and after asking for
directions, huffed and puffed and panted my way to the bus station. I reached
the station at 13:20 breathing hard. And guess what? The blinking bus was late.
It only arrived at 13:45.
We arrived at Siracusa at 17:45 and
after asking for directions, I finally found my hotel at via Pasubio. After
freshening up, I went down to pay for my room and asked for a map. This time,
the city tax was €2/night (city tax is dependent on the hotel star rating; my
hotel was apparently 3-star). I walked to the island of Ortigia where the bulk
of the historical buildings are. I left after dark and walked back to my hotel.
No channel showing Champions League semi-final match and I couldn’t get WiFi in
the room.
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Had breakfast at the hotel lobby and
caught up with the rest of the world. Left after 9 and walked up to the
Archaeological Museum. After checking out the ticket price, I went over to the
archaeological park. There were a lot of people there today. As I wanted to
leave for Noto before 12 noon and because I’d need a longer time to explore either
the park or museum, I decided to return the next morning.
I made my way to via Delle Arsenal and
walked to the waterfront. Then I decided to take the 11:30 bus to Noto. It cost
€5.90 for a return ticket. The trip took 55 minutes and we arrived in the dead
heat of the noon. Noto has many beautiful baroque buildings. It was another
hilly town. It was a good thing I took the bus as the train station is not only
further but you’d need to seriously climb up to the main street from the
station.
I took the 15:30 bus back to Siracusa
and went back to the hotel for prayers. I went out again to Ortigia an hour
later and walked its winding streets. It’s such a charming little island full of
character and history.
Cats of Ortigia
I somehow managed to get WiFi reception
in the room and followed Chelshit’s defeat to Atletico Madrid with glee.
Thursday, 1 May 2014
I had a late breakfast and checked out
after 10. Walked to Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi and bought a
combination ticket (archaeological museum + archaeological park). I spent
almost 2.5 hours in the museum and it was blazing hot by the time I left and
made for the archaeological park. I covered the Foro Italica (Roman forum) and
Teatro Greco (Greek theatre) and Latomia del Paradiso. The Latomia are ancient
stone quarries that were worked on beginning from the sixth century B.C.
onwards.
Cats at Parco Arceologico della Neapolis
I left at 14:30 and went to find lunch
but nothing was opened. Nothing. Zilch. I walked all the way almost to Ortigia before
returning back. Either it was because it was a public holiday or they were
observing siesta because all the supermarkets were closed! I had some snacks
and waited at the hotel. Left for the bus station at 15:45 and reached there
just in time to buy a bus ticket to Catania en route Catania Airport (€6).
The bus journey to the airport took
slightly more than an hour. After checking in, I cleared security and went in.
We landed at Eindhoven at 22:10 and it was only 22:45 when I was reunited with
my suitcase. The bus 401 to Eindhoven Centraal came at 2305 and took about 20
minutes to reach the station. The ticket cost €3.50 (!) and you can buy it from
the ticket machine. Eindhoven Airport is closed from midnight until 4 or 5 in
the morning otherwise I would have just spent the night at the airport. And
Eindhoven Centraal is similarly closed after midnight so I had no choice but to
book a room. There’s also a city tax applicable of €3.50 (!).
I reached the hotel at a quarter to
midnight, collected the keys from a neighbouring bar and paid the room to the
woman behind the bar.
Friday, 2 May 2014
I woke up for morning prayers but
couldn’t quite summon the energy to get moving. There was a train at 07:02 but I
decided to take a later train. Went after my shower to look for breakfast but
despite walking for 20 minutes, I couldn’t find a bakery at all. Decided to check
out and go to the station (that’s €30 for 9 hours’ of stay! Boohoo) and buy my
ticket and perhaps get something to eat there. In the end, I took the 10:03
train changing at Tilburg, then at Rosendaal and finally at Antwerp Central to
Brugge. The last connection was made with literally seconds to spare (Antwerp
Central was a huge station with many platforms on different levels serving many
passengers).
I finally arrived at Brugge at 13:43
and stored my bags in a locker. There are three locker sizes and they are priced €3, €3.50 and
€4 depending on size and my suitcase and backpack managed to fit the medium-size
locker. After buying food from Carrefour Express at the station, I walked to
the centre.
The centre is an area with street after
street of charming historic houses and a canal always nearby. It was, however,
a day of poor weather. Cold, grey with the occasional sunshine struggling to
burst through and blustery. You won’t find a shortage of restaurants here but
they all charge exorbitantly. It was a good thing I had bought some food at the
supermarket.
I left the centre and walked back to
the station. Bought ticket to Gent St Pieters and decided to just stay in the
station for the weather hadn’t improved. Besides, I needed to take a tram to
the city centre and it was getting dark. I sat down to read and made good
progress on my book.
Due to some confusion and wrong
information given to me by a local girl, I missed the last bus to Hotel
Campanile where I was supposed to catch MegaBus to London Victoria. I had to
take a cab to the hotel (€13 boohoo compared to €1.30 by bus) and as there was
no hotel lobby that I could see (reception was at the restaurant and the hotel
was more like a motel than a proper hotel), I dragged my suitcase to the nearby
Holiday Inn Express and sat in the lobby. The kind people there didn’t even bat
an eye but let me sit there comfortably and cosily, protected from the horrible
evening cold.
To be continued
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