When it comes to archaeological digs, it's a known fact that the most important discovery you'll make all season will be uncovered at very end of the dig. This happened to me in Ukraine, when, on the last day, we discovered our (only) human burial of a royal guard. (He was buried along the perimeter of the Kurhan and was intended to protect the royal Scythian for eternity.) It also happened at Cetamura, when, on the last day, we discovered a pit full of votive offerings, literally right below us, where we'd been eating our lunch for the prior 2 months.
It seems I haven't shaken my archaeological background. In the last few hours of my last night in Siracusa, I stumbled through the Piazza Duomo, where it seems that the whole city had gathered. Of course! Only after the sun has set and the city has cooled down do all of the people magically appear out of the woodwork! The piazza was bustling with people. Restaurants were overflowing with both tourists and natives, young families were walking with babies in strollers. Vendors were selling toys to the kids who were playing in the middle of the piazza. The teenagers had filled the stairs leading up to the church, eating all assorted flavors of gelato. I stopped for a few minutes to snap some nice evening shots (and the video here) but honestly, after having walked around another 5 hours, I was tired! I couldn't wait to fall asleep in an AIR-CONDITIONED room! Even if it wasn't hot out! As I walked back to the hotel it seemed my traveling companion, Alice, and I were the only two walking away from Ortygia. Cars were streaming across the two tiny bridges that connect the island to the mainland and all I could think was, "Where are all these cars possibly going to park!?" Oh well, all the more reason to return another time!
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