Monday 22nd May

We had arranged to transport our friends Helen and Mark from Ragusa to Agrigento on 24th May, because this was a leg on their journey around Sicily, which was extremely difficult to undertake on public transport.

The journey from Modica to Ragusa was extremely short and we parked up on a free car par (36.9163, 14.7309) which also had somewhere to empty Basil.

Ragusa is yet another of the famous Baroque towns given UNESCO World Heritage status. When the 1693 earthquake destroyed the town there was a disagreement amongst the town’s citizens. Some stayed in the place in the original town and rebuilt, crooked narrow streets and all. This is now called Ragusa Ibla. The rest built a new town on a hill above Ibla in true Baroque style, with a grid street system.

My main task in the afternoon was to discern whether it was possible to walk from our parking place to Ragusa Ibla for a meal with Mark and Helen the following night. Unfortunately a ravine separates Ragusa from Ibla and although my walk was only two miles it involved hundred of unlit steps and narrow unlit streets lined with abandoned houses. My conclusion was that the route was not practicable in the dark after a large meal.

It was decided that we would try to find somewhere nearer to park.

Tuesday 23rd May

In order to maximise our chances of finding one of the very few suitable parking places for Basil near Ibla we were up before 7am and drove on quiet roads towards Ibla. We were very fortunate to find somewhere for Basil in the right area even if the car park was crammed into the centre of a hairpin bend (36.9241, 14.7364)!

Team Basil set off to explore Ragusa Ibla and its Baroque gems. We started in the Duomo square which is beautifully designed. We then headed to the lovely gardens at one end of Ibla, which also contained some Baroque masterpieces. While in the garden we bumped in Mark and Helen and agreed where we would eat in the evening.

Following a snack lunch and a very rare Ice Cream I set off on my own to explore the New Town, which is some 500 feet higher than Ibla. By the time I reached the New Town Duomo I didn’t want to see another stair! Upper Ragusa somehow lacked the charm of Ibla, although it did have its fair share of Baroque Churches and Palaces.

We finished the day having a superb meal with our friends in a great little restaurant called the Quattro Gatti (Four Cats). Our first course was a meal in itself and it was a struggle to finish the lovely second course of sweet ricotta ravioli with a meat and tomato sauce. Skye did very well out of Mark’s lamb, demolishing several large bones.