Night location: Syracuse, Italy
A Muse of the Day: After waiting for a significant period of time to get the bill at the restaurant last night, David started to fan himself with a 50 Euro note to get the waiter's attention.

Amber remains a victim of the Maltese Dog and Gemma remains sea sick from the cable car, so the boys were on their own for the sight seeing this morning.

The Ancient Theatre was apparently extremely hot and there was no zephyr to be felt in spite of its elevated position and being in view of the sea. The haze had descended so Mount Etna could hardly be seen, but the coastline was spectacular. The boys retreated to the gardens and soon after bought gelato on a stick.

We had originally planned to catch the train from Taormina to Syracuse, but given our current illnesses, it was decided that we would get a private transfer instead. Unfortunately the vehicle did not seem to have shock absorbers (a Mercedes trait) and therefore this in combination with the Italian driving, enhanced Gemma's sea sickness acutely.

Upon arrival, the staff at our B&B were very helpful but extremely talkative when all Gemma and Amber wanted to do was lie down. Gareth kindly suggested that we go up to the room first and then they would come back down to discuss restaurant choices for this evening. Legend.

After a two hour nap, Gemma emerged to realise that their air conditioner was not working and so Gareth organised for a 'professionale' to come and fix it. Amber remained in bed while Gemma, Gareth and David ventured outside to explore the city. The city is beautiful. We are staying in Ortigia which is the island and old city of Syracuse. It is full of narrow, stone lane ways and ancient and ornately decorated buildings. The people seem very relaxed and friendly and there are little restaurants tucked into every nook and cranny.

On the advice of the hotel, we sought out a small restaurant on the Via Roma with a total of 10 tables and what appeared to be a family run kitchen. The food was outstanding. Fresh bruschetta served with warm tomato and olive oil was the highlight. Service at this restaurant however was particularly slow, and people seemed quite concerned that they would not be attended to and therefore continually flagged down the single waiter as he passed, meaning he was continually distracted from the task at hand. It was clearly very popular however as there was a line of people waiting to be seated. You would think that this would encourage them to get us the bill, however it was at least half an hour and David resorted to fanning himself with a 50 Euro note before we were able to pay.