Leaving the "Ear Hole," we went to the nearby ancient Greek theater.

This ancient Greek theater was built in the 5th century BC. It is well-preserved and is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Greek theater in Syracuse is one of the largest ancient Greek theaters, with 67 rows of seats, divided into 9 sections and 8 aisles.

It is still in operation, regularly staging different operas each week.

The Syracuse Archaeological Park is quite unique. Besides visiting the Ear Hole, the ancient Greek theater, and the sacrificial site, we didn't have much time to explore the park in detail. I heard that Archimedes' tomb is also somewhere in the park, but we didn't visit it either.

In the afternoon, we would go to Archimedes' hometown—Syracuse.

“If you haven't been to Sicily, it's like you haven't been to Italy: because in Sicily, you can find the source of Italy's beauty.” This was a sentence written by Goethe when he arrived in Palermo, the capital of Sicily, on April 13, 1787.

We were filled with anticipation for our trip to Sicily.

Our local tour guide is a beautiful guide from Zhejiang, China, who has come here to live and work. Her surname is Yan.

Xiao Yan said that the most common way for Chinese tourists to visit Sicily is to join a travel group in China, with a total itinerary of ten days in southern Italy, spending four days in Sicily, visiting three cities. Your itinerary is the best, with a deep dive of six to seven days in Sicily. This is a favorite vacation destination for European and American guests.

She also mentioned that since this year, visas for Chinese tourists to Italy have been restricted, mainly because the Italian embassy in China has issued very few visas for Chinese tourists traveling to Italy. During your visit, you will see mostly European and American guests at major tourist attractions in Sicily, with very few Chinese tour groups.

We traveled from the archaeological park to Archimedes' hometown—the old city of Syracuse on Ortigia Island.

That day happened to be Italy's National Day and also a weekend, so there were quite a few tourists in the old town of Ortigia Island.

This place is also a filming location for the movie "Malèna." The main cathedral in the old town of Ortigia Island was originally a temple to Athena, and in front of the church is a large square, which is the same square where the female lead "Malèna" walked through with countless experiences of honor and disgrace, yet remained calm and strong.

When introducing the cathedral, the guide said you should carefully observe the relief decorations of religious figures above the entrance, including small angels.

What we saw today is a new church. Most churches in Sicily were built from the mid-18th century to the early 19th century, but this church was built in the 18th century and later renovated, so it has a bit of a Baroque style, which is more refined and luxurious.

Then we entered the Syracuse Cathedral for a visit.

Next is an hour and a half of free time, and the friends traveling with us wandered around the square.

One end of the square leads to the seaside square, while the other end is a bustling commercial street.

Many of us took photos at the classic spot where the female lead in the movie "Malèna" walked by.

In a corner of the square, beautiful music played, and a beautiful dancer was performing an elegant dance, attracting countless tourists to watch.

By this time, it was already three or four in the afternoon, and a few of us decided to have a Sicilian lunch-dinner here.

Across from the cathedral square, there are countless restaurants, and we chose the one with the best location.

Since it was my first time ordering food outside in Sicily, I didn't know where to start with the menu, so I could only blindly point at a few dishes and ordered the local beer.

The dishes we ordered came out, and the beer was served; it was truly a delightful surprise.

Especially the seafood pizza, which is a specialty of Syracuse, and the beer we ordered was a unique Etna volcano sea salt-flavored beer from Sicily.

Eating seafood, drinking beer, and looking at the scenery in the square was really comfortable.

The weather in Sicily in early June is pleasant. In the afternoon, sitting in this place, a gentle breeze comes, making it particularly cool and relaxed.

This place is where the female lead in the movie "Malèna" walked by.

Haha, Old Wang and his family spent a wonderful time here, eating and drinking; it was really relaxing, and this meal opened the curtain on the culinary delights of Sicily.

Back at the hotel, we summarized our first day in Sicily. In Noto, the archaeological park, and the ancient city of Syracuse, we felt that Sicily is quite different from Malta; after all, Italy and Malta are two different levels of countries.

My first impression is that Sicily is more cosmopolitan than Malta, and the two ancient cities are more bustling and lively than Malta's capital, Valletta. The residents here dress well, and the city's facilities and infrastructure are more modern than those in Malta.

That day, something funny happened. Because during our travels abroad, every afternoon we would look for a supermarket to buy some fruits.

After arriving in Sicily, we did the same. That day, besides buying fruits, I also wanted to buy a small item.

A power adapter for the hotel.

On the first day of checking into the hotel, I found that the adapter I brought from home didn't work well in Sicily, Italy.

Because I had been using an international universal adapter, but I hadn't traveled abroad for four years, and the one I brought from home was still the old type of European universal plug, which turned out to have poor contact and was loose in the hotel.

This made charging my phone, watch, and headphones very troublesome, so I thought of buying an adapter at the supermarket.

That afternoon, when we went to the supermarket, I told the local guide that I wanted to buy an adapter. She helped me inquire at the supermarket's checkout, saying they didn't sell it here, but there was a daily necessities supermarket run by a Chinese person on the second floor nearby, and they should have it. So I went with the guide to this Chinese-run supermarket.

This supermarket is not small, with six to seven hundred square meters, selling daily necessities, groceries, clothing, shoes, and hats.

At that time, there was only a young woman in her twenties at the counter.

I saw that she looked like a Chinese person, so I asked her in Chinese, "Do you speak Chinese?" To my surprise, she replied readily, "I am Chinese."

I told her I wanted to buy an adapter, and she said no problem, even helping me pick out a very suitable and latest model of the adapter.

While buying the adapter, we chatted, and I learned that she was from Wenzhou, and her whole family was here. She was standing in for her family at the counter today.

They have always sold their products to local foreigners. Very few Chinese come, so she felt very friendly when she saw me.

When I was checking out and took out a ten-euro bill for her to give me change, she immediately said not to take the money. I said, "Then I'll transfer you RMB via WeChat," and she still refused to take the money. I felt particularly embarrassed, and she said it was okay. "We are very happy to see a Chinese person, especially since you are guests from Beijing. It feels like seeing family; this is nothing."

Previously, when I traveled in Zhejiang, I often met some people from Zhejiang who had returned from doing business in Europe. They shared some stories about doing business in Europe. This time, we met Wenzhou people doing business in Sicily, and they were so warm; this is the kind nature of Chinese people.

（To be continued）