The small island of Ortigia is tied to Sicily by two short bridges only. Located on the very edge of the south-eastern coast, it is a world entirely of its own. Anthony Bourdain wrote about Sicily, “It’s beautiful. It’s old. It’s Italy, but it’s not.” If that is so, then Ortigia is Sicily, but it’s not.

We drove to the end of Syracuse, to a carpark that marked the threshold between ‘mainland’ Sicily and Ortigia, and walked through the charmless concrete jungle among rows of cars that baked in the balmy August heat until we reached the Ponte Umbertino. Crossing the bridge, we entered another realm.