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Having read biographies of Napoleon and Wellington, I was interested in seeing the Waterloo battlefield. It was here that Napoleon suffered his final defeat at the hands of the Prussian general, von Blucher and the Duke of Wellington, leader of the English army, plus assorted smaller forces contributed by the coalition which formed in order to defeat him. It was hard to believe that this ordinary-looking field could have held thousands of soldiers with their assorted weaponry and ammunition and could have been the site of one of the decisive events in European history.
Syracusa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a very interesting town to visit as we did in 2000. There is an old medieval quarter that is seriously dilapidated but would have great potential if Sicily could establish a tourist industry of any size. It would be a wonderful place to explore on foot if cleaned up. There is also an ancient Greek theatre. But perhaps the most interesting place in Syracusa is the large harbour. This is where, in 431 BC, a huge expeditionary force of Athenian ships sailed and were trapped by a chain drawn across the harbour entrance. The result was the destruction of the ships by fire and the death or capture of thousands of Athenian sailors.
