We crave awe. It’s in our wiring. Humans have never been able to shake the desire to feel deeply. Though I didn’t expect to find myself cracked open by a an irresistible force that demanded all of me. There are few cities in the world that abduct us, that evoke the same sense of intense, enigmatic awe as Ortygia, Syracuse. In the most intimate space of cultural variety, I am nestled in ‘Cortile Verga’ a top-tier jewel of a bar. Lined with abstract prickly pear trees and glistening candles that amplify the light at dusk. As I bite into crisp bruschette topped with tender, steamy swordfish, raisins and salted saffron, the silvery host suggests I thank the Arab influence for these morsels of pleasure. I feel the height of my time here in these final indulgent moments. In Ortygia, a tiny harbourside island city on Sicily’s East Coast ‘you don’t need a fixed plan’ locals assured me. ‘The only way to experience it is to roam, allow its life to unfold around you.’ The product of countless historic conquests. Built and influenced by people not its own. While it’s impossible to reduce 2700 years of history, the Greeks, Arabs and Spanish all pursued its beauty. Possessed it. Left their statement, urging to say ‘I was here, this piece of earth seduced me’. Ironically, mother nature crumbled the city with an earthquake ending the takeovers. Rome rebuilt a creamed-honey-coloured fortress and made the grand ‘Piazza Duomo’ its centre. This perpetuating social hub is now home to the boldest baroque monuments. These outrageously detailed, towering sculptures almost provoke fear. No wonder visitors leave here transformed, humbled. Might I add, it was once holy land. Beneath me lay ‘Mikvah’, Europe’s oldest, Jewish baths built in the underground. A sacred quarter for purification, where physical and spiritual life was given. Chosen for its natural springs that flow precious living water, women gave birth and believers were baptised. The energy of its history, those that came and left, still pulsates through its cracked stony ground. Its past is a tapestry that interwove diverse cultural, ethnic, religious and geographic threads. Now entwined into one heartbeat. Today this is reflected in everything from the food cooked, the music played and the beliefs held. Laced in my view I see ornate doorways, pockets opening into abandoned homes. Mass exodus is no stranger here either. I reflect on the jobless, educated Sicilians that are leaving the island. They go, as far as the merry old land of Oz, my home. And have been since my Grandfather’s father. People just like me. Patronage is so ingrained in its system only the lucky few can stay. To wind down, I ease into ‘Amaro dell’Etna’ as my chosen digestif. The liqueur is created from herbs that grow in Mount Etna’s soil. Its medicinal aroma infuses the salty seaside air. I taste the total of Syracuse in one sip, a volcanic powerhouse of blood orange, liquorice and cinnamon. Seeing me solo, I am spontaneously interrupted by a Sicilian-Tunisian couple. They request I share ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ and enjoy their company. I learn its signature grainy texture is a result of the rarest chocolate making method, using cold stone. How easy it is to push past the discomfort of engaging with strangers. Of course, Ortygia has produced a stoic people of spirited hospitality and natural embrace. Observing these passionate connoisseurs is a motion picture. Locals romance thrice baked ricotta while allowing moments to linger. Allowing life to exist inside these moments. Hand gestures harmonise with the ambient guitar player. The cultural fusion of sounds is a collective language. Whoever is left seems to live a vibrant lifestyle, which one would assume is totally liberal and beyond the confines of time. As if their social rituals are contained in a universe. While those that leave are thrust into a changing, fragmented, time-centred world. Yet it is this universe that frees us. A gift of release from our exclusive identity, an inner trail to a transcendent nature. A realisation of what sustains us. Togetherness. And it is a life-enhancing, staying power.