It is now Friday, September 22, arriving at noon on our first of 10 days on the island of Sicily, which is located just off the toe of Italy. Our first accommodation was in Catania for 3 nights, a UNESCO World Heritage site, perched on the east coast of Sicily, on the Ionian Sea,  home to 600,000 people. Checking into our accommodations at the Liberty Hotel, we quickly left to check out the area, finding a square where we sat down, ordering cappuccinos and wine spritzes and wonderful arancinos. We had a view of the Chiesa Badia di Sant ‘agata, watching a passel of people at the church’s acme, milling around the dome and thought to ourselves, “Why not us??” We paid our bill and strode to this church which had been built after a massive earthquake in 1693 had destroyed its predecessor. After paying our 5 EUROS each to wind our way up the 3-foot-wide spiraled stairs, 40 meters above ground level, to where we had seen folks milling around the cupola at the top, that had drawn our attention. We had an amazing view and took our time savoring it before descending, squeezing the wall when those coming up greatly narrowed the ease of passage. Leaving the church, we strolled around the area, coming across some narrow walkways made of smooth pavers, lined with eateries and overseen with colorful umbrellas acting as ceilings over the area. We topped the evening off walking through a small park with stands selling an array of kitschy items, a table of men playing cards and drinking wine, a very friendly vibe to end the day with!

 

Our next day, after taking breakfast in our residence’s courtyard area, which consisted of a smorgasbord of fruits, cereals, eggs and such, we wandered to the local fish market, with the hustle and bustle of hawkers and buyers, taking in the essence of the daily fare. We ventured on to Plaza Teatro around noon, with a nice breezeway and view of Teatro Massimo Bellini, located on Piazza Vincenzo, where we also snacked on a dish with mozzarella, sundried tomatoes and anchovies! We came upon a church wedding, sneaking a photo of the bride at the altar. Continuing our surveying of the center of Catania, we came across the ruins of an ancient amphitheater which had been built in 1st-2nd Century A.D., with an arena that was originally lined with marble slabs, hosting 15,000 spectators! It fell into disuse in the 5th century and parts of its blocks were used in the 12th century for the construction of a cathedral. Later, we stumbled upon Bellini Park, quite close to our hotel, with statues of significant Sicilians, like Luigi Capuana and Giuseppe Mazzini (seen resting his head),  amidst splendid gardens. We finished our day dining on pizza at Caffetteria Villaroel.

 

It is now September 24 and our guide from Lemontour, Lorenzo, picked us up at a gas station kitty corner from our hotel, his van already carrying a half dozen other guests. He had reversed the original trip, taking us first to the to the town of Taormina, followed by walking the terrain of Mt. Etna. After a 90-minute drive, during which we were exposed to the vestiges of recent fires, the smoke still in the air, passing by Mt. Etna surrounded by clouds on our left, the Ionian Sea with sunlight bouncing off the surface on our right, we arrived outside the entrance to Taormina at 9:30 AM and had 90 minutes to spend in town. Maggie and I took off on our own, knowing ahead of time how touristy it would be and drifted up into the hills over town (good exercise), espying stairs leading up to Castello Saraceno 400 meters high above town, which we started to ascend, however, after climbing 103 steps, we did not continue, being as there are around 543 steps in total…sadly, we turned and trod down into the massive throng on the narrow street in the city center. We had to keep our eye on the time to get back to Lorenzo, which we accomplished. An hour later, driving southwest, we arrived at Zafferana Etnea for lunch before ascending Mount Etna.

 

Well, the lunch at Basilrecci was tasty, sharing a local specialty stuffed pizza, our choice being Pistachio, among 9 of us (including 3 kids… Maggie and I were taken aback with the looks of the Aussie mother of the kids, who was a doppelganger for a close friend of ours back in Seattle!!!). We returned to our vehicle only to discover our left front tire punctured. We had quite a long wait before we were mobile again! We drove up to 5,400 feet elevation, where we parked and shared helmets, being led into lava flow tunnels, with discourse about the history of Etna’s eruptions and the attendant impact to the area. We then hiked up to higher levels and spent an hour at the top of our area, looking down on small mounds in the fields which were “lateral volcanos”. Around 4:40 PM clouds convened and rain came, sending us back down to our vehicle, stopping first at a restaurant for drinks and back to Catania, where Lorenzo dropped Maggie and I off at Castello Ursino, which was once on a cliff looking out to the sea. As a result of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, it is now a kilometer inland. From there, we wound our way through town, coming across more ruins, and finally arriving at our abode for the last night in Catania.