36 Hours in Catania, Sicily

We arrived mid-morning and breezed through the airport to get a taxi into the heart of Catania. The morning was overcast and it sure looked like it could rain a modest bit though weather reports suggested it would be minimal.  Driving into the town we had a different sense of things from Florence. It felt somehow less good. Not bad just less good. Maybe that is just because of the weather. The Una Hotel Palace presents a grand lobby and we found the staff, in particular Rita, quite helpful. Too bad their sense of time is just a bit off. Well we were not really expecting to get rooms when we arrived or even when we came back after our first walk. Let’s focus on that instead.

The streets of Catania seem to mix modern and narrow steep ancient. Too bad they seem to share trash. A street cleaner went by but if it left a cleaner street behind I did not see it. Oh well. We strolled into the heart of the town where a fountain topped with an elephant on a pedestal. Why the city chose an elephant as its mascot I have no idea.  We visited the large fresh foods market noted for its fish but home to meats and veggies too though oddly enough we did not notice fresh breads. We then visited an excavated Roman amphitheater. I found myself wondering if vendors sold food in the high-ceilinged passageways we walked through. Also, if they had even minimal facilities for bathrooms: probably not. I hope the shows people saw were impressive because I am confident the seating was impressively uncomfortable. 

An easy day of some modest wandering finished off with a nice enough dinner that featured many styles of veal, french fries, a roasted potato type dish, and other things. We may or may not be eating local fare but we are certainly eating inexpensively.

Our next day, our one full day, we spent doing a tour of Mount Etna (Monte Etna) and Taormina. Numerous companies provide tours of Europe’s largest volcano. Some give you an option to take a cablecar to the summit at about 3,200m and you may have a chance to explore a lava tube too. Maybe those options get you further away from the hordes of people but I’d not be surprised if they don’t. Our tour was much more relaxed. We spent a brief time strolling, no real special gear needed though warmer clothing and a windbreaker are advisable.  It is hard to get a sense of scale as you stand amongst some of the several hundred craters at 2,000m. Mount Etna has destroyed Catania, I think, 7 times. It has spewed lava far more often than that.  

Our stop at an agricultural business making, we think, all sorts of jellies, honey, pesto, olive oils, and wine was a nice treat. And our visit through the bustling resort/market town of Taormina was fun too in its way. They build towns into the steep hillsides that hug the coast here.  All in all, a nice way to spend the day.

Photos

1. The seats at the amphitheater we visited. Catania has another  that is underground now (so many bits of history lay under the modern city) but we could not explore that one. 
2. High-ceilinged passageways run behind the seating. It is impressive considering how old the place is-1BC
3. You get.a sense of how big Monte Etna is from these 2 photos taken on our way there.  We are at above 1,110m above sea level and maybe 15-20 minutes drive from the parking lot that hosts vast numbers of tour buses and cars.
4. I think there are something like 300 craters on the slopes of Mount Etna. Here is just one sample. It is sunny, but windy, and we were glad we were wearing warmer clothing. Too bad you can’t really get a sense of things with so many people about.
5. A coastal view near Taormina.