#3065 The Trip: Catania, Siciliy

 

view of Mount Etna from the cruise ship

The second port of call on the cruise was Catania, Sicily. Sicily is an Italian island off the southeast coast, right at the toe of the boot. Our time in port was kind of short; we arrived at 7am and had to be back on board by 3:30pm. We decided to spend our day walking around the city on our own. I looked up a walking guide and created a walk for us to see the things we though sounded interesting on Google maps. Lizzie usually handles this aspect of travels, but since she wasn't with us, I figured I'd give it a try. She makes it seem easy. My walk wasn't the most efficient, but it was fine. 

It's a quick walk from the port into the city. Our first stop was to see the Cathedral of Catania, Basilica Cattedrale di Sant'Agata. We didn't go inside. 

Cathedral

The Cathedral is in Piazza del Duomo (of course) and is in the heart of this older part of the city. There's a cool obelisk with an elephant, and that white building on the right is City Hall.

Piazza del Duomo

There are fountains and fancy baroque buildings. My initial thoughts about the city on the walk from the ship to this piazza is that Catania is a little gritty. It doesn't have the historical magnificence and grandeur of Rome or the beauty and charm of Florence, but Catania has something that made me want to go a little deeper. Maybe it's Mount Etna looming over the city. Maybe it was the overcast sky giving the whole town a vibe. Maybe it was all the stories you read and movies you see about Sicily. It is Italy, but feels different from Italy at the same time. There have been many other influences at play on this island. 

Directly off the piazza when we turned a corner, there was a fresh fish market in full swing. It didn't smell like fish because all the products had been swimming earlier that morning. It was really cool to see it. I kinda wish we could have found our way down to the market just to look around a bit more, but we didn't. 

fish market

Just up ahead and around another corner, we came upon streets where umbrellas provided shade. It was unexpected and made MT and I feel delighted.

ussie with umbrellas

T was maybe a little less excited.

T didn't like the umbrellas?

I realized just now that I didn't take an ussie of the three of us in Catania. Bummer.

The next thing we saw was Castello Ursino. This 13th century castle/fortress is huge, and at some point had a museum in it, but now it's just sitting there. The neighborhood all around it is decrepit and kinda sad-looking. Even the little piazza in front of it is all dried up and unwelcoming. It was puzzling.

Castello Ursino

From the castle, we went back to Piazza del Duomo and made our way into a chapel across the street from the cathedral. There was rooftop access for views of the city and Mount Etna. MT is a sucker for a view, so we paid 10 euros each to climb up a bunch of stairs. There was a sub-roof where I decided to end my climb because I couldn't handle the tiny spiral staircase to the very top.

I wasn't interested in climbing up the spiral column of steps

my view of the rooftops of Catania and Mount Etna

It was hot in Catania that day, and I was glad to find a bit of shade where I could gaze at the volcano. Did you know that shortly after we got home, Mount Etna started erupting? The airport in Catania was closed because of heavy ash and the volcano has been active for a couple of months now. Glad it was quiet while we were there.

Our last stop of the day was not what I thought it would be, but it was interesting. We walked up a long hill and found this:

San Nicolo l'Arena

This is the Church of Saint Nicholas the Arena, and is the largest church on the island of Sicily. The neoclassical facade is unfinished, leaving it looking kinda strange. It is absolutely massive.

MT looks so small!

The church is part of a monastery that is attached to it, and there is a dome that you can walk up in order to have an excellent view. We didn't go to the monastery or the dome because it was getting late and we had to get back to the ship, plus, I was plumb tuckered out from the walking and the heat, so we headed back down the hills to the port.

My initial impression of Catania is the same as my final impression of the city. The vibe goes from charming to gritty one street to the next. 

That takes care of our day in Catania. Next we will leave Italy for awhile as we make our way around the boot of the country into the Ionian Sea and Corfu, Greece.

xo