Catania, Sicily

April 8, 2023

We were greeted by a smoking Mt. Etna as we docked in Catania, Sicily’s second largest city. The only impression I had of Sicily, before we arrived, was what I’d learned watching The Godfather movies and heard about the Mafia. Boy, did my opinion change! What we saw of Sicily charmed us and made Brian and me want to visit again and in more depth.

Our excursion today was taking us to the coastal town of Taormina, which has been a resort town since Roman times. The Sicilian countryside was beautiful as we drove to our destination. Mt. Etna, an active volcano, loomed in the distance.

We reached Taormina, parked the bus in a very large parking garage and headed up to the town. This time “up” meant taking an elevator up to the 7th level and onto a lovely terrace. From this area we could see the entrance into the old part of the city as well and the lively modern area.

Our ultimate goal was to see the ruins of a Greco-Roman theatre. Along the way we were shown some town squares with accompanying fountains and statuary. I find I’ve been using the word “charming” a lot, but that’s often the best word I can find to describe these beautiful places. The streets were narrow and lined with cafes, restaurants, shops, and small hotels and bed and breakfast operations. There were narrow alleyways leading to other places to explore. We loved it.

At the end of the old town is the Greco-Roman theatre. Built originally by the Greeks, it was rebuilt by the Romans. After the Roman left, the theatre fell into ruin with the local residents using it as a sort of quarry. Lots of great marble there so why dig more? The ruins were eventually uncovered and reconstruction began. The theatre is still in use for special programs. The view to the sea is stunning.

After our visit here, we were given time to explore on our own, so that’s exactly what we did! We wandered down streets, looked in shop windows and visited a church.

We decided to take a break and stop at a cafe to refresh ourselves. Our guide had suggested we try the granita, which is a kind of fruit ice, and that sounded good to me. She told us that the Sicilian way of eating it was to get a brioche roll and use it like a spoon. I ordered lemon granita and it was delicious that way. Brian enjoyed an espresso and chocolate croissant.

This is a picture of the narrowest street in Taormina. It leads up to a very nice restaurant.

As we drove back to the ship, we were given the option of being dropped off by the Catania city center. It would be easy to walk back to the ship from there, so we decided that this was something we would like to do. We were dropped off with a few other people, walked a little ways down the street and entered the walled portion of the city which opened up into a large square.

We wandered around with the goal of finding a place to have lunch. We found a restaurant with tables outside and sat down to enjoy a lunch.

They don’t do things fast in Italy and we enjoyed every minute of our two hour meal. The food was delicious and when we asked for red wine the waiter said, “I’ll bring you a carafe!” He did, and we drank every drop.

The bottom right photo is a picture of the best tiramisu Brian’s and I have ever had.

The street we were sitting on was busy and provided excellent people watching.

It was time to head back to the ship, so we exited the way we came, turned left, and followed the city wall back to the harbor. The weather was very nice and the walk was interesting.

Sicily exceeded my expectations and, once again, we found another place we would love to return to for a more in depth visit.