On to Catania

Squeezed into Helena’s car and deposited at the bus station … ticket said to be there 30 minutes beforehand, but that would have been a waste. People stood around in a desultory manner … on phones … eating … chatting. Exactly at 11 the bus tor Catania arrived and we set off to strains of The Wall, by The Who. A great start.

Not the mountainous terrain we were expecting … instead a vast, flat plateau covered with farmland, stone walls and olive trees, gradually descending to orange groves completely covered with bright orange fruit. Mount Etna sat glowering off to the left …. its summit draped in clouds and snow so we don’t know if it was smoking or not.

Our apartment this time was on the 8th floor (only the penthouse above) overlooking the ocean and coastline all around the bay. Wow! Massive terrace, too. Interestingly, the only DVDs in the apartment were a set of The Sopranos! Picked up groceries at a Lidl store including some very nice Nero D’Avola. The guy in front of us was obviously stocking up on wine — must’ve had a dozen or so. Maybe that particular one was on sale, but they fitted nicely into their child’s stroller (pushchair).

Catania is OLD … busy … gritty … lived in … interesting. Dating back goodness how many centuries … first taken over by the Greeks … then the Romans … survived Mt. Etna’s eruption in 1669 and then a huge earthquake 30 years later (the populace must’ve wondered why they were being punished so). Being a resourceful bunch they rebuilt each time using a lot of the readily available resources … lava rock … hence the name “black city” … when used effectively with white marble the results are dramatic. There’s an affiliation with elephants too … apparently a diminutive species of pachyderm, no more than a meter tall, used to be a mascot, so a black statue of Liutu the elephant greets all comers to the city.

A bus trip 10 km up the coast with stops along the way was a couple of hours well spent … to the tiny villages of Aci Castello and Aci Trezza — the first with an impressive Norman-style castle atop a volcanic mount … the second with fascinating lava outcrops called the cyclopean isles … rather like giant teeth.

Down to Catania’s famous fish market … although we were too late for all the action (will catch that another day), there was certainly a lingering aroma denoting the fact. Sidewalk restaurants were just re-opening after their afternoon break (2:30 to around 5:00) … menus looked tempting with specials that you knew were freshly caught that morning. Scirocco was highly recommended for seafood in traditional paper cones. The fried catch-of-the-day one contained prawns, anchovies (fresh), squid and another small whitefish. Piping hot and crunchy. There was a dish of octopus and potato salad, and bags of arancioni – deep fried balls of rice, meat or fish filling. The one with squid ink was disconcertingly jet black inside.

Catanian composer Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) – like Mozart – began composing at the early age of 6. He was greatly influenced by Rossini, who had taken all the Italian theatres by storm, however the elderly masters at the Conservatory in Naples opposed any form of imitation as they considered Rossini a “corrupter of good Italian tradition”. Bellini went on to great acclaim at La Scala in Milan, London and Paris, where many of his famous operas, including Norma, were performed by the likes of Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland. Here in town he has a dish named after him – Pasta alla Norma … pasta in tomato sauce with fried aubergine and grated ricotta cheese.

Discovered a little Frutta e Verdura along the street . . .. not quite as nice as the one in Ragusa. Here the owner insisted on picking out the produce for us — unfortunately, the clementines were definitely past their best … but the piselli (fresh peas), and the long, green Romano beans we’d first discovered in Spain, were exceptional.

Villa Bellini Park was a quiet, expansive garden with fountains, sunny piazzas, shady benches, cool treed hideaways … and a cricket game going on. Families on the sidelines … a child’s tricycle as a wicket, and a tennis ball … outfielding was a touch haphazard as children ran onto the pitch, or dogs made off with the ball. While watching the pigeons from our shady bench, music could be heard off in the distance … Hmm – sounds like Staying Alive by the BeeGees … and oddly, the male pigeon desperately trying to impress his ladylove with his dancing skills DID have all white feathers! Oh, now it’s YMCA by the Village People … it’ll be The Macarena next!! A closer look revealed an older gentleman with speakers and a boom-box set up … doing his rendition of John Travolta, albeit with a little less agility. You have to give him credit, though … and he did attract a couple of young women and some children to join in. Bellini Chiosco was doing a fine trade in freshly squeezed orange juice, coffee, granita and sweets. Chioscos (Kiosks) are the centre of every neighbourhood … a meeting place for refreshment and local gossip in equal measure … young and old alike.

One of the main pedestrian thoroughfares was awash in people out for a promenade. Parents with strollers, families, groups of teenagers, those still in their Sunday finery from church, dogs of every description, friends gathered on the sidewalk for a coffee and chat. And we joined in … ordering a caffe and a couple of cannoli … well, you have to, this is Sicily after all (they were delicious) … and indulged in some people watching.

Back through the plaza and the Cathedral to St. Agathe (patron saint of Catania) … past the two mounted police (one on his cell phone) … past a second church to St. Agathe … the light at this time of evening is gorgeous … down a litter-strewn lane to an area where an unofficial street market is held daily. Gone now, but replaced by a sidewalk crowd, some sitting atop tables beating time, others dancing to toe-tapping Brazilian samba.