Tag Archives: Travel Tip

A second visit – Walking the Streets of Catania, Sicily

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Our first visit to Catania was to meet our daughter’s desire to  visit Mt Etna and had been to brief, so we decided on a second visit.  With it came more time to walk the streets.

Our previous visit, a couple of weeks earlier, had made it clear that observing the normal precautions of large cities meant Catania was a safe place to visit.  Sure Catania is a little chaotic and gritty but it has so much to offer the traveller.

Our first visit took us through Catania’s famous fish market and Piazza Duomo and a brief look at the baroque architecture, so this time we decided to venture further afield and fortunately the weather obliged.

Our hotel was a solid 15 minute walk from the bus station, a journey we took in the dark. The nearest we came to feeling unsafe was a reference to the “Ultras” graffitied  on a building. All of the buildings seem to have graffiti of some sort plastered on them, adding to the gritty feeling of the city.

This visit also gave us a chance to try some of the more typical food of the region that did not include horse! In our previous visit we had been looking for quick meals but with it just being the two of us, we had a little more time and were able to sample some amazing seafood pasta from the menu at Cantania Ruffiana. It offered enough choices that we wished we had time for a return visit.

As we sat down a couple of other tourists were surveying the menu. They were a little concerned about the prices, definitely higher than the norm and walked off. As so often is the case “you get what you pay for”. The cover charge, seemingly mandatory in even the cheapest Italian restaurant  included bread, bruschetta and desert, so at €12 for a plate of excellent seafood pasta and €5 for half a litre of house wine (see Travel Tip below) it was good value.

After weeks of Airbnb and boutique styled hotels we felt like we needed a change and  stayed in a well priced business hotel. Decent pillows, a proper double bed and satellite TV giving me a chance to watch a Third Round Replay of the FA Cup live, complete with German commentary! The trade-off was an average breakfast with ordinary coffee.

After our average breakfast and coffee, with our map of Catania and a little research we set out for a day walking the streets. Continue reading →

Catania, Sicily – does it really deserve the bad press?

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The elephant obelisk - Piazza Duomo

The elephant obelisk – Piazza Duomo

We’d heard so many stories about carjacking and having the contents of your car stolen that in our two previous visits to Sicily the nearest we’d got to Catania was the airport. However my interest lifted after reading Shamus Sillar’s “Sicily it’s not Quite Tuscany” a couple of years ago. In addition, our eldest daughter had made it clear that she wanted to visit Mt Etna in the short time she was with us in Sicily and its much easier to get there from Catania.

Catania is about an hour by train from Siracusa, assuming the train runs on time, which of course ours didn’t! Regional trains not running on time is apparently the norm in Sicily, so rather than getting frustrated, just relax and enjoy the view, unless you are stationary in a tunnel for 10 minutes as we were!

Whether it’s Trip Advisor, the guide books or just general commentary, Catania does not get great press.

Catania like a number of towns in Sicily was destroyed by the Etna eruption of the late 17th Century and rebuilt in an imposing baroque style. Unlike Noto it’s not a rich cream sandstone but much darker, with its buildings being made of darker volcanic stone. A visit on a wet day gives it a closed in feeling even when walking down a wide boulevard of which there are many. It’s very Gotham City! I’m sure this adds to why Catania doesn’t enjoy a great reputation as a place to go.

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Once settled into our apartment and assured by our Airbnb host that we would not be murdered, we ventured out. An early wrong turn Continue reading →

Read the travel guide first – Noto

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After a thoroughly enjoyable week or so of simply walking the streets of Siracusa, we decided it was time to venture out.

While we had been to Noto previously, we thought it was worth another visit to the UNESCO listed town. Our previous visit was in 2008 in the extreme July heat.

Noto is a baroque town rebuilt after the 1693 eruption of Mt Etna. Its honey-colored stone buildings are quite a sight.

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The train seemed the logical way to go as we are trying to avoid driving on this trip. I’ve driven in Sicily before, including to Noto, and it was not a relaxing experience for either myself or my favourite person! Noto is less than 40 kms from Siracus and the journey time is only 30 minutes by train. It was only after boarding that I found a valuable piece of travel advice that locals don’t catch the train to Noto . The train stops at the bottom of the town, a good ten plus minute walk up the hill to the town centre. That said, the train ride was enjoyable and the scenery worth taking in.

After our walk up the hill, we headed straight for the famous Cafe Sicilia for a late breakfast. We decided to sit outside meaning that we had to pay the inevitable coperto (cover charge). It was worth it, as the waiter was able to direct us to their specialty, almond soup served in a coffee mug. It was warm, sweet and quite rich – an ideal winter drink. The pastries were also quite spectacular. Sure it was more expensive than standing at the bar but it was an opportunity to relax and take in the streetscape which is very impressive. Last time it had been so hot that we’d mainly focussed on finding the shade and our stop at this famous cafe had been for Gelati.

Warm almond soup

Warm almond soup

Pastries - Caffe Sicilia

Pastries – Cafe Sicilia

After our late breakfast we took a pleasant stroll down the main street. Noto is famous for its numerous churches Continue reading →