Piazza Duomo

After some discussions by text message about weather, timing, and logistics - today was the day to meet with Simona. It was agreed all round that driving into Catania is strictly for locals only so the plan we hatched with Simona was to meet at Michael’s house on the outskirts of Catania at 3pm and then Simona would drive us in. That left us the morning to play with. Breakfast at Donna Carmella was a sumptuous affair - part Italian with cakes, arancini and pastries piled high, part American/ Brit with cereals, yoghurts and such. We embraced both cultures while trying to ignore the gentle, quiet but not quiet enough noodly jazz that someone had decided was required listening in all public areas of the hotel.

Still little sign of Etna who apparently loomed over the hotel but was currently swathed in cloud thanks to the unusual weather. Still it was dry and even promised sunshine later. Our plan was to work our way south to Catania. There wasn’t too much work to do since our meeting point with Simona was only 30 mins from the hotel. Acreale was our first stop off point. After the now customary confusion on how best to pay for parking we headed to the main square through narrow streets and an unsettling absence of pavements which seems to be the norm throughout many Sicilian towns.

A coffee and a pee in the main square (not literally) and we continued our explorations, we took in the Main Church which included an intriguing meridian line set into the marble floor and beautiful frescos painted on every conceivable surface. We then followed a road which turned into a path which wound down the hillside with spectacular views along the coast to the lower village of Santa Maria la Scalia. Fishing boats, black larva rocks and an altogether slower feel than acrireale perched above. Our enormous breakfast was amazingly starting to wear off so we went in search of lunch.

The sun was searing down in this sleepy seaside town which had a few well known and touristy restaurants which priced to match apart from a small inconspicuous trattoria bar on the Main Street near the church.

We walked in expecting a fairly standard restaurant but instead found ourselves confronted with a true Sicilian experience. All of the people sat Inside the trattoria were Sicilian locals and hardly anyone spoke English. Initially a little language confusion with a bored teenage boy, we were greated by Sicilian grandmother - or Nono - holding a ladel in her hand who proceeded to I strict us as to what we would be eating for lunch. Too scared to a question her, we accepted her suggestions and sat down. Gradually various dishes appeared, first of all, a kind of fish cake locally caught fish I shed it. Next followed and superb parmegiarma with warm bread, and finally a splendidly large and deep bowl of spaghetti with mussels and clams. Charlotte was not not as hungry as Catherine so heroically decided to walk back up the steep path to collect the car for on onward journey. Meanwhile., Catherine sat and ate as I had as she could if the spaghetti dish whists the PJs lady stood over her making sure she was happy with the dish. The whole experience was peppered with sounds of her hitting
the cooker with various kitchen implements whilst shouting at various people, as well as more ils ladies arriving. They all seemed to know each other. No one batted an eye during her loud and dramatic background protestations so Catherine took it to be the usual state if affairs. After the necessary international signs if the thumbs for an excellent meal, the bill appeared and was duly paid leaving a small tip, both out of fear and appreciation. This was one of the best lunches which Catherine had ever eaten and would definitely stay in her mind for a long time yet.

We continued our journey south towards Catania, via aci trezza which has large black basalt rocks jutting out from the sea near the harbour. They’re named idols del cyclopi and are apparently the rocks thrown at Ulysses by the cyclops as he escaped the island.

We found our way to Michael’s villa at roughly the same time Simona arrived. We followed her car up a steep slope and into the gated private car park where long overdue hugs were exchanged and we were introduced to Sophia.

After a drink at restaurant maria round the corner (Ct had almond milk - a Sicilian drink, sweet but delicious and very almondy) we piled into Simona’s car and she drove us into Catania centre. Leaving our car behind had been the right decision. Driving in Sicily had been fine on motorways and rural roads, the city is a whole different, frenzied experience.

We parked at Simona’s apartment in the old town and she took us to the university nearby where she and Peter work- a beautiful building with fantastic views across the city from the top of the church roof. Simona also showed us some pottery shards, explaining how creating pots today and seeing their flaws exposed by firing helps her explore how the ceramics were made by hands following similar processes thousands of years ago. She opened up a drawer containing pot shards from 4000 to 7000 years ago and handed them to us to hold. We were struck by the level of skill that was apparent even from these small pieces, particularly a thin, delicate section that had been made by Neanderthals 7000 years ago. Clearly much more skilled and sophisticated that we tend to give credit.

We then explored the town with Simona pointing out the sights and sharing the experiences of living in an ancient city in the shadow of an active volcano. The buildings have a lower section of basalt, not just because there’s so much of it from previous lava flows but because lava stone protects against future lava flows. ‘How long would you have before the lava reaches the town if she blows again?’ We asked, ‘oh a few months’ she replied. We felt somewhat reassured.

After an aperitif and arancini near the gates of a beautiful park and a good sighting of Etna finally cloud free, we headed to a restaurant near Simona’s house for dinner - it’s opposite the Norman castle and called ‘Camelot’ (of course). The lava in the big 17thC eruption flowed into the castle’ moat and left the building itself intact. Dinner of pasta al la Norma after which Simona drive us back to our car for the final leg home where We fell onto our beds exhausted with the day’s exertions.Read more