Centro - S. Cristoforo

Today, we booked a snorkelling trip to a cave system off the coast of Catania. So we made our way on Lime Scooters to the port where we caught up with Hairy and Ben. We chose the morning session, so the sun wasn't so brutal, and we actually enjoyed the morning sun sitting on the front of the catamaran as we sailed for about an hour to the location. The views across the coast of Catania were incredible, but eventually, they put up the sails, and the view was blocked mostly. Eventually, we arrived at our destination, and by this point, we were stinging a swim in the beautifully temperatured water after laying in the sun. For whatever reason, the captain dropped us off about 150m from the swimming spot. I think that most people on the tour rarely do the snorkelling and instead choose to swim off the edge of the boat. We, however, were keen to see what lay around the rock formations. They described them as caves, but they were hardly caves and instead just rocks protruding the water. Given that we were with 2 avid swimmers, Jack and I struggled with the swim and were easily left in the dust. Nonetheless, once we got to the rocks and could manage our breathing a bit better by taking it easy, it was really cool to swim with the fish and jellyfish. There were no massive sized fish, but thousands of little ones. It doesn't compare to the reef dives you can do in Australia, but it was cool just to see how it varies in the Mediterranean. I had forgotten my underwater camera attachment for my phone, but given the swim we had to do, it likely wouldn't have been worth bringing anyway. As such, the number of photos for today is very limited. At the end of the swim, which took about an hour, we started the long trek home, once again being blown out of the water by Hairy and Ben. This time, we were going against the current, and we felt every bit of difference. Eventually, though, we had made it. They then served some food and Proseco while we chatted with others on the boat. The 2 guys running the show were very cool and interesting people to talk to, and so we discussed life in Australia compared to Italy. This then continued as we made our way back to Port.

On the way home, we found 3 euro aperol spritz, and we made some serious use of that deal. After about 4 of those each, we headed home, taking a detour on the lime scooters, and got dressed to prepare for a big night ahead. We then bought a few bottles of wine and headed to the boys' place to drink them on their rooftop terrace. By the time this was done, we were completely smashed and figured it was time to head out for some food. After some shit talking and some eating, we ran into the girls from the previous night and drank with them until early morning. After this, we were all completely ruined and had to send ourselves to bed, or we'd wake up in a random street in Catania. It was a great night, and it was great to see Hairy. Unfortunately, this would be the last time I see him for another 9 months as he was on his way to Malta and then home shortly after that. It was a shame to say goodbye, but I am lucky to have seen him while over here.Read more