La Dolce Vita in Catania
Friday 21 April - We are now in Catania on the east coast of Sicily on the Ionian Sea. Founded in the 8th Century BC by the Chalcidian Greeks, the city has weathered multiple geologic catastrophes. It was nearly completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1169 and then a major eruption and lava flow from nearby Mt Etna nearly swamped the city in 1669, followed by another earthquake in 1693. (However, there is an upside of its location, the volcanic ashes yield fertile soil which is especially suited to the growth of vines!).
The city has been buried by lava a total of 17 times and in layers under the present day city are the Roman city that preceded it and the Greek city before that. The central “old town” features late baroque architecture prompted after the 1693 earthquake and is a UNESCO world Heritage Site. Many walls and buildings have been built using the lava rock and a lot of them are black due to the soot of the volcanic ash. Mt Etna has the longest recorded history of eruptions out of every volcano on earth and erupts on average around 200 times a year.
Oh my word – have we fallen on our feet. Denise put in the hard work on sourcing an Air BnB for us and we are in the most amazing place. A duplex right opposite the Ursino Castle, one of the rare medieval buildings in Catania, and with an amazing view of Mt Etna from the terrace– who could ask for more! Ursino Castello was built in the 13th century as a Royal Castle of the Kingdom of Sicily and is mostly known for its role in the Sicilian Vespers, a successful rebellion that broke out at Easter 1282 against the ruler of the French-born king Charles I of Anjou, who had ruled Sicily since 1266. The revolt came after twenty years of Angevin rule over Sicily whose policies were deeply unpopular among the Sicilians, and here we are admiring it from our terrace across the square!
After dropping our bags we headed straight out to check out our surroundings. Our first stop was at a beautifully decorated fresh orange juice stall where we refreshed ourselves with a delicious cup of freshly squeezed orange juice – “Spremuta Arancia”, each cup containing the juice of 4 huge blood oranges! We are right in the heart of all of the action and just around the corner from the Piazza Duomo which is the principal church of Catania and is dedicated to Sant’Agata, the patron saint and protector of all of Sicily. She is the patron saint for breast cancer, rape victims, fire, nurses and natural disasters. A Baroque design by GB Vaccarini, it also houses the Tomb of Vincenzo Bellini, a local born composer. An irresistible pistachio gelato on the way home and then back to our terrace for a Bellini Prosecco, sporting our newly purchased Sicilian scarves (think matchy matchy!) and a chance to admire the sun setting over Mt Etna in the distance. When darkness arrived we headed out to Antica Sicilia behind the Duomo, for a dinner of fresh seafood, pistachio pasta and more scallopine marsala for me, accompanied by a “chalice” of wine (well that is how it was described on the menu and it worked for me!).
Saturday 22 April – breakfast in the Piazza followed by a walk along Via Etnea, the city’s main thoroughfare. we didn’t get far as there was a crowd of people waiting outside the Basilica di Maria SS dell’Elemosina, which is better known as the Collegiate Church. Its façade is a wonderful example of Catanian baroque and built out of the ruins of the 1693 earthquake. Being curious we joined them and watched a host of typically Italian, elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen arriving for a wedding (think also of beautiful colourful, Italian leather stiletto shoes and matching handbags to die for). Of course we had to stay to see the bride arrive, and when she did, it was in a silver Maserati – after all, we are in Italy!!!
Beautiful shops with fabulously decorated windows, colours and temptations greeted us as we walked along the road, we also happened on a delightful Artisan Market and managed to buy a few things, not so much for me as I have limited baggage space and have a long holiday ahead of me and a lot of carting bags around on all manners of different transport, so tempting as it was, I had to resist although I did manage to buy some nice artisan jewellery though!
Lunch was at Al Vicolo, a restaurant recommended to us by a friend of Julie’s, my word the pizzas were enormous – the waiter was trying to get us to order three, we settled for one, and we didn’t even manage to finish that, and a plate of bruschetta pomorodo. We followed this by a lovely walk through the Bellini Gardens, the oldest urban park in Catania and originally the private garden of the Biscari family and a visit to the Teatro Romano di Catania.
Cocktails near the town square later on and another nice dinner sitting outside rounded off our day a treat.
