More pictures, Catania

I couldn't put too many pictures in my previous posting but here's some more. It's a little known fact that Catania has a very short metro line that runs between the central station with the top of Via Etna. So it is not necessary to stay close to the train station, one can stay further away on the top of Via Etna, head over to statione Borgo and take the metro to the central train station and the buses. It is a very short line, only 4 stops, it's not crowded, it's very clean and I think, safe. We didn't know that before and we walked all that distance to the train station and this helps in finding accomodations too, one does not have to limit ourselves to staying near the train station. Also, to take the Circumetna, the little train that runs along the bottom of Mt Etna, the station is just next to Statione Borgo. It took us almost 2 hours the last trip before we found out that Circumetna does not originate from the main train station. We found out that we had to go to Borgo station. I am a one person tripadvisor! So if you ever want to go to Catania and Sicily....

Last day in Catania, last day in Sicily

Catania Duomo

Catania Duomo

Palazzo Biscari

Palazzo Biscari

What a beautiful day, the rain stopped, the sun was shining, every one was up and about. The guide book said, Zaffarena, a little village at the bottom of Mt Etna provides opportunity for hiking. It would have been a perfect day to do just that, but the bus schedule was erratic, we didn't get to go. Instead we hung out in Catania around the Duomo area. After the big earthquake of 1693 that levelled Catania and much of the east, Catania was rebuilt in the baroque style. Baroque pallazzos and churches lined almost every street especially on Via Crociferi.

I wanted to see Palazzo Biscari, from the train I've seen it's gorgeous baroque facade. It is now a hotel but we couldn't find the entrance to get in to see it's interior. It was lunch time and we were hungry, so we went in search of food instead. One thing about Sicily, we don't eat anything other than seafood. It is an opportunity to gorge on seafood.

We found this great restaurant, we didn't know it was great, we just stumbled upon it. I ordered 'neonato' or baby fish, fried in a batter, very delicious.

After lunch we walked down Via Crociferi, a short street lined with beautiful baroque churches. We've been on it during our previous visit. Then we window shopped on Via Etenea, the main street in Catania.

It is time to say goodbye to Catania and to Sicily. I don't know when I'll be back again, soon I hope.

We got up at 3.30am the next morning to catch an early flight to Milan (stopover) and then onward to Paris.

Leaving Trapani

We left Trapani on a cold and wet morning to go to Palermo, from there to catch another train for Catania for one last time. We'll be leaving Sicily the way we came, through Fontanarossa airport in Catania. The train was late because some of the tracks were flooded. The tracks hug the coast for most of the trip back to Palermo. These are pictures taken from the train , some while the train was moving, others while it stopped. We were to miss an earlier connection that would get us into Catania an hour sooner. That train would have taken us through the interior, instead we had to take the train that took us to Messina and from there to transfer to another train for Catania. It was after 8 pm when we got to our hotel, they had already sold our room. Of course they didn't say that, they told me I didn't have a reservation in spite of the email they sent confirming my reservation. Anyway they referred us to another hotel up the street.

We met a few other tourists on the train, Swedish guy who is also going to Catania, he was going to take the bus when he reached Palermo but decided the train would be more comfortable. He's been visiting Sicily for a long time to photograph it, he's a photogragher. This is his first leisure trip to the island and he brought no camera. Nice guy.

There's German guy from Hamburg, initially he was stopping in Palermo but changed his mind. In Palermo he bought a ticket to continue on to Catania. He said 50 years ago when he was 10, his parents took him to Catania. I hope I don't wait 50 years before I return to Sicily.

There's this elderly English couple, really jolly couple, they're fun to watch. I hope to be traveling still at their age, 70+?

What got me talking to German guy was the scallop shell on his backpack. I asked is he'd been a pilgrim on the camino Santiago de Compostela? He said, yes, he's walked the camino 3 times from various starting points in France. I said, I trained for the camino and wanted to walk it one year but changed my mind. I did go to visit the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela and also the village in France, St Jean pied de port, where most people start walking from. My boots were still wet, I took them off in the train and I asked what boots he wore on the camino, he happened to have them with him and he showed them to me. The insides is also leather, not like mine which is fabric. The leather repels water and the inside stay dry. The fabric in mine took 2 days to dry even after I tried to dry them with a hair dryer.

The night before I had to wear those wet boots to dinner. It was a Sunday night and nothing was opened, just a few cafes. I was going to find something to eat at one of the cafes but Sophie made me walk some more. It was raining and I was miserable. She said, 'just up ahead and round the corner, if there's no restaurant, then we'll eat at a cafe.' We turned the corner and saw up ahead, red lights and Chinese lanterns and lo and behold, a Chinese restaurant and they were opened. We had a great meal, met some nice Chinese people living in Trapani, (they're everywhere).

German guy had a cough and I gave him my cough medicine. I had a cough when I started the trip, there's these great cough medicine in the form of strips that dissolve in your mouth. Being a pharmacist, I'm also a traveling pharmacy. It stopped his cough.

We all went our separate ways after we reached Catania. We met jolly English couple at the train station the next morning, they were waiting for their train to take them to Rome. They told us, they all stayed in the same hotel, Swedish guy left Catania the next morning. German guy rented a car and is going to explore Sicily by car.

It was our last day in Catania and Sicily, we were to go to Paris after that.

Erice

Erice is an ancient city, on a mountain high above Trapani. What remains is a medieval village, the Erice of antiquity is no longer present. It was Sunday when we went to Erice, we rushed through breakfast at our hotel, the Ai Lumi and walked the 15 minutes to the bus stop which is right next to the train station, there was a bus going to Erice at 9am. It went up a winding road high above Trapani, the view from the top was incredible, the sea was rough because a storm was brewing, the vegetation was lush, the city of Trapani was spread out on the valley floor below and the surrounding mountains were rugged, very beautiful. After an hour we reached Erice, it was misty and wet because it was drizzling. Erice is famous for its mists which gives it an added air of mystery. It already has a mysterious feel to it without the mists. It was quite deserted, no one was about this Sunday morning, the tour buses hasn't arrived yet, just the city bus which we came up on. It is a small village to begin with, the residents are mostly weekenders. We wander through narrow and winding alleys, looked through pretty courtyard, saw the shops that sold knick knacks, viewed the medieval churches and took pictures. It was supposed to be a lazy morning. The tour buses started arriving and the town had more people on its streets.

Just then the sky opened up and it poured, the rain was pelting down and the wind was blowing. We could hardly see in front of us. We tried to leave and get to the bus stop to take the next bus back to Trapani. We walked back and forth but couldn't find our way down to the bus stop, we tried to stop a few people to ask the way, they ignored us because they too were in a hurry to get out of the rain. By this time we were scared and totally wet through, there wasn't a dry spot on us, we were soaked through and through. Finally we cornered this guy, he tried to tell us where the bus stop is but he spoke no English, then he gestured us to get into his new BMW and he drove us to the bus stop. Phew! We both thought we were going to die in Erice, huddled together and just steps from the bus stop.

The bus stop offered no shelter but there was a public toilet in the parking lot and that was where we waited for an hour for the next city bus to take us back to Trapani. We were a sight, like two wet rats.

Back in Ai Lumi, we changed into dry clothes and I tried to dry my boots with a hair dryer. Sophie brought a second pair of shoes, I didn't. We spent the rest of the day in the hotel. If it didn't rain, we would be going to Segeste. So we missed Segeste. Maybe next time.The tourists had their tour buses waiting for them. It was there for one second I wished I was following a guided tour, only one second, the feeling soon passed. I like the way I travel, I'm not taking a guided tour. I make up my own plan and itinerary.

World festivals, I Mysteri and Trapani

Chiesa del Purgatorio

Chiesa del Purgatorio

Running with the bulls in Pamplona, throwing tomatoes at each other in Spain, or throwing oranges at each other somewhere in Italy; these and so many other wacky festivals in the world. Have you ever thought of attending one or a few of these festivals? Lately I have. I watched a TV program on Semana Santa (Holy week) in Sevilla a few weeks ago. It looked really moving, as believers walk solemnly through the streets of Seville, Spain, some dressed in cloaks and others carrying the religious icons through the streets. As the procession passes by, people break into song, chanting some very haunting melody. Wow! I've been to Seville just before Holy week and I've seen the statue of the virgin Mary that they carry through the streets during Holy week. She looked more like a doll with glass tears. It is good to experience and participate in religious fervor.

Another festival I'd like to attend is the Gypsy celebration in the south of France at the end of May in a place called Les Saintes Maries de la mer.

In Sicily, Saints' days are very important. The patron saint of Palermo is Santa Rosalia, the praying saint, she's said to pray so much, she wore out the stone steps in a place outside of Palermo where they revere her. You can see the indentation in the rock where she knelt. One who prays a lot is supposed to have the 'knees' of Santa Rosalia. Catania has Santa Agata, the christian girl who was tortured and killed because she won't marry a pagan, they had her breasts cut off but she had a visitation from St Peter who restored her. They even make pastries to venerate their saints. For Santa Agata, the pastries were shaped like a breast. We were in Sicily for Saint Joseph's day and I love the cream puffs they make in his honor (March's trip).

In Trapani, Easter is a four day event, they carry through the streets their famous 'I Mysteri' or The Mysteries. They are actually wooden floats, wooden carvings of scenes from the passion of Christ, some 20 of them dating back to over 200 years. Each float is maintained and carried by the individual guild that sponsors it. When they are not being paraded around, they are warehoused in a church, Chiesa del Purgatorio. It's opened for a few hours each day for viewing. The hotel we stayed in was just round the corner, imagine my excitement when I found out it was so close by. At the appointed time, we walked over to the chiesa(church), to my dismay, it was chiuso (closed). The church was being renovated. Sigh!

Maybe next time. Another trip to Trapani?

Trapani 2

The old quarter is a triangular shaped piece of land that juts out into the sea, the sea is all around us. We took a leisurely stroll along the sea front, there are all kinds of fishing boats moored and there is this huge statute of the virgin Mary, I guess the fishermen pray to her first before they head out. We can see the ferry boats, they ply between Trapani and the outlying Sicilian islands. One can go to Favignana for the annual 'Mattanza' from Trapani. One can visit the Egadi islands nearby and one can most definitely go the Tunisia and old Carthage. We remember that Rome fought the Carthaginians in three Punic wars over Sicily. There is still a remnant of an old Punic wall. As we strolled through the old quarter we happened upon some fishermen mending their nets and I asked permission to take their photographs. I don't remember when it was I last saw a bona fide fisherman. Even this was a treat for me. A sign on a store window advertised the circus in Trapani.