Sicily

After a somewhat stressful morning, Cait and I were aboard a train bound for Catania, Sicily. Estimated travel time: 10.5 hours. Something you should know before reading. Apparently, in Italy, there aren’t always seat assignments, so while we were fine, many others were sitting/standing/perching in the aisles, and waiting for people to leave, and at that point they would dart to the free seat. So Cait and I were sitting next to each other, and there was a mother sitting next to me. Her son and her husband were sitting across from me. Not only did she smell, but they argued for the 7 hours they were on the train and decided to make sandwiches with salami and sweaty cheese, which made us quickly loose our appetite for the salami and cheese we had brought as well. Needless to say we slept for most of the ride, and laughed for the rest of it. We arrived in Catania at night, went straight to our hostel, and straight to bed.

The next morning we were hoping for sunshine and beautiful scenery. We set out into the market, which was loud, and full of fresh food, including fresh meat which was hanging everywhere. We managed to find our way around and bought the works for a picnic. We found a beautiful piazza and had lunch in the sun. After lunch we began our quest for the beach/the ocean. We found a concrete walkway, train tracks, a railing, and the ocean. No sand. No beautiful beach. Staying positive we walked back to the hostel for a nap. On our way back to the hostel we had a moment, looked at one another, and practically simultaneously said “I want to go home!” The Duomo was pretty, and the weather was nice, but the area was sketchy, dirty, and there was nothing open. Caitlin immediately wnt to the train station (actually, she was driven, thanks to the cook of the restaurant/bar that was attached to our hostel) and tried to switch our tickets. In the end, we either left early Sunday morning, or Tuesday (when we were leaving anyways). We decided to stick it out, and it ended up being a great decision. That night we ate at an amazing restaurant recommended by someone at the hostel. We were eating gnocchi with swordfish and tomatoes, and the Mafia was eating in the next room. Seriously. Really well dressed older men all wearing matching pins on their lapels … come on.

Sunday was Easter, so we got dressed up in cute Easter dresses, and attended the mass at the Duomo. It poured rain all day, so we went out for a long lunch, took naps, and watched a movie for the rest of the afternoon. That night, we went back to the same restaurant and back to the hostel for a Rasta DJ. We danced to Bob Marley and chatted with people from Paris, Brazil, the states, and Denmark.

Monday, our last day in Sicily, and we took a shuttle about an hour and a half north to a city called Taormina (view from the top on photo right, great piazza, below on left). It was the most adorable city. It was packed with tourists, but it was all the way up on a cliff and had an amazing view of the beaches and Mt. Etna! (the largest active volcano in Europe). We found a great pasta place, and sat until the rain went away. Afterwards we found gelato and sat in the sun in a piazza and people watched, with commentary of course, for over two hours. It was so fun. We decided to go to a different restaurant that night, but had an amazing day and got lots of sun.

Tuesday our adventures in Sicily came to an end. We did some shopping for snacks for the train, but we were back on the train to Rome (another interesting experience). All in all, I wouldn’t go back to Catania necessarily, but the people were nice and other part of Sicily I would more then willing to explore. Also, it makes every bit of difference who you are traveling with – Cait and I laughed the entire time, when we could have been completely miserable, yet it was one of the best adventures I’ve had in Europe.