Friday 24 May
The weather has been consistently wonderful in Sicily, apart from the thunderstorm on the first day. So it has been very conducive to sitting in cafes, one of the many pleasures in going to Italy. Our first cafe was in Via Vitoria Emanuel, a very busy street where our flat is situated. It is in a big baroque mansion block, which has huge gates on the street and multiple gates to reach our staircase. The street is quite scruffy now and disfigured with graffiti, but would have been beautiful in its 18th century heyday.
We had a cappucino and walked the short distance down to Saint Agatha’s cathedral in the plaza. It is attractive without being impressive, as cathedrals go. There were flashy memorials to various dead bishops, who I’m sure were all very humble, modest men.
Just round the corner from the duomo is the fish market, which is quite an assault on the senses. There are dozens of stalls selling every type of Mediterranian fish, from tiny clams the size of a finger nail, to huge tuna and swordfish as thick as tree trunks. I have never seen such big fish being hacked to pieces by fishmongers with huge clevers. I wouldn’t get into a fight with one of those guys. There were plenty of stalls selling fresh oysters, and rows of restaurants selling seafood dinners. There appeared to be many more tourists (like me) taking photos than customers buying slabs of dark red tuna or swordfish for 10 Euros a kilo. The octopuses, squid and cuttlefish looked like deflated grey ballons on their marble slabs, when in life they are fantastic dynamic creatures of intelligence that can change their colour to blend in with their environment to hide from predators.
It was a short walk to Via Etnea, the main shopping street that runs from the cathedral towards Etna. After exhausting fish watching, we revived ourselves in a big cafe and drank Americano’s and watched people, always a good sport.
The fish market is compact and mostly fish, but close to the Piazza Stezicoro (where we met Ernesto yesterday) is the city’s main street market. It is the real living heart of the city, selling fruit, vegetables, meat, clothes, hardware and souvenirs. It is alive with the cries of competing stall holders trying to sell huge aubergines and radishes (I think) that are a metre long. As we shuffled our way through, we occasionally had to stand aside while a scooter came through loaded with ice for a stall. The fruit and vegetables were cheap and looked great, I think Rick Stein would be getting very excited if he was here.
At the end of the market was a street cafe called La Salumania, where we stopped for a panini and beer. It was possibly the best panini I have ever eaten, with crusty bread and a filling of bacon, salami and salad.
After lunch we ambled back to the flat for a little R&R. But what to do next? We had seen most of what was recommended in the Rough Guide and on Tripadvisor. A place we had seen was La Ciminiere, which was an old sulphur refining factory converted into a conference and cultural centre. It was about 15 minutes away on the coast near the bus station. It appeared to have had lots of money spent on it 30 years ago and is now rusting and looks dreadful, don’t go there. There just isn’t enough money in Catania to keep the city looking smart.
In the evening we went to Ciaru i Mari in Via San D’Orsolo, a seafood restaurant about 5 minutes walk from the flat. It was our second visit because it is such a good place. The staff speak excellent English and are very charming and helpful. I had swordfish (spada) and Julie had tuna (tonno), the best meal we have eaten in Sicily. Their chips were just awesome, and I am a very good judge of chips. The house wine was a Sicilian chardonnay for 15 Euros a bottle, bloody lovely. So I am now a very happy, and slightly drunk, boy.
And finally, I saw this specialist butcher near the port. Anyone hungry?
timharnesstravels 