On Saturday September 24 we all went our separate ways. The week together had flown by as it always does. For the last few days of the trek we all mused over where to venture next. Top contenders included Scotland/England/Ireland, Japan, and Canada/US, with several of us tasked with doing research. But for now we enjoyed each others company for one last amazing breakfast together. The Riva del Sole served a classic high end buffet and we all enjoyed the Sicilian pastries one last time.
After tearful good-byes we split; Paul & Lucy headed back to Palermo for their flight to Milan, Mick & Sue to Palermo then on to Naples and Cinque Terre – with hopeful plans for us to see them again on their cycling tour in Tuscany, Doug & Kaylon were headed to the mainland and off to Pompeii, and our gang of 4 (Dan & Suz, Mike and I) were off to Catania on the east side of Sicily.
So on to Catania by train where we 4 had our first game of Italian cards, briscola, having Mike & Dan soundly dominating Suz & I. Perhaps it was just our desire to see Paul & Lucy again, but we had to do a double, even triple take as their dopplegangers were on board our train! We were headed to our first BnB with plans of doing some much needed laundry. After some initial confusion on how to enter our accommodation, we managed to enter as the cleaner (?) was leaving. It wasn’t the best BnB I’ve ever rented as the neighbourhood seemed quite noisy. Despite the strange layout the place was very roomy and the laundry worked just fine.
Our place was near the university and our exploration of the neighbourhood provided several street performers including a religious rock/folk band spreading the word, a characiature artist and a spray painter using a blow torch. Catania did not disappoint with its architecture and of special interest was the abandoned facist era Casa del Mutilato (House of the Mutilated) di Catania across from the Massimo Bellini Theater. It was built in 1939 and includes sculptures and paintings (although boarded up so could not see them) by many great artists. There has been much turmoil around it’s ownership and its future, but it may soon be resurrected as a museum. In addition to the architecture, the many stray cats and gelatarias were enjoyed also! Suz and I continued the hunt for our ceramics, pasta platter and basil heads, to no avail.
We had decided on one of the recommended restaurants and made our reservations for the earlybird timeslot of 7:30. Dinner at Sikulo was disappointing as the waiter provided the $$ wine without asking for clarification on which of the 2 wines of the varietal we ordered (his English was impecable, so not a language issue). My tuna dish was very fishy in parts, and when I complained to the waitress, whose English was not as impeccable, she thanked me! When we tried to have the 107Euro bill split in two, she tried to charge us each 57Euro and she was convinced we were trying to scam her when we complained. So not impressed with the food nor the service. But we managed to find gelato to return to our happy places!
Luckily we were not in need of a solid night of sleep as the bar below our accommodation was party central until 5am. As I stated, not the best BnB I’ve ever found 🙁
