Wednesday, December 2, 2009

The Full Sicilian

Oh yes! There's no stopping me... I liked it so much the first time around that I just had to go back. An (almost) irresistible offer at an alluring hotel in another part of the glorious Mediterranean island meant I just couldn't refuse. So, at the end of November, I repacked my summer clothing and headed off to Catania (Sicily's second city) for a five-day sojourn.

As soon as I saw the panoramic views of all-dominant Etna (from the window seat of my flight) a broad smile was evident on my face. Yippee! No more sodden, grey London but a beautifully temperate Sicilian, sun-blessed sky. Even the fact that there were no buses running into town (so I was forced to break my budget and splash-out on a cab) didn't really suppress my mood.

It was a brief (but 25 Euro ride instead of the 1 Euro bus fare) into town; I enjoyed chatting to kind, patient cabbie, Roberto and even learnt some enhanced pronunciation skills along the way.

No sooner had I deposited my bag in my attractive hotel room on the Via Etnea, I was bursting to get out of the door and explore. (I needed a bottle of mineral water subito, anyway...) Darkness had just fallen so it probably wasn't the best introduction to the bustling main street but soon I was to fall under the spell...

Pic shows the lava stone Fontana dell'Elefante on the central Piazza Duomo (just down from the Via Etnea).

2 comments:

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Fabulous photo. I love the atmosphere of Catania too.

arlene k said...

Thank you, Welshcakes! I think I was lucky with the lighting... I must visit Modica when I return to la bella Sicilia - I'm hoping to relocate next year... Mi piace molto tuo blog!