Catania, Sicily

Catania is the town where I spent most of my time.  Although not as large as the capitol of Palermo, it was quite busy.  I was fortunate to be around for the festival of Saint Agatha from February 3rd to the 5th.  Hundreds of thousands of people come to celebrate the life of the saint for three straight days.  Agatha is the patron saint of Catania born circa 231 and died circa 251 AD.  She is buried inside the cathedral in Catania (shown below).

Catania is a unique place in that it has a busy port, many restaurants and is a place where fishermen and farmers bring their goods to outdoor markets where residents come to shop.  It also had areas which seemed a bit upscale where they had fine jewelry stores and expensive clothing for sale.  The public transportation was quite sophisticated although I didn't go for a ride and amidst all this, there is a church on every corner and ancient structures still standing that date back to Before Christ.

 The highlight of Catania for me was the Teatro Romano.  It was less than a mile walk from my hotel so I figured I'd like to check it out since I really enjoyed the theatre in Taormina.  Wow I am so glad I went.  There were only a few people here when I walked in and soon I was the only one in the entire place!  Well me and the cats who live there.  Another moment where I felt it was just me, God, the ancient spirits and the cats.  :)

I really could spend hours just sitting here because I can't believe something could be so old and that fascinates me.  I feel special just touching the stone and being able to soak it all in and wonder what life was like 2,000 years ago.  Yes this trip did bring the nerdy side out of me!

Agrigento, Sicily

Agrigento, in southern Sicily, is one of the poorest cities in Italy with a 19% unemployment rate reported in 2010, ongoing activity of the mafia and organized crime.  Aside from this, it's one of the most beautiful cities, sitting on a plateau with some of the most well preserved remnants of the Greek colonists Gela, who named it Akragas.  Established between 582-580 BC.  The Romans captured it in 210 BC and renamed it Agrigentum.  It remained a largely Greek speaking community for centuries and when the Roman empire became prosperous, its inhabitants received full Roman citizenship after the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC.

 I arrived at the Valley of the Temples at 5pm and entry was free (maybe because of the time).  There was a special international event going on and because of this the park was open till 8pm instead of the normal closing time of 7pm.  The temples and ruins are spread out and so a good amount of walking is required to see everything.  

Concordia, shown above and below is the best preserved of the temples.

 The standing pillars are amazing to see and beside them the foundation of what once was there lets your imagination put the pieces together.

Palermo, Sicily

Palermo is the capital of Sicily and the most populated city on the island.  I went on a Sunday and found that some museums and exhibits either close early or don't open on Sunday.  I did not get a chance to see Capuchin Catacombs, so I will have to add catacombs to my list of things to do in Rome. However, I did get to tour Teatro Massimo, the largest opera house in Italy and the 3rd largest in Europe.  There is no photography inside the theatre and so the picture below from the inside is taken from website: www.associazionepercorsi.com  For fans of the film trilogy The Godfather, you may recognize it from certain scenes.

From the Teatro Massimo, the Palermo Cathedral is within walking distance.  The church was erected in 1185 by Walter Ophamil who is buried in a sarcophagus in the church's crypt.  Walking up to it the sight is breathtaking to say the least and it almost still leaves me speechless when I try to write about it.  

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina is a beautiful hilltop community on the Northeastern coast of Sicily.  There is so much history.  The first place I visited was the ancient Teatro Greco or "Greek Theatre" which was built into the mountain side in early 7th century BC.  There are views of the Ionian sea and a snow covered Mount Etna (Europe's largest active volcano).  Admission to the theatre is 8 Euro and worth every bit as this was the highlight of my visit to this town.  

The next best thing about Taormina are the old churches and buildings, some dating back to the 10th century.  The streets are lined with shops, restaurants and cafes.  I stopped for espresso and my first cannoli pastry filled with sweet cheese and topped with candied orange peel.  Although some of the shops seem fancy, the general atmosphere is very small town and family oriented.  I saw many people out and about and running into people they knew and they would stop and greet each other.  Little boys were riding their bikes down the cobble stone streets and lots of smiling faces.  

Giardini-Naxos, Sicily

So the town I stayed for the first few days is Giardini-Naxos a small beach community in the province of Messina.  They don't speak very much English out here so I've been using a lot of hand gestures to ask questions.  The other day I stumbled upon a sign in all Italian that was clearly for some kind of archaeological museum.  Just my luck, it happened to be the preserved site of the first Greek colony in Sicily.  Amazing place.  Acres of land with citrus trees, mulberry, Italian cyprus, palm trees, and the foundations of an ancient civilization still present.  The colony settled in around 800 BC and only lasted 300 years.  However after they were attacked by Syracuse and forced off the land, nothing was ever done with the area again since.  My thoughts on the preservation is that it was a very spiritual experience and I say that because I was the only person on that land for acres and acres and so I guess you could say it was just me, God and the ancient spirits.  

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Flight Los Angeles-Paris-Rome-Catania

After Monty dropped me off at LAX I was waiting in the baggage check line at Air France and realized I left my laptop in the car!  Damn the nerves I was so stressed since this is my first flight out of country and I'm going alone.  I called Monty and he turned around to bring the laptop back.  5 minutes later I was running out to meet him curbside and a LA airport Sheriff guy was already writing out a ticket!  Anyone familiar with LA or LAX will not be shocked by this.  An idle car sitting for more than 10 seconds is grounds for a citation.  Anyways, thanks Monty for bringing the laptop back and making this blog possible!

As I was going through security I started to feel like a foreigner and I hadn't even left LA yet.  It's amazing how many languages I could hear people speaking.  The Air France red eye flight was comfortable and the food was great.  11 hours later we landed in Paris.  Temperature 7 degrees celsius, about 11:30 a.m.  Originally I thought a 1 hour layover would allow me time to make a quick blog entry.  Not so.  The airport in Paris is huge and catching a connecting flight required me to ride a rail car to another terminal.  From there I had my passport stamped and continued through security.  As I walked up to my gate, my flight to Rome was just starting to board.  The flight was 2 hours and luckily the Flumencio airport was pretty easy to figure out.  Flight from Rome to Catania is little over an hour on a fairly small plane.  That was the first time I disembarked off a plane by walking down a flight of steps to the runway where a tram took us to baggage claim.  I have officially arrived.