CATANIA CATCH UP

      Just arrived back at the hotel from “doing” Catania, and I (Steward) have time for some thoughts about the trip so far.

      As I've said, both of us are battling colds, which so far have not loosened their grip. Bob is sleeping as I write this, and when I'm done, I'll have my afternoon nap. The good news is that after four or five days, we're just beginning to get over jetlag.

      Bob thought I should have mentioned the flight from Gatwick Airport to Catania yesterday. EasyJet. That says it all. But what we had not anticipated was how far they go nickeling and diming their passengers. During the nearly three-hour flight, I had expected they'd at least offer the usual packages of pretzels and a few free drinks, but no. They charge for every . . . single . . . thing. Even plain water. We didn't use the toilet, but I do think that's about all that's free. And they went around with a collection bag asking people to donate to some charity they support.

      Oh, and our hotel reservation in Catania was changed just before we left England. “Our” hotel, Best Western Mediterraneo, must have been overbooked, so we were put up at another hotel in an “up-graded” room. That wasn't so bad, but then we had to transfer back to our original hotel the next day, so we haven't been able to settle into either one. I will say, though, that the General Manager of “our” hotel went out of his way to make amends. Free transportation. Another up-graded room, I think. And super-attentive service. All part of the joys of travel.

      Dinner last night was at Trattoria del Cavaliere , a place our temporary hotel recommended. It was a chaotic, bustling place that specialized in seafood. What was most interesting in addition to its extensive menu were all the natives around us: families with infants and young children (at eight or nine pm), an elderly mother and (I assume) her dutiful daughter, and right next to our table, a collection of mostly overweight boys-on-the-town, slurping down beers along with their endless dishes of shared foods and jokes. All this was overseen by typical Italian don't-even-bother-me waiters. We enjoyed it along with our “signature Catania dish” of pasta alla norma (tomato sauce with fried eggplant, named after a famous opera by native son Bellini) and, for me, fired anchovies (meh).

      Today, we walked to most of the major tourist sites the

Piazza Duomo

city has to offer. First up was the handsome Piazza Duomo square featuring the city's cathedral. Originally constructed in 1078 over the ruins of a Roman bath, it's dedicated to Saint Agatha, a virgin who was tortured for refusing the advances of a Roman prefect. She's now the patroness of Catania.

Duomo Facade

Elephant Fountain

     At the center of the square lies the really-weird Elephant Fountain, which celebrates the symbol of the city, a small elephant. Not only that, but it has an obelisk on its back. No one really knows why, when, or how a small elephant came to symbolize Catania, but there it is.

Fountain

      Just as we were leaving the square, we heard running water, and there, stuck off in a corner, ignored by natives and tourists alike, was a rather handsome fountain.

      Next up was Castello Ursino, a Norman fortress built in the later half of the 13th century. When Mount Etna erupted in 1669, lava flowed around it filling the moat and cutting off its strategic seaside position. The building now houses the Civic Museum of Catania, a brave but pathetic collection of Greek and Roman artifacts and a hodge podge of 15^th to 18^th Century paintings and other objects of art. Although the contents of the museum were not worth the senior-discounted price of admission, the simple, massive simplicity of the architecture was.

Catello Ursino

      And finally, we explored the larger of the city's two Roman amphitheaters. Built around the 2^nd Century AD, it supposedly could have seated up to 15,000 spectators. It probably used an underground water source to flood the stage for naval battles and to move elaborate sets and other equipment. Nowadays, enhanced by spotlights

and other modern inventions, the building is still used for events. While we were there, workmen under the watchful eye of a lady choreographer, were preparing the stage.

      So that's it for Catania, unless tonight's dinner merits a note later on. Would I recommend the city for other visitors to Sicily? Probably not. We found it extremely dirty: garbage piled up or scattered about, cars so filthy you wonder if drivers can see out of them, streets too narrow for both vehicles and pedestrians, and maniacal drivers, especially those on scooters and motorcycles, who love to play chicken with cars and pedestrians alike!

      But if you loved Naples, you might love it here.