Catania and around
Hello, hello, our beloved reader! Welcome and welcome back! We are glad you came to see our newest post despite our little pause last month. As it happens, with everything that is happening at the moment, we needed a little break to come back with a fresh wave of ideas. Don't worry, we will still continue telling you about Sicily trip just from a fresher, untired perspective!
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Cactus for every household!
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At the moment, the situation with the COVID-19 is getting worse so, once again, none of us can be sure when and where we will travel again. The only plans that are more or less sure are the ones you make in your own country. Take advantage of that! Explore what you have nearby, I am sure you will find many interesting places and maybe many places that will become your favourite spots. In the meantime, use our posts as guidance for your future planning, make a list of our favourite destinations and make a collection of must-see places. Then, once you can travel, you will have plenty of ideas to choose from!
If you haven't read our Intro post, I'd advise you to do that first. It'll give you some more information about all the details that you might not find in this post. If you have read out Intro post - well done to you! - you can definitely go on reading this one. We've decided to not only talk about food and beaches but to include a little bit about some must-see places in Sicily. We did make several trips, unfortunately, not throughout the whole island. We really wanted to do the Palermo area as well, but that's a 5-hour round trip without even getting out of the car. So we left this one for our next trip there.
Disclaimer: I will deliberately omit all food and beach-related content. It'll be all here in a separate post in a couple of weeks.
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Amazing views from Ortigia's city walls
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Catania
Is there any more obvious choice than a trip to Catania when you're staying in Catania? And it's not only obvious but also worth it! The city is perfect for a nice afternoon exploring (maybe more pleasant in the not-that-hot days at the end of August :D). However, even when you come here on a hot day, you can find some shadow and refuge in a Villa Bellini with its adjacent park. More than that, it's a beautiful spot with lots of shot-worthy spots.
From there, it only takes 15 minutes to get to the breathtaking Cathedral of Saint Agatha (check out the Roman amphitheatre on your way). The Cathedral's located in a massive square where you can also find the Elephant Fountain. On Sunday afternoon (30+ degrees mind you), it was pretty deserted which lets you take all the photos you desire.
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| Lovely, isn't it? |
There are two additional spots to check out - the Pacini garden and Catania Fish Market. The Pacini garden is again a nice relaxing spot to either a) eat any of the Italian delicacies that you might buy in the nearby shops or b) take a break after all the walking and sightseeing. If your tour of Catania takes places in the morning you can't skip the Catania Fish Market which many describe as the most authentic experience you can get. It's closed on Sundays (so we couldn't go) but they tell me you can also get some other must-eats there.
One last stop in Catania - Massimo Bellini Theatre which you can find (surprisingly) at the Vincenzo Bellini Square. We are no architecture hunters but the building is impressive (and instagrammable if you're into that).
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Telchac: "Those Taormina stairs!" ;)
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Taormina
Steep little town offering great views and a great many tourists. And we were two of those and you should definitely be more of those as well.
Useful tip: get there as soon as possible. The later you arrive, the farther you'll need to park and the more you need to climb (almost literally) on foot. We parked at Porta Pasquale which seemed to be the closest option possible and fairly empty because it was pretty early (at least for most of the tourists). There are many places to see in Taormina (if you don't do your homework, there are lots of great direction arrows that could guide your way around). However, we picked the following:
Villa Comunale - best view, beautiful plants surrounding beautiful old castle-like buildings. Very clean, very inviting and perfect to stroll around.
Piazza IX Aprile - if you did not get your best shot of the view, you have a second chance. But what's better than that is to wander the surrounding little streets, even if they don't take you anywhere, have a peek, you might find some of them are exquisite and VERY Italian!
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Villa Comunalle, a real must-see!
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Island of Ortigia
Brace yourselves, this is the must-see and must-visit of all Sicily (from the point of view of all the travel agents organizing all the cruises). That means lots of people everywhere, no matter the weather. But people or not, you need to come here. It's just perfect with the castle and its city walls with amazing views. The streets are narrow and lined with balconies, so extremely photogenic. You can stop at the Cathedral of Syracuse for some photos and then check out all the small shops at Via Cavour. Or you can go to the Fountain of Diana...I'd like to say for some peace and quiet but that's quite hard to come by in Ortigia. So many options, so little time - but we saw it all!
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Welcome to Ortigia
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Acireale
Acireale is a small town north of Catania. We only spent a couple of hours here but despite that, I have decided to include it here. First of all, it doesn't give off that touristy feeling and secondly, it's small enough to have everything on hand and big enough to offer everything you need. I'd definitely come back, not for a sigh-seeing trip, but for and Italian dolce-vita & dolce-far-niente kind of break.
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It's amazing how even the smallest towns have the biggest churches in Italy (taken in Noto).
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Noto, Ragusa & Modica
You might expect I will now tell you that these three towns are the same kind of must-see places and the ideal locations to savour the Italian lifestyle as Acireale. They might be, I cannot say otherwise, however, I will not say that they are out loud. I don't know why, but the feeling was completely different. It might be because Noto felt much more touristy than Acireale but it also might be that in Ragusa, the locals were hiding at their homes waiting for the cooler evening to go out (we were in Acireale in the evening). It also might be that Modica is quite small to make you feel that. Despite that, if you're driving by, stop there, otherwise, you can skip these (however, check out our food post to decide otherwise).
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When you almost get hit by a car while trying to taking this breathtaking photo.
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Sicily is an ideal place for those who want to relax at the beach but also those who want to explore. It may be quite overcrowded, that is definitely true but given the weather, you may choose to travel out of the high season which guarantees fewer people and lower prices. Even if you choose the least touristy towns, you can immerse fully in the Italian way of life and just enjoy the beauty all around you. Btw if you're a souvenir hunter, you have a great opportunity to go for something that you can actually use - there's plenty of oil bottles, plates, butter dishes and so on (I won't even get into wine and sweets).
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Saints protecting the cannoli of Modica :)
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Are you getting more and more anxious to hear about the food in Sicily? I hope so! But you'll need to wait a few weeks. Till then - keep safe, put your finger on the map and find out where to go next and don't forget to come back to learn more about our trip. If you want to connect, you can always find us on our IG. Don't be a stranger and come back in two weeks to see what's next. C U then!
