So Catania is known for their famous fish market. So melaine and I headed to see what it was all about before traveling that day. It was pretty amazing! Fish and fruits, veggies and meats. Local vendors and fisherman starting at 5 am hauck their products. We perused all the fish and took lots of photos, fresh urchin, massive swordfish, and plenty of sardines. The butchers were literally breaking down massive cuts while we were there. You could buy intestine, bulls balls, heart, kidney, and portions of liver.
Melaine bought some strawberries that looked lovely and I found the giant lemons that Carlo had talked about. They were the size of my head, so I bought some to bring back to him on my last stop in Italy in Orvieto. Then we headed out to concur Siracusa, south by an 1.5 hour bus trip. Finding the right bus was a feat all in itself, but after I felt like an idiot for not planning better, we made our way down to the beautiful seaside town.
The bus ride was fine as I slept most of the time. We pulled into the station and started our decent down to the old town of Orytigia. Since this is such a southern part of Sicily, there is plenty of Greek influence on the structures and history. After crossing the bridge to the old town, we headed to the Temple of Apollo, ruins now, but still very beautiful. On the way to the Duormo, Melaine taught me how to take pictures in black and white and in sepia tones. So needless to say, it was like owning a new toy. The Duormo was stunning! An old Greek temple that turned into a Christian church after St. Paul came to the island. It was such a different feel to the church than most of the other ones that I had experienced in Italy. Absolutely stunning!
We caught a coffee after on the piazza across from the church. It was a lovely sunny and fairly warm day. We were half way to the peninsula looking into the Ionian sea. We made our way down to the Castle Maniace there. Although it was closed, it did not stop us from entertaining ourselves on the grounds by taking photos and being silly. In hindsight, we would have loved to stay 2 nights in Siracusa and make that our home base for our travels in South Italy.
We headed home on the last bus out of town and relazed a bit in our room. Then time for a late dinner again, where Melaine had a local specialty, Nori Pasta with eggplant and pomadoro and I ordered a pumpkin dish, that when it came out was the wrong item. But I had a few bites of the wrong dish (peas, tomato, and anchovy) and then helped Melaine with her dish. It was an ok meal, the wine and the company was the best part.
Tomorrow we are off to trek Mt. Etna, a very active volcano that can be seen from space. Wish us luck!
Ciao!
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