Dec. 11, 2024
Symposium, Catania, Sicily
After having spent an hour blow drying them the night before, my clothes were just barely dry enough to pack in the morning. I was ready to leave by 9:30. My landlady came to collect the keys and kindly gave me a ride to the train station. This would have allowed me to make the 10:25 train to Catania except that the train was full and I couldn’t buy a ticket. This didn’t bother me too much because there was another train at 12:53 and I couldn’t check into my B&B before 15:00, anyway. I pulled out my book and sat down to wait.
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| Mt. Etna Towering Over Catania |
It was very cold in the station, so about 12:00 I dragged my suitcase down the stairs and back up to platform 2 where the train was supposed to arrive. The announcements were so garbled that I couldn’t understand them in Italian or English, but I was heartened when other passengers began to arrive. A train was sitting at the platform and I assumed it was the one we would take. I had finally understood enough of the announcement to gather that the tracks were undergoing maintenance and the train might be delayed. About 13:00, a station employee came out to tell us that the train was going to be replaced by a bus. We all trooped back down from the platform and up into the station to wait. The bus didn’t depart until 14:10. It was 15:15 before we got to Catania Centrale.
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| Church of St. Placidus |
Fortunately, my B&B was just around the corner from the station. It was another apartment converted into a B&B with four rooms. The bed was comfortable and there was heat, so I was happy. I dropped my belongings and went for a walk before it got dark. I walked up to the cathedral, passing the churches of St. Placido and St. Agatha on the way. Catania was destroyed by an eruption of Mt. Etna in 1693 and is called the “black city” because, when it was rebuilt, it was constructed almost entirely of lava.
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| Cathedral High Altar |
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| The Catania Cathedral and Archbishop's Palace |
The cathedral and associated palaces were all a dark gray with white marble trim which gave them a very distinctive look. Much of the city was built in the 18th century in a similar baroque style. It has wide, straight avenues. There was a Christmas market adjacent to the cathedral and I strolled through it and enjoyed the lights. St. Agatha is the patron saint of Catania and both her church and her chapel in the cathedral were impressive. The church of St. Agatha sports a great dome. For 7 euros, I could have climbed up there for a view of the city, but I declined.
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| Palazzo Universita Christmas Tree |
Past the cathedral, is the Piazza Universita where the Palazzo Universita is located. The university in Catania dates back to 1434. I ducked into the Palazzo Universita’s courtyard to appreciate the Christmas tree. Another Christmas market filled the square, centered around a tall Christmas tree. Christmas music was playing and, like everywhere else I had heard it, it was American Christmas music. It seemed odd to hear Elvis sing Blue Christmas in Italy.
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| Colegiata Interior |
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| Colegiata |
The Roman amphitheater was located up the street, but it was closing at 17:00, so I decided to leave that for the next day. I turned around and walked back to my lodging, stopping to visit the university’s church, Colegiata, on the way. The church was warmly lit and displayed a welcoming nativity scene. It had a friendly vibe. The cathedral had a large and detailed nativity scene, but it somehow seemed more like a model train scene.
Back in my room, I was exhausted from a long day of waiting. I ate the remainder of the cold cuts I had bought in Siracusa and a hard boiled egg for dinner and treated myself to a single serving box of red wine.
Dec. 12, 2024
Symposium, Catania, Sicily
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| The Catania Metro |
My whole reason for coming to Catania was to ride the narrow gauge Circumetnea Railway around Mt. Etna. I could not find a current timetable on the internet, so I took the Metro straight to the Borgo station as soon as I left the house. It turned out that the Circumetnea Railway did not come into Catania at that time of year. The closest it would get was Paterno, a half hour drive away. Of course, the bus to Paterno didn’t leave from the Borgo station, either. It left from the Nesima station on the edge of town. It was 9:45 and the bus didn’t leave until 12:15, so I took the metro back to the station near my B&B and went to see the fountain depicting the abduction of Proserpine that I had noticed from the bus on my way in.
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The Abduction of Proserpine
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The Roman Amphitheater in Catania
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After checking out the fountain, I still had a couple of hours, so decided to walk to the Borgo station and see the sights along the way. The trouble with the Catania Metro is that it takes a semicircular route between the Catania Centrale Station and the Borgo Station. If you are walking in a straight line, you don’t have the option of hopping on at an intermediate station. It was only a couple of miles, so I figured I had time. I stopped to visit the Roman Amphitheater (originally constructed by the Greeks) along the way. Houses had been built using the walls as foundations, so it was nearly completely surrounded by the town. I had to enter through a building. Unlike most of the ruined theaters, this one retained some of its original ceilings.
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| Ceilings in the Roman Amphitheater |
The restorations being done currently were using a method whereby they mixed polymers with crushed lava rock and poured it into molds to create replacement pieces. Some of the houses built on the walls had compromised the walls to create more space and others had subsequently been destroyed by earthquakes. When restoring these houses, they used different colored plaster to emphasize the constructions from different periods.
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| Different Colored Plaster for Each Period |
Once I left the theater, I had to make tracks for the station. According to Google, I had plenty of time, but it was hard to keep up with Google’s pace because the crowds on the sidewalks and cars in the street were in no hurry. I fairly ran two kilometers uphill, but barely made it to the Borgo Station by noon. I was at the Nesima station at 12:10, but guessed wrong about which exit to take and missed the one and only bus to Paterno by a minute. I was willing to spend the $40 to take an Uber or a taxi, but they were on strike until 13:00 and the train left at 12:59. I hung around, hoping to see a bus to Paterno or a taxi, until it was too late to drive there in time. I was bummed.
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| Car Owners Get Creative with Parking |
It took me a few minutes to regroup and decide what to do. I almost got back on the Metro, but then realized I needed cash. I knew the bank wasn’t on my usual route, so decided to take the hour’s walk through a more modern part of Catania to the bank. At first, I walked through a working-class neighborhood of Catania until I passed the soccer stadium. The neighborhood gradually improved as I entered an older part of the city and then I passed into the modern business section where the bank was located. I could have taken the Metro from there, but figured I might as well walk the last kilometer because I had nothing better to do. That brought my total mileage for the day to about six miles.
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| The Soccer Stadium in Catania |
By the time I got back, I was hungry, so I stopped at Ali Baba’s for doner kebab … sort of. The pide made a flour tortilla look thick and they put the fries INSIDE the wrap. Despite requesting the spicy sauce, the whole thing was fairly bland. However, it was cheap and filling and I got my lettuce, tomato, and cucumbers. After lunch, I returned to my B&B and spent the afternoon lounging and practicing the mandolin. For dinner, I ate my last hard boiled egg and some cheese I had bought along the way home. Then I settled down to write and work on my blog.
Dec. 13, 2024
Citta degli Dei, Agrigento, Sicily
I got up early and showed up for my lovely breakfast while the croissants were still in the oven. My train left at 8:52 and I didn’t want to miss it. I was out the door by 8:10 and was surprised to find it raining, since that was not predicted. The station wasn’t far and I got there without getting too damp. The first ticket machine wasn’t working, but the second one I tried worked, although it wouldn’t take my credit card and I had to feed it cash. Ticket in hand, I then checked the monitor for my platform and saw that the train was cancelled. I talked to the customer service rep who told me there was a strike until 13:00. The only train they could promise me was the 13:15 to Messina, but that would not connect with a train to Agrigento. I was out of luck. I stood in line for the ticket agent to get my refund and she was disgusted that the machine had sold me a ticket. I took my thirty euros and headed out into the rain to walk to the bus station, a few blocks away.
I was damper by the time I got to the bus station, but for 13.40 euros I got a seat on a direct bus to Agrigento at 9:30. I settled into the tiny waiting area to wait for my bus. Agrigento is on the southern coast of Sicily but, to reach it from Siracusa near the southeast corner of Sicily, one must head to the center of the island. We drove west for a couple of hours to Caltanissetta and then turned southwest to Canicatti and finally on to Agrigento, arriving about 12:40.
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| The Entrance to My B&B |
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| 100 Stairs to my B&B |
The only drawback to arriving at the bus station rather than the train station was the hundred stairs I had to drag my suitcase up to get to my B&B. It wasn’t a terribly long walk once I survived the stairs. The entrance was a construction site and there was no one there to let me in. I was only a few minutes earlier than my check-in appointment, so I sent a WhatsApp message saying I was there and sat down to wait. Someone let me into the building, but I couldn’t get into the apartment dedicated to the B&B. I waited for about half an hour and then finally broke down and placed a voice call. I hate speaking foreign languages over the telephone, but I reached the owner quickly and he came within a few minutes.
The B&B was pretty nice for the price. I had only paid $55 for two nights and he waived the 4 euro city tax because I would have to go around the corner to get breakfast. The bed was comfortable and there was heat. I was happy. I took a few minutes to get organized and then went for a walk about 14:00.
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| The Cathedral in Agrigento |
I headed for the cathedral, but found it closed. It was only open from 10:00 to 13:00. There weren’t a lot of other sights in Agrigento. People came there to visit the Valley of the Temples, nearby. I wandered through narrow, not terribly well maintained alleys for an hour. I caught a glimpse of the sea, but had to descend a long way before I found a place with a view. All of the buildings in Agrigento were either built of golden stone or painted yellow. It was a very monochromatic place. I decided to head for the train station, partly to see where it was and partly because I was hungry and hoped there would be a restaurant nearby. I climbed another long stairway to the station. The walk to my B&B from the train station did not involve stairs.
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| Everything in Agrigento was Yellow |
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| Agrigento Alley |
Across the square from the train station, I spotted an upscale restaurant with people eating in an enclosed outdoor pavilion. I decided I had saved enough money on the train fare to treat myself to a nice meal. I ordered couscous with wild boar in a tomato sauce. It was very filling and tasty. A friendly orange cat kept me company while I was eating.
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| Couscous with Wild Boar |
After lunch/dinner it started to get cool. I walked back up the hill to my B&B and spent the evening practicing, writing, and reading. I was ready to go to bed by 20:30.
Dec. 14, 2024
Citta degli Dei, Agrigento, Sicily
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| "Mostly Flat" Stairs |
My one reason for coming to Agrigento was to visit the Valley of the Temples and I wasn’t about to miss it. I got up fairly early and ate breakfast at the bar next door where my host had arranged for me to eat. The proprietor filled a croissant with pistachio crème while I waited and served me a cappuccino. Then I set off to walk what, according to Google Maps was 2.2 mostly flat kilometers. Of course, I had already learned that “mostly flat” probably meant stairs, so the hundreds of steps to the bottom of the town were no surprise. What was a surprise was that all the gates to the park seemed to be locked.
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| Greek Pot in the Archaeological Museum |
Eventually, I found the archaeological museum and it was open. They had collected a display of Greek pottery from museums in London, Paris, and Munich and it was truly impressive. The rest of the museum was a humdrum assortment of potsherds and corroded bronze implements. Within the grounds of the museum was the Ekklesiasterion where the assembly had gathered to decide issues democratically.
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| The Ekklesiasterion at Agrigento |
After the museum, I continued down the hill for another half a kilometer or so until I saw an open gate. I slipped through and was questioned, but I had a valid ticket, so they let me in. It turns out that I had slid in an employee entrance and saved myself another half a mile of walking. The first ruin I came to was that of the temple of Zeus. Dating back to the fifth century BC, the ruins were monumental, but very scattered. Apparently, it had once sported 38 giant telamons, one of which had been reconstructed for visitors to see.
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| Ruins of the Temple of Zeus |
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| Reconstructed Telamon |
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| Temple of Heracles |
I proceded on to the temple of Heracles, whose pillars had been reconstructed in the 1920’s by Sir Alexander Hardcastle, a captain in the British army, who built a villa between the temple of Concordia and the temple of Heracles. This was the oldest of the temples, from the 6th century BC. The eight doric columns rising from the top of a hill could be seen from far away.
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| Hardcastle's Villa |
Most impressive, by far, was the nearly intact temple of Concordia. One of the best preserved Doric temples in the world, it remained intact largely because it was converted into a Christian basilica in the 4th century. In the 18th century, it was returned to it’s original form. More recent restoration has been done only to prevent further degradation. Originally, it was covered with white stucco with polychrome decorations. It is believed that it was built as a temple to Castor and Pollux. The Christian church was dedicated to Peter and Paul after the bishop cast out the pagan demons.
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| The Temple of Concordia |
The other significant temple that I saw was the temple to the Chthonic deities, Demeter and Persephone. It sits near the edge of what was at the time a pool of water. An elaborate system of watercourses directed rainfall into this pool that was then used for irrigation. Today, the depression is dry and planted with orange trees.
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| Temple of the Cthonic Deities |
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The Former Reservoir
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| Porta V |
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| Olive Orchard |
I tried to get back out the way I had come in, but the gate was locked. Instead, I had to exit via the Porta V, which was one of the original gates to the city. This involved a long walk further downhill through an olive orchard. The scenery was lovely, but I was only getting further from town. It was 13:00 by the time I got to the road. I waited for 15 minutes and paid 1.70 euros to take a city bus back to the train station.
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| My Pizza |
Since it was only 13:30, I was able to get lunch in a pizzeria near the station. It was a delightful pizza margherita with the thickest crust and the most cheese I had seen on an Italian pizza. I could only finish half of it. I was back in my room by 15:00. I intended to take a nap, but never did. About 18:00, the host knocked on my door and invited me to dinner.
Dec. 15, 2024
BnB del Parlimento, Palermo, Sicily
My host’s name was Enzo and he wanted to go to a restaurant with karaoke, but didn’t want to go alone. He seemed like a nice man and I knew this was my one opportunity to live like a local, so I went for it. He picked me up at 20:00 and drove me down out of Agrigento and along the coast to a little out of the way restaurant. The place was packed. A lot of the conversation went over my head, but I think we shared a complete dinner. I ate the pasta and he had the salad and fish. Neither of us were all that hungry.
The surprise was that there were two tables full of old men, all of whom could really sing. There were also some younger women who were likewise amazing. My date, who was pretty good by karoake standards in the US or Mexico, sounded like an amateur in comparison. Knowing that singing and singing karaoke are two different things, I didn’t try. Maybe I could have pulled off something by Adele, but not on a first date. We stayed until the karoake was over and then headed back to Agrigento, doing our best to converse in a mishmash of Italian and Spanish. Heaven only knew what would come out of my mouth when I got back to Mexico. I had been thinking in Italian for two months.
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| Agrigento Train Station |
Enzo prepared a nice breakfast for everyone in the B&B and was then kind enough to give me a ride to the train station. The first half of the ride to Palermo was pretty empty and I had a set of four seats to myself. The stern conductor made me move before we took on a lot of passengers at an intermediate stop, so I spent the second half of the ride on a fold down seat in the vestibule.
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| Train Station Ceiling |
Palermo had the nicest train station I had seen since Milano Centrale. The entrance was marred by scaffolding, but the ceiling in the entryway was beautiful. I arrived in Palermo at 12:15 and couldn’t check into my room until 14:00. I started walking in what turned out to be the wrong direction. After dragging my bag about a kilometer, I stopped in a nice park surrounding the Norman Ponte Ammiraglio and sat down to eat my leftover pizza. It immediately started to rain, so I huddled under a giant ficus tree. Fortunately, it didn’t rain for long at that point.
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| The Ponte Ammiraglio |
The bridge was built in the 12th century and remains in good condition, although the river has changed course, leaving it high and dry. It’s in a largely residential neighborhood of apartment blocks with haphazardly parked cars everywhere and lots of litter. I was somewhat relieved when I realized that I had been going the wrong way and wasn’t going to be staying there. However, the walk had given me something to do for an hour. I turned around and walked back to the center of Palermo.
It started to rain in earnest about the time I got back to central Palermo. I wound my way through narrow streets of marble slabs with no sidewalks, which made trundling my suitcase hazardous, while simultaneously juggling a mandolin and an umbrella. I got to my B&B about 13:45 and was relieved when the code for the outer door worked. I took my backpack and mandolin up the 61 stairs to the B&B and left them on the landing while I went back for my suitcase. By the time I had dragged it up all those flights of stairs, it was 13:59 and the second keypad let me into the B&B.
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| My Lovely Room in Palermo |
I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the door to my room and discovered a spacious entry hall leading into a very large room with both an armchair and a couch, all for about $50/night. I answered a few messages and thought I was going out for a walk before dark, but it started to thunder and pour rain. I made myself a decaf cappuccino and settled in to enjoy the afternoon in my cozy room.
Dec. 16, 2024
B&B del Parlimento, Palermo, Sicily
It was too bad that rain kept me indoors my first afternoon in Palermo, because I know I missed a lot. I did manage to cover a lot of ground in one day, however. Palermo has gotten a bad rap, in the past, because of the mafia. Don’t believe it. Palermo is incredible.
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| The Marina in Palermo |
Breakfast was supposed to start at 8:00 and I was ready. However, the very nice hostess arrived late and I didn’t get breakfast until 8:30. She made up for it by packing me a breakfast to go for my early departure the next day. I was out the door by 9:00 and headed for the marina. By the time I got there, I realized that I needed to buy more international data, so I had to return to my B&B and spend half an hour convincing Telcel to take my US credit card.
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| Oratorio dell'Immacolatella |
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| Oratorio Ceiling |
Once I could navigate again, I set off to the train station to find the stop for the airport bus. I had bought a ticket online but couldn’t find where the bus stopped. As it turned out, there was a bus terminal adjacent to Palermo Centrale and that is where the bus departed. From there, I set off to walk to the cathedral, but I kept getting distracted by architecture. My first diversion was the Oratorio dell’Immacolatella, a baroque church from the 17th and 18th centuries. I appreciated its white and gold interior and lavishly painted ceiling. Down a nearby side street, I spotted an intriguing gate which turned out to be the entrance to the 12th century Church of the Holy Trinity. The Chiesa dell’Assunta was another 17th century baroque masterpiece.
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Gate to the Holy Trinity
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| Chiesa dell'Assunta Interior |
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| Chiesa dell'Assunta Detail |
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| La Fontana Vergogna |
unique juxtaposition of golden mosaics and white marble curlicues. Gold was everywhere and the walls were decorated with luscious, modern, gold icons. San Cataldo, on the other hand, was an austere Norman church, also from the 12th century. It’s unplastered stone vaults seemed ancient. Only the mosaic floors showed any detail. It was originally a private chapel attached to a 12th century palace that no longer exists. William II donated it to the church in whose possession it remained until the late 18th century when it was used by the royal post. Benedictine monks used it as a hospital and decorated it with frescoes in the 17th century. The frescoes were removed in the 19th century during a restoration. It was at this time that the three domes acquired their signature red color.
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| San Cataldo Interior |
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| Church of San Salvatore |
I then moved on to the twelve-sided Church of San Salvatore. This church is laughingly called the Church of the Auditorium because of its design. It’s frescoes were in poor condition but its baroque marbles were accessible and easy to appreciate.
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| The Palermo Cathedral |
Continuing along Corso Vittorio Emanuele, I was flabbergasted to see the immense cathedral. Begun in the 12th century, it has been embellished with
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| The Royal Palace |
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| Palm Studded Park Across from the Cathedral |
I continued on my way to the Piazza Independenza where I was to get a bus to Monreale. It was about 12:45 and the cathedral at Monreale was closed from 13:00 to 14:30. I wasn’t really hungry, but I spied a porchetteria. I can’t resist porchetta. I bought a porchetta sandwich and sat in the park to eat it. Then I bought a ticket for the bus and waited twenty minutes for it to come. I got on the bus with a large group of high school students. We were packed in like sardines. The bus ride un the hill to Monreale took an hour. The cathedral was open by the time we got there. For some reason, the ticket office told me it was free to visit. I didn’t complain. There was a statue of William II presenting the church to the public in front of the entrance.
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| Monreale Exterior |
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| Christ Pantocrater |
Monreale Cathedral blew my mind. I had been impressed by the 4th century Byzantine churches in Ravenna. Monreale was built in a similar style, but not until the 12th century, so the mosaics were in much better repair. It almost made me want to go to church so I could sit there and soak it in. Unfortunately, the pews were all roped off. The mosaic of Christ Pantocrater in the apse was astounding.
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| Predawn Streets of Palermo |
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| The Palermo Airport's Stunning Location |
The following morning, I got up before dawn and dragged my bag through darkened streets to the bus terminal. My bus was right on time and we rode around the city, stopping to collect more passengers from big hotels, before heading out along the coast to the airport. This gave me a chance to enjoy the Christmas lights one more time before saying farewell to Italy.
My host’s name was Enzo and he wanted to go to a restaurant with karaoke, but didn’t want to go alone. He seemed like a nice man and I knew this was my one opportunity to live like a local, so I went for it. He picked me up at 20:00 and drove me down out of Agrigento and along the coast to a little out of the way restaurant. The place was packed. A lot of the conversation went over my head, but I think we shared a complete dinner. I ate the pasta and he had the salad and fish. Neither of us were all that hungry. 
