This post is a bit odd because of the time table in which it is written. The Glee Club left our hotel in Rome at 6:55AM on June 2nd and, as we had stayed up mostly all night in order to celebrate our senior banquet, the deviants slept in a lot on that same day. Brian and I slept until 11:30AM and then showered and checked out of the lobby. As our train wasn’t leaving the station until 10PM we decided to leave our baggage at the hotel and get things ready in the city. We charged our laptops, finished writing some blog posts, and then finally made our way to the subway station. We got off at the Roma Termini stop about two hours early (on my request, since our train ride was an overnight one at about 10 hours and I did not want to miss it) and went out for some last pizza and gelato in Rome. After a nice dinner we hopped on our train and took off.
Our train was much cooler than I would have ever imagined. We were equipped with 10 or so cars and each one had a bunch of compartments. There were two top bunks, two luggage racks, and two rows of three seats each. The backs of the seats could then slide down and form a middle bunk so a compartment which seated six people miraculously turned into a six-bunk suite. The door of the compartment closed and the window shades all went down so I was very excited and assumed we would be in for a very comfortable and restful trip.
However, much to our surprise, the entire car which we were assigned to was filled with a group of high school students who were headed to Sicily for a school trip. A trip which could have helped Brian and I get back a lot of much needed rest while getting rid of the traveling time instead gave us a bit of frustration. I can’t really blame the kids for being excited to go on a week-long trip to the beautiful beaches of Sicily but at the same time I wish the chaperones had thought of the other passengers in the train. Even the train attendant was not happy and grumbled to me and Brian a lot about how loud the kids were.
I did manage to get some sleep, however, and we arrived in Catania Centrale at 8:30AM on June 3rd. Right before we got there we checked our email on my Kindle and we realized that our tour of Mt. Etna for the morning had been cancelled last minute. The company very nicely offered to take us on the evening tour (3-9PM) and give us a discount. We agreed via email and decided to check into our hostel/bed and breakfast early. We took the 20 minute walk from the train station to the street using, again, my Kindle’s 3G feature for the Google maps walking directions and found everything fairly easily. I am just getting used to this whole principle of walking around a lot with my backpack but I think It will be easier than it seems now.
We had some trouble getting into the Bed and Breakfast because the signs to buzz up to the top were mislabeled and wrong but we finally got through and were very nicely helped into our room and shown around by the very warm proprietress. Our room had a queen bed (two twins) and another twin on the side as well as a wardrobe and two end tables. The window opened to the street and we were able to see out and get some fresh air. The sheets and towels were free and we were able to use a bathroom with a small but usable shower, as well as a kitchen where breakfast would be served the following morning.
After checking in we immediately jumped into bed and finished our troubled sleep on the train with a great two-hour nap. We also managed to sneak out afterwards and grab some lunch as well as a quick walk around town to see some of the sights close to us. There is a big open-air market which we passed on the way to the hostel with hundreds of food stalls with every type of fresh fruit and vegetable, as well as cheese, meat, fish, and spices you could imagine. When we came back, however, it was mostly closed so we ate some bread, cheese, oranges, and a cantaloupe in the shadow of the Castello Ursino (Ursino Castle) just a few blocks from our B&B. The oranges were easily the best I have had and the melon wasn’t great, but the cheese and bread were beyond good. My goal on this trip is to get a lot of natural undoctored food for lunch and then eat it while people-watching. So far it has been a success and I cannot wait to try that again.
After eating we checked out the exterior of the Castle and the Duomo, as well as the surrounding Piazza and then we came back to get picked up for our tour. Our guide was Guiseppe and he was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. He works as a researcher at the University of Catania and monitors Mt. Etna during and after eruptions which are quite frequent. We had six other people on our tour and we left in our van for a very nice adventure. We drove to the base of the mountain, hiked up for 45 minutes examining rocks and other formations, and came back down. We then drove higher up and stopped at a tourist station to rest and then hiked a bit more. It was quite incredible for us to be able to see whole lava flows from 2001 and 1898 that dominated the landscape and left huge black scars. We even got to go into at tunnel formed by an underground lava flow.
At only 36 euros a person for the six hour tour it was really a great idea for us and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We got to see one of the most unique geographical features of Sicily and have it explained by a scientist who has knowledge of it almost every day. Here are some pictures of what we saw and did.
After our hiking and riding we were ready for a good meal and per Giuseppe’s suggestion, we headed to a locally run restaurant called Trattoria il Mare. Here we got an absolutely A+ Sicilian seafood meal for very cheap compared to the quality. I am not normally one to each much beside fish but we had everything from whole fried calamari to sardines to octopus to mussels and I loved every part. That, by the way, was only the Chef’s Special appetizer. Afterwards I got swordfish and calamari pasta and Brian had mussels and swordfish. For around 45 US dollars we got all of that and we were absolutely stuffed yet happy. We then walked back to the hostel very happy and tired and ready to rest and begin a new day.
I am already extremely happy that we made it to Sicily and I can say that our deviation has gone swimmingly so far. We successfully navigated our own travel, paid for our own things, and even reacted when plans didn’t go as we designed them.
Hope to update you all with more good things of our second day in Catania tmorrow!
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