Catania and eastern Sicily
Today might be Tuesday, or Not! I’ve sorta lost track of days since this trip started.
This will be our third night staying in Catania but we have actually seen nothing of the town as all our excursions were to neighbouring towns and cities and we rarely got back to the hotel before 7:30pm.
After three days I’m convinced our bus driver was a total idiot or a subtle genius. He managed to take incorrect routes at least twice per day. His GPS was a rather ancient TomTom which steered him, either accidentally or deliberately, down roads that made absolutely no sense. I’m almost convinced he may have been paid by the km. and was padding his logbook accordingly. At this time it doesn’t really matter as we start afresh tomorrow with a different bus and driver.
Monday morning our journey took us inland about 140km to a Roman Villa located outside the town of Piazza Armerina. Believed to have been built around 300 AD it was buried by several landslides and was not discovered until about 100 years ago. Possibly the summer home of Marcus Aurelius,it featured 34 rooms, some of which were slave and servants quarters.These were decorated with marble floors with geometric patterns.
Arriving at the partially restored villa, the first things to be seen were rooms for thermal baths of varying temperatures. Surprisingly the hot rooms were warmed by underground boilers rather than thermal springs. The main building has been covered by a large wooden roof to protect the mosaics from the elements. It had the disadvantage of darkening the whole structure. Wooden platforms several feet above the mosaics allowed visitors to see the mosaics while protecting them from damage. The ones in the main rooms featured various scenes from Roman aristocratic life. Several were of hunting scenes with exotic animals like tigers, ostriches and elephants. While clearly damaged by time and the elements they offered more than enough detail to show what was being depicted.
Following our visit to the villa our next stop was the town of Caltagirone, located some 20 km south east. Unable to enter the town by bus, ( due to the narrow winding streets) we took a local “shuttle train for the ascent to the town centre. Famous for it’s ceramics the town also featured a long (142 steps) staircase decorated with hand painted ceramic tiles. The view from the top was apparently spectacular but with the temperature hovering above 34 degrees we decided to pass.
Tuesday morning we travelled to Mount Etna and ascended by cable car to a lookout point some 300 feet below the summit. Due to various delays ( as usual the driver wasted half an our travelling in the wrong direction) our time was limited so we had a brief walk along the massive lava field admiring the view before descending. All terrain buses were stirring up the volcanic dust as they took passengers ( for an additional 35 Euro) a little closer to the summit. For a better idea of that, you can check out Rick Steve’s Highlights of Sicily on YouTube.
Our next stop was Taormina, a beautiful coastal town some 15 km away from the base of the volcano. Again unable to tackle the steep narrow streets we swapped our tour bus for a shuttle to the city centre.
Lunch at a local restaurant consisted of 5 different styles of pizza and several glasses of red wine.
This was followed by a walk through the old town. An impressive Greek style theatre would have offered an impressive view of the surrounding countryside but the line to enter seemed to be at a standstill, so we spent an hour window shopping and admiring the views.
The town was literally crawling with several hundred tourists which made for rather slow progress moving through the narrow streets. People were almost fighting with each other in their efforts to catch the shuttle buses returning to the parking lot, Our tour guide almost “lost it” trying to keep our group together as very rude tourists tried to push ahead. With our number now at just over 30 she was having s hard time ensuring that no one was left behind. With several of our group being in their 70’s they were not exactly up to the pace. Several, of Italian descent and Spanish descent were rather short and had difficulty negotiating the rather high steps of the buses.
As we returned to Catania the sun was starting to set behind Mt. Etna, making a rather spectacular view to our west.
After 3 days of fairly intense travel, we are looking forward to enjoying a little down time. Unfortunately that will not be happening until the weekend when our tour comes to an end
This will be our third night staying in Catania but we have actually seen nothing of the town as all our excursions were to neighbouring towns and cities and we rarely got back to the hotel before 7:30pm.
After three days I’m convinced our bus driver was a total idiot or a subtle genius. He managed to take incorrect routes at least twice per day. His GPS was a rather ancient TomTom which steered him, either accidentally or deliberately, down roads that made absolutely no sense. I’m almost convinced he may have been paid by the km. and was padding his logbook accordingly. At this time it doesn’t really matter as we start afresh tomorrow with a different bus and driver.
Monday morning our journey took us inland about 140km to a Roman Villa located outside the town of Piazza Armerina. Believed to have been built around 300 AD it was buried by several landslides and was not discovered until about 100 years ago. Possibly the summer home of Marcus Aurelius,it featured 34 rooms, some of which were slave and servants quarters.These were decorated with marble floors with geometric patterns.
Arriving at the partially restored villa, the first things to be seen were rooms for thermal baths of varying temperatures. Surprisingly the hot rooms were warmed by underground boilers rather than thermal springs. The main building has been covered by a large wooden roof to protect the mosaics from the elements. It had the disadvantage of darkening the whole structure. Wooden platforms several feet above the mosaics allowed visitors to see the mosaics while protecting them from damage. The ones in the main rooms featured various scenes from Roman aristocratic life. Several were of hunting scenes with exotic animals like tigers, ostriches and elephants. While clearly damaged by time and the elements they offered more than enough detail to show what was being depicted.
Following our visit to the villa our next stop was the town of Caltagirone, located some 20 km south east. Unable to enter the town by bus, ( due to the narrow winding streets) we took a local “shuttle train for the ascent to the town centre. Famous for it’s ceramics the town also featured a long (142 steps) staircase decorated with hand painted ceramic tiles. The view from the top was apparently spectacular but with the temperature hovering above 34 degrees we decided to pass.
Tuesday morning we travelled to Mount Etna and ascended by cable car to a lookout point some 300 feet below the summit. Due to various delays ( as usual the driver wasted half an our travelling in the wrong direction) our time was limited so we had a brief walk along the massive lava field admiring the view before descending. All terrain buses were stirring up the volcanic dust as they took passengers ( for an additional 35 Euro) a little closer to the summit. For a better idea of that, you can check out Rick Steve’s Highlights of Sicily on YouTube.
Our next stop was Taormina, a beautiful coastal town some 15 km away from the base of the volcano. Again unable to tackle the steep narrow streets we swapped our tour bus for a shuttle to the city centre.
Lunch at a local restaurant consisted of 5 different styles of pizza and several glasses of red wine.
This was followed by a walk through the old town. An impressive Greek style theatre would have offered an impressive view of the surrounding countryside but the line to enter seemed to be at a standstill, so we spent an hour window shopping and admiring the views.
The town was literally crawling with several hundred tourists which made for rather slow progress moving through the narrow streets. People were almost fighting with each other in their efforts to catch the shuttle buses returning to the parking lot, Our tour guide almost “lost it” trying to keep our group together as very rude tourists tried to push ahead. With our number now at just over 30 she was having s hard time ensuring that no one was left behind. With several of our group being in their 70’s they were not exactly up to the pace. Several, of Italian descent and Spanish descent were rather short and had difficulty negotiating the rather high steps of the buses.
As we returned to Catania the sun was starting to set behind Mt. Etna, making a rather spectacular view to our west.
After 3 days of fairly intense travel, we are looking forward to enjoying a little down time. Unfortunately that will not be happening until the weekend when our tour comes to an end
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