Friday walking trip
the alarm in my head woke me at around 8 but by the time we had the leisurely breakfast supplied by the hotel, we were too stuffed to handle an early start. Rosemary ham, grilled mushrooms and tomatoes, boiled eggs, several mixed juices, cheese, fresh fruit, cappuccino provided enough calories to get us moving.
We took a local bus south to the lower end of the Historical District before heading west through narrow side streets to arrive at the sprawling Ballaro market area. I was able to give my Smooth Q gimbal a test run with my iPhone 7 plus
This device allows hand held video on the go with virtually no camera shake.
Following our trip through the market we set off to explore one church and came to an even better one part way through the journey. The Church Gesu, also known as the Complex of Casa Professa was a Baroque style church, dating back almost 500 years. Featuring hundreds of marble statues, a few examples shown below
The church has upwards of 20 different yypes of marble in a range of colours, mostly found on the island but also from as far away as Belgium.
Our ticket allowed us to explore the main areas of the church as well as the sacristy with its wooden paneling and carvings as well as the crypt, which was mostly opened and unoccupied stone caskets.
Departing the church, we returned to the market area for lunch. Upon rejecting one offer from a vendor, we stopped at an adjacent stall to check prices only to be berated by the first owner who seemed to be telling us his food was cheaper and better and we should return. Instead, to avoid conflict we moved further into the market and found an alternate venue.
Our choice for the day was grilled squid with a tomato and onion side salad. The squid was tasty but a little rubbery.
So Susanna opted for an extra plate of fried squid which was less so.
Strangely, the most popular dish was some type of stewed eggplant served in a bun. Stuffing the buns full of eggplant the servers then squeezed them to eliminate a significant quantity of liquid before serving.
Never my favourite dish under any circumstances it seemed like the perfect way to ruin a bun!
Following our meal we next visited the main Cathedral, a large structure that looked extremely impressive from the outside but appeared quite plain and simple inside compared to the earlier Baroque church.
Our next stop was the Quattro Conti, literally the Four Corners, featuring an impressively carved building on each of its corners. Police controlled traffic rather indifferently as tourists stepped into the middle of the intersection to shoot panoramas and selfies while dodging the occasional cars.
The street heading north was a strictly pedestrian thoroughfare dotted with various clothing stores, gelato bars, coffee shops and the odd Cannabis dispensary.
Stopping into one to enquire, I was shocked to find their price for orally ingested CBD oil was close to double the already outrageous price that I pay in Canada.
A further step in a couple of wine stores showed some amazing bargains- local ( Sicilian) wines for 2 or 3 Euro. But brands of Tuscan reds that I’m familiar with from Canada we’re actually slightly more expensive here.
Our next stop was the Opera House, apparently the largest in Italy to inquire about performances. Featuring the Barber of Seville tonight, and La Traviata next Friday we decided to check with our tour guide when we meet tomorrow. No point in shelling out 80 Euro per ticket if our bus doesn’t make it back to town in time.
A final stop at a 24 hour CarreFour grocery store gave us the chance to load up on plums, grapes, beer, buns, wine, cheese and ham- our picnic for the evening since Susanna wasn’t overly thrilled about eating a large restaurant meal.
Tomorrow’s alarm is set for 7, as we are hoping to beat a large bus tour to the breakfast room before we set off to explore some further sights and the other 2 main markets.
We took a local bus south to the lower end of the Historical District before heading west through narrow side streets to arrive at the sprawling Ballaro market area. I was able to give my Smooth Q gimbal a test run with my iPhone 7 plus
This device allows hand held video on the go with virtually no camera shake.
Following our trip through the market we set off to explore one church and came to an even better one part way through the journey. The Church Gesu, also known as the Complex of Casa Professa was a Baroque style church, dating back almost 500 years. Featuring hundreds of marble statues, a few examples shown below
Our ticket allowed us to explore the main areas of the church as well as the sacristy with its wooden paneling and carvings as well as the crypt, which was mostly opened and unoccupied stone caskets.
Departing the church, we returned to the market area for lunch. Upon rejecting one offer from a vendor, we stopped at an adjacent stall to check prices only to be berated by the first owner who seemed to be telling us his food was cheaper and better and we should return. Instead, to avoid conflict we moved further into the market and found an alternate venue.
So Susanna opted for an extra plate of fried squid which was less so.
Strangely, the most popular dish was some type of stewed eggplant served in a bun. Stuffing the buns full of eggplant the servers then squeezed them to eliminate a significant quantity of liquid before serving.
Never my favourite dish under any circumstances it seemed like the perfect way to ruin a bun!
Following our meal we next visited the main Cathedral, a large structure that looked extremely impressive from the outside but appeared quite plain and simple inside compared to the earlier Baroque church.
The street heading north was a strictly pedestrian thoroughfare dotted with various clothing stores, gelato bars, coffee shops and the odd Cannabis dispensary.
Stopping into one to enquire, I was shocked to find their price for orally ingested CBD oil was close to double the already outrageous price that I pay in Canada.
A further step in a couple of wine stores showed some amazing bargains- local ( Sicilian) wines for 2 or 3 Euro. But brands of Tuscan reds that I’m familiar with from Canada we’re actually slightly more expensive here.
Our next stop was the Opera House, apparently the largest in Italy to inquire about performances. Featuring the Barber of Seville tonight, and La Traviata next Friday we decided to check with our tour guide when we meet tomorrow. No point in shelling out 80 Euro per ticket if our bus doesn’t make it back to town in time.
A final stop at a 24 hour CarreFour grocery store gave us the chance to load up on plums, grapes, beer, buns, wine, cheese and ham- our picnic for the evening since Susanna wasn’t overly thrilled about eating a large restaurant meal.
Tomorrow’s alarm is set for 7, as we are hoping to beat a large bus tour to the breakfast room before we set off to explore some further sights and the other 2 main markets.
Comments
Post a Comment