The beauty of Catania (and surroundings) at no cost

That delicious lunch break “made in Sicily”

For the lunch break, just move to the Coffee Europe (corso Italia 302) or al Caffè Epoca, where between sweet or savory specialties there is plenty of choice: rice arancini, cartocciate (closed pizzas), ice creams, ricotta-filled desserts… and the inevitable granitas.
Late afternoon is the best time for a tour in the historic center, between Piazza Belliniwhich overlooks the Massimo Bellini Theater inaugurated in 1890, University square (take a look at the internal courtyard of the University Palace, designed by Vaccarini) e Piazza Duomo.

A stop in via Crociferi is a must, a row of baroque churches one more beautiful than the other.
For the “monuments” of street food then just take a walk in via Etnea, with a specific destination: the historic pastry shop Savia (via Etnea 302)to taste the best Sicilian arancini and ricotta cannoli. Or you can have lunch in an easy place like La Cucina dei Colori (via San Michele 9, lacucinadeicolori.it).

Do you prefer a morning tour to Catania? Put Castello Ursino on your agenda and take a trip to the lively and colorful fish market, behind Piazza Duomo. To see the Roman Amphitheater just look out from Piazza Stesicoro. If the heat makes itself felt, it’s time to stop at the kiosk to order a “seltz, lemon and salt”, not a simple thirst-quenching drink but a real rite for the DOC Catania people, starting with the preparation: a glass of seltzer(sparkling, cold water, tapped from special taps), the squeezed juice of four half lemons, a pinch of sea salt, stirred at the tip of a teaspoon, until everything is foamed. A delight.

The summer appointment with Santuzza

Not to be missed, on August 17, the “meeting” with the patron saint of Catania, Agata, per the traditional, and very heartfelt, midsummer party in the heart of the city: the procession at 8.30 pm with the relics of the Saint follows this itinerary: piazza Duomo, via Dusmet, via Porticello, piazza San Placido, via Vittorio Emanuele, piazza Duomo. A path animated by the stalls of toasted peanuts and seed.

There is a stone castle ready to set sail

A tour in the Riviera dei Ciclopi? It costs only 1 euro, the price of bus no. 534 which from the center of Catania in about 20 minutes leads to Aci Castello and Aci Trezza. In Acicastello not to be missed a tour in piazza Castello, a large terrace overlooking the sea dominated by the imposing Norman Castle of Aci in lava stone placed between land and sea, on a promontory of lava rock, like an ocean liner ready to sail. In 1877 Giovanni verga wrote the short story The stories of the Trezza Castle, set right in the manor that today houses the Civic Museum (with minerals, fossils and Neolithic finds) and a small botanical garden of succulents. From the battlements of the Aci Castle and its medieval tower, the view of the Cyclops Islands is magnificent.

In the town of Malavoglia

Aci Trezza, the town of Giovanni Verga’s I Malavoglia, can be reached on foot. The stars are the Faraglioni and the Lachea Island (protected marine area to explore with mask and fins) that rise a few strokes from the revto. Legend has it that the Faraglioni (produced by submarine eruptions about 500 thousand years ago) were hurled with anger by the Cyclops Polyphemus against Ulysses on the run, after the astute “Nobody”, by deception, had deprived him of the single eye. The sunrise at the Faraglioni of Aci Trezza, which tinges the sky and sea with pink, is a spectacle, immortalized by the tourists who are waiting for the sun to rise.

A geological curiosity: in the small port of Aci Trezza there are the pilows (pillow lava) and the columnar basalts (similar to those of the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland) with a pentagonal or hexagonal section: the visit is free, to admire them just go ashore from the promenade.

On these black rocks Luchino Visconti turned The earth trembles (1948) summoning the fishermen of Aci Trezza and their families as actors. Today the skilled shipwrights of the Rodolico shipyard build the traditional wooden rowing boats.
Compulsory breakfast with granita and brioche (3.50 euros) at the tables of theEden barthe time of a dip in the sea and then … you change scenery and, above all, altitude.

In the presence of his majesty, Etna

In less than an hour by car from Catania you will be in the presence of his majesty Mount Etnathe highest active volcano in Europe, in Muntagna, as the people of Catania confidentially call it, who frequent the southern side of the volcano. From the country of Nicolosi you get in your car until Sapienza Refuge (1,900 meters). Etna smokes, is a strong, ancient presence, and the gaze of tourists embraces the Central Crater (3330 meters) and the sea. The the surrounding landscape is of absolute beauty, the colors shine in the clear air, the wind blows from the silence of the lunar landscape of the volcanic desert, composed of lava of every shade of black and gray, where moss and lichens take rootthat is, the pioneer plants, and the pulvinus plants, such as the Saponaria, in the shape of a pillow.

The walk to the Silvestri Mountains is very easy and scenic, which gives the thrill of walking around the cone of a crater. (The lower crater is located along the roadside). Then let yourself be tempted by a sandwich with sausage cooked at the moment on the grill (6 euros) from La Capannina, right in front of the Silvestri Craters. It is also easy to walk along the Altomontana track that starts from the Observatory at an altitude of 1800 meters, reachable from the SP92 state road to Rifugio Sapienza and following the signs for the Astrophysical Observatory.

The Etna Park, with its paths, points of interest and historic villages, it is worth a trip. But that’s another story …

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