After a couple of days in Palermo we hop on the train across Sicily to the East coast and the industrial city of Catania.
We’re staying four days in the beautiful Ferrini Home Suite in Piazza Trento. Absolutely gorgeous, spotless accommodation with a balcony giving views out over the busy, commercial district.
Catania is a large, sprawling and grimy city that doesn’t have that much to recommend it if I am totally honest, but it is a good base for exploring the east coast and its more picturesque sights.
Most sights can be found in the Piazza Duomo above. There is a cathedral, town hall and weird elephant fountain thing.
(You might sense that I am a bit “meh” about the place. Probably something to do with the fact that by this point in the week I had over 25 mosquito bites, mainly on one leg and was suffering horribly!!!)
*WARNING. I have mainly stolen the following information from Wikipedia as I can’t be remotely bothered with Catania!!!*
The area is known for its seismic history, having been destroyed by a catastrophic earthquake in 1169, another in 1693, and several volcanic eruptions from the neighboring Mount Etna volcano, the most violent of which was in 1669.
The ancient indigenous population of Sicels named their villages after geographical attributes of the locations.
The Sicilian word,katane, means “grater, flaying knife, skinning place” or a “crude tool apt to pare”. This name was adopted by Greek colonists.
Other translations for the name are “harsh lands”, “uneven ground”, “sharp stones”, and “rugged or rough soil”.
Next we hop on another train, away from this boring city, and head to the coast and the gorgeous tourist town of Taomina. Full of winding streets, art and pottery.