Our first, full day in Catania. We walked the 3 miles to down-town stopping for coffee at a coffee stand called Lore cafe. Kathi thinks it’s a gay hangout. They made Kathi a decaf americano and Chris a latte macchiato.
Walking down the main street, Chris poked his head into a butcher shop Clarinetto Vincenzo that had bags of bread dough on the counter and he asked if it was pizza dough. The proprietor was an older gentleman with no English, but his cousin lived in Florida and his aunt in New Jersey. He wanted to know where we were from. We tried some Italian on him until his son showed up. The son had a bit of English and we explained some things and asked questions about their food. The old man and the son were eager to show off their foods. Do you eat pig? Yes, OK here is some raw pork sausage with chunks of cheese and artichoke and onion. Really good. Here, try these olives. Do you want some? Chris tried to buy some dried tomatoes and cheese. They ended up putting together a picnic of cheese, bread, sausage, and olives then would not take any payment. The gave us a wooden spoon, a pen, and an embroidered hat. The place is called Clarinetto after the family name. They recommended a restaurant that serves their breaded chicken made with that dough and some of their amazing pecorino cheese.
XX candy stand in the square. Chris bough a half kilo of pistachio brittle with a very thick layer of nuts. Awesome for euro 12.
Cavallotto - Bookstore 6 books, 1 special gift bag The store had women standing around watching, it seemed to me for shoplifting. We looked at books for about 20 minutes, then Chris asked the young woman if the job was boring. We started a conversation and then she started finding books for us. Kathi was looking for illustrated stories for 10-year-olds, especially something by an Italian author and some classic stories. Kathi ended up buying 6 books and a special gift bag featuring a baby elephant.
Penny - grocery store
La Terrazza Del Barone Braceria - dinner At 7:30 the place did not seem open, but we walked inside and they sat us. Turned out the place gets absolutely packed by 8pm so we were lucky to have arrived early enough. Bacon wrapped green onion, breaded chicken grilled, fish soup with a pretty big fish,
After dinner we took Uber back to Carmelo’s. The driver was
really careful and smooth. Nice tip.
Walking around Catania
Searching Google Maps for coffee shops in this area didn't turn up anything, but it's Italy, so there has to be coffee nearby. Sure enough, a couple of blocks from the apartment was this tiny building with a helpful barista. We hung out there for 20 minutes while a steady stream of local customers stopped by, all men. Kathi thinks it's a gay hangout.