Took the Interbus from the station to Siracusa. We missed the first bus at 1pm since it was very full and we didn't have tickets. (The driver did not let us buy them on this bus even though the return driver did take cash from other people..)
The second bus was 2 pm so we walked around and then rode the bus for ~1.5hrs. We decided to go to Ortisia first and walk around. It rained lightly off and on.
We found a shop with arancino and stopped for a snack of three - pistachio, spinach, and artichoke. Along with some drinks - limonata and pomegranate.
We tried to walk to the historic area before getting in the 7pm bus, but it was a bit far. We made it back to the bus stop just as the 6:30 return bus was loading. It started to take off and then someone wanted to get off so we were able to get on.
It started raining pretty hard near Catania. Fortunately, by the time we got off at the center to find dinner it had stopped. We walked about 15min down the pedonali area and found Spaghetti & Co. We arrived at 8:10pm and forgot that that was a busy time. Fortunately we got in pretty quickly, but then waited a long time. A waitperson thought we were done and asked if that was all. ??? We finally got our food but Kathi’s was wrong. She had ordered carbonara but they brought something that had a similar name. Chris got his and it was very good. Kathi finally got a carbonara but it seemed rushed. Very heavy “sauce”.
We caught an Uber back with a kind of crazy driver who dropped us
off on the wrong side of the building and didn’t want to help us
find the correct place. Uber says this is the place so I drop you
here at 165 even though 55 is on the other side, a block away. Oh
well, we knew what to do.
Siracusa
We discovered arancini at a street food stand in Milan about 18 months ago where we learned it is a Sicilian food. Chris has been waiting ever since to get a genuine arancini in Sicily.
Tempio di Apollo, 6th century BCE, is one of the first stone temples in Sicily, built when this was Greece.
We ran to catch a bus and saved half an hour wait for the one we originally planned to take.
There are a couple of big piazzas in the center of Catania. One is in front of the Palace of Chierici with a big Basilica Cattedrale di Sant'Agata and smaller Chiesa della Badia di Sant'Agata. The other is the Piazza Università. In the center is the Fontana dell'Elefante ('u Liotru) Fountain with a Roman statue of an elephant carved from basalt, now the symbol of the city of Catania.
Got an Uber back to Carmelo's. He drove really fast in a big Mercedes on very narrow streets. And then he dropped us off on the wrong side of the building giving us a 2 block walk around. Seemed like he wasn't having a good day. Anyway, glad to be back home and dry.