Catania, Sicily, Saturday 7 June, Day 45

Slow start today. We eventually got out the door round 10.00 and headed down the main piazza opposite the Duomo. Catania does not have a lot of very old buildings, as it has been devastated by eruptions of Mount Etna and by earthquakes at different periods in its history. The old city was the result of a rebuild after a major earthquake in the late 17th century, and the main square is very consistently of the style of the period, but with a uniquely Catanian touch in that the main building material is black basalt from the volcano, with white sandstone trim.  The city centre is UNESCO world heritage listed

Sicily was under the rule of Aragón at the time so the buildings have a sort of Spanish Baroque appearance. The Duomo has massive chandeliers, which I can't recall seeing anywhere else. But the thing I like best was the elephant in the square, u Liotru, who is the symbol of Catania.  It is not known with certainty how old he is, but certainly several centuries BC. He was placed in the square as part of an assembly of components by an artist of the day in the 18th Century. He has a sort of marble saddle cloth emblazoned with his own image and an Egyptian Obelisk with a dome and crucifix set on top of the whole thing. Bizarre but impressive.

Catania is an interesting place on many levels. It is totally cut off from the wonderful Mediterranean by its on port and train lines, but has more bikini shops than anywhere on earth. I made that last amazing fact up, but I would not be surprised if it was true. The impact of the GFC seems to have been very unequal here. The streets are full of well dressed people clutching shopping bags as the move from one luxury goods or high end clothing store to the next, and by wretched people begging, using various props - babies, dogs, kittens, crutches, annoying voices - or desperately trying to sell various bits of cheap trod. It still seems to have squares of housing damaged and derelict quite close to the centre of the city, perhaps a legacy of the bombing in World War 2.

After lunch of rice balls, arrancini - yum- I headed off to see if I could get some tickets for our bus tomorrow. This proved to be an experience straight out of Kafka's 'The Castle' as different people sent me in different directions, as there turned out to be two booking offices for the one bus company but one disdainfully refused to book tickets for our destination. I finally found the right office and the right counter, but was told I can only book a ticket on the day of travel.

We had a rest then returned to the great Trattoria from last night. They didn't start serving till 8.30 so we were both starving, but it was one of the best meals yet, great serve yourself antipasto, choose your own fish, caught that morning, from the selection, and how you want it cooked, and here's a mezzo of nice white wine and some freshly baked bread to get you going. Very direct but friendly service, fantastic food, all for 30 Euros for both of us.

Tomorrow, with a bit of luck, we will be catching a bus to Agrigento to visit the Valley of the Temples..