Welcome to Catania! Our location here is Aci Castello, a suburb a few kilometres out of Catania central. Aci Castello is located on a beautiful stretch of coastline north of Catania, also known as the Cyclops Riviera. It is thought that the legend of Cyclops was created here back in the days of Catania's Greek influence.
We are met at the station by Concetto, Johanna's second cousin and head to the apartment that we have booked here. It turns out to be another very good apartment overlooking the actual castle, Aci Castello and the beautiful coastline. We spend some time relaxing, then grab a few take away pizzas (with complimentary take away bottle of vino - don't you just love Italy!). Then hit the hay after the most emotional day of our trip.
Of course, we slept in the next morning but tried not to waste the day. The afternoon was spent heading to the shops with the Americans (who I still don't know much about - this could be another Monza moment and before you ask, yes a have corrected my personal hygiene program) and late in the evening we enjoyed some beautiful Sicilian food, in particular Pasta Norma - penne, pomodoro, melanzane and ricotta salata. Yummy! I haven't checked the history behind this dish but I guess it is based on the areas influence by the Normans many centuries ago.
Concetto takes us on a "tour by night" of the historical part of Catania. Here we see ancient monasteries, convents, churches and castles (Castel Ursino in header photo) that date only a couple of hundred years after Christ. Catania also has a river flowing underneath the city as well as an entire city of ruins located beneath the existing city. What we have seen is amazing. Hopefully we can take some photos during the day as some of the night photos were not that good.