We took a bus this morning down to Catania, one of the two major cities in Sicily, where we spent the day. The bus dropped us off in what seemed like a random part of town (which was actually a couple of blocks from the main train station), and it was a good thing we had two guidebooks with us to help us navigate.
Our first stop was the famous fish market, which was pretty amazing. There were many stands selling fish, fruit, vegetables, bulk dried goods, meat, eggs - nearly everything you could think of. The variety of fish ranged from small anchovies to squid, crawfish, and huge swordfish. Then there were the octopus, sting rays, live clams (still spitting), and sea urchins with their orange flesh. There were long zucchini (about 3 feet long), carob, purple cauliflower, and melons. There were tons of people there doing their shopping, all the vendors yelling and holding up the fish for sale. The best part for me was the 10-15 older men standing at a railing above the market watching everything happen below. 
After the market, we went to visit an old castle which is now a museum. The amazing thing about the castle is that it used to be located at the coast, but after volcanic eruptions, lava extended where the coastline was and now the castle is inland. From the castle, we visited the main piazza, where there is a fountain that used to be the only source of fresh water for the city, a municipal building where Mussolini used to give speeches from, and the main duomo of Catania. While in the main piazza, we stopped in one of the cafes for a "typical" drink - granite with seltzer. I'm still not sure if it is really a typical drink or an easy way to tell who is a tourist...From there, we went to visit one of the best sites in Catania - ruins of an old roman theater. It seems from photographs that people were building over the ruins as late as the 1920's - there was a whole neighborhood located there. Now that those things are gone, the theater that is left behind is pretty remarkable. Almost the entire archway behind the theater and the semi-circle theater are intact, and there is a smaller theater located just behind. For me, one of the highlights of this highlight were the banana (plantain?) tree and date palm located on the site.
We visited several other sites in town, including a church that has been under construction since 1693 when there was a large earthquake. The church has yet to be completed - it is still in scaffolding and seems to be a never ending project here. We also walked down a street that is actually the crater of a dormant volcano. On our way back to the train station we found another Roman theater ruins (which was not mentioned in either of our books) and a nice little cafe/bar where were got some tasty pastries and played some Briscolla before catching our bus back to Taormina.
We're not really sure if it is a good or bad thing, but we visited Catania on a gray, dreary day - just like the day we were in Naples. The lack of sunshine made both of these cities seem much grittier than they might be, but it definitely helped keep it cooler. While Catania was a somewhat gritty city, the historical areas had some great buildings and monuments, and Mike's summary is that Catania is a city that works with what it is given: a sea with lots of fish, have a fish market; volcanic eruptions, use the volcanic rock as a building material.
Tomorrow, we're off for another day trip to Syracuse, so we'll see how that city compares.
Gelato Gusti per il giorno:
Mike - Mars (Mars candy bar in gelato form)
Aviva - Stracciatella
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