catania and the east coast sicily
still haven't quite mastered the ability to take an overnighter on the chin, but it doesn't help when half of the trip is 'delightfully' scored by a cacophony of returning italian servicemen. a herd of about 30 eighteen to nineteen year olds did their best to behave like children for a good 4 hours; the intensity of their banging and shouting and bad singing increasing with every chug along the trainline closer to napoli. this atmospheric soundtrack masterpiece was complimented harmoniously by a pensioner with two mobile phones that rang alternately and in to which he replayed the same conversation in semi-decipherable italian
the nice busdriver took forgot to drop us off at our stop so we did a 5am tour of the airport which included a small visual of glowing red lava flowing down the side of mt etna, the volcano that sits over this town and that explodes once every couple of years. so far no action but our pack is on"quick escape" mode... the general hospitality of the people here continued as we walked through the streets to our hostel at dawn, every shop owner called out directions while they continued to set up their stall in the tiny streets and alley-ways of central catania (a sight which cheered lucy unfathomably) . i had the uncanny feeling that i was in some bizarre version of sega rally and where my navigators spoke italian and sold fish and veggies. this could have something to do with the exhausted state of my brain but it wasn't all so bad when we finally arrived here and slept a couple of strange dream-filled hours on the living room couches before checking in to our quaint/cool hostel which is attached to a restaraunt&bar (with underground lava cave grotto) in the middle of town.
i dubb our first day the "day of the market" because this thing was virtually unescapable. the combination of endless small streets of venders and lucy's insatiable urge to buy everything edible meant that we were forced to do a trip back to the hostel to drop off 1 round of food... the plan to head back out was interupped by lunch and then by a flash storm that drenched most of the stalls and created the perfect environment for an afternoon nap. there wasn't too much need to put the mouthguard in and go for round two because we purchased enough food for our two days and nights here, including some of the best roasted pistacchio (pronouced with a "K" sound of course) nuts and dried figs ever. these markets were particularly excellent, the shouts and calls of the vendors made every other open-air shopping experience so far feel like a supermarket in comparison. there is something ridiculously energetic about the way that these italians communicate and i think it has something to do with the evident arabic influence - most definitely a legacy of the ottoman empire's hold over this place so many years ago.
we spent the evening with some great kiwi company in the form of pip'n'jo; two girls who have been camping for 6 weeks and who we may meet tomorrow somewhere back on the mainland if they get their act together and tell us where they are. we also enjoyed some conversation with a canadian-maltese girl named mar who is currently writing a 600page faction that has something to do with the failed take-over of malta by the ottomans... i'll be plugging her when i get a copy of her book sometime in the future (indeed when she finishes it).
just got back from siracusa, another lovely and much smaller town about 1hr south of catania on the coast. a late-started morning and a long breakie of bread, jam and orange juice set us on our way and we spent the afternoon on the sun-drenched rocks by the southern mediteranean. quite gorgeous and the water was warm and crystal clear. my concentration now wains as all that has sustained me this evening has been half a kilo of roasted chestnuts, which lucy and i believe to taste very much like potatoes but definitely don't fill one's stomach as well. the illusion of sustanance has completely warned off and i go to eat late-night pasta. always a crowd favourite. not too sure how smoothly our plans to take an early bus to the "instep" of the italian boot will be because checkout here is at the very civilised our of 11, very much in contrast to the 9am boot-camp style of our hostel in florence (also know as "the place that we didn't like because of our hostel". sad i know). who knows what will happen but will hopefully be getting drunk with marcus this time tomorrow night...
the nice busdriver took forgot to drop us off at our stop so we did a 5am tour of the airport which included a small visual of glowing red lava flowing down the side of mt etna, the volcano that sits over this town and that explodes once every couple of years. so far no action but our pack is on"quick escape" mode... the general hospitality of the people here continued as we walked through the streets to our hostel at dawn, every shop owner called out directions while they continued to set up their stall in the tiny streets and alley-ways of central catania (a sight which cheered lucy unfathomably) . i had the uncanny feeling that i was in some bizarre version of sega rally and where my navigators spoke italian and sold fish and veggies. this could have something to do with the exhausted state of my brain but it wasn't all so bad when we finally arrived here and slept a couple of strange dream-filled hours on the living room couches before checking in to our quaint/cool hostel which is attached to a restaraunt&bar (with underground lava cave grotto) in the middle of town.
i dubb our first day the "day of the market" because this thing was virtually unescapable. the combination of endless small streets of venders and lucy's insatiable urge to buy everything edible meant that we were forced to do a trip back to the hostel to drop off 1 round of food... the plan to head back out was interupped by lunch and then by a flash storm that drenched most of the stalls and created the perfect environment for an afternoon nap. there wasn't too much need to put the mouthguard in and go for round two because we purchased enough food for our two days and nights here, including some of the best roasted pistacchio (pronouced with a "K" sound of course) nuts and dried figs ever. these markets were particularly excellent, the shouts and calls of the vendors made every other open-air shopping experience so far feel like a supermarket in comparison. there is something ridiculously energetic about the way that these italians communicate and i think it has something to do with the evident arabic influence - most definitely a legacy of the ottoman empire's hold over this place so many years ago.
we spent the evening with some great kiwi company in the form of pip'n'jo; two girls who have been camping for 6 weeks and who we may meet tomorrow somewhere back on the mainland if they get their act together and tell us where they are. we also enjoyed some conversation with a canadian-maltese girl named mar who is currently writing a 600page faction that has something to do with the failed take-over of malta by the ottomans... i'll be plugging her when i get a copy of her book sometime in the future (indeed when she finishes it).
just got back from siracusa, another lovely and much smaller town about 1hr south of catania on the coast. a late-started morning and a long breakie of bread, jam and orange juice set us on our way and we spent the afternoon on the sun-drenched rocks by the southern mediteranean. quite gorgeous and the water was warm and crystal clear. my concentration now wains as all that has sustained me this evening has been half a kilo of roasted chestnuts, which lucy and i believe to taste very much like potatoes but definitely don't fill one's stomach as well. the illusion of sustanance has completely warned off and i go to eat late-night pasta. always a crowd favourite. not too sure how smoothly our plans to take an early bus to the "instep" of the italian boot will be because checkout here is at the very civilised our of 11, very much in contrast to the 9am boot-camp style of our hostel in florence (also know as "the place that we didn't like because of our hostel". sad i know). who knows what will happen but will hopefully be getting drunk with marcus this time tomorrow night...
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