(Stella, our cat, wanted to make an appearance on my blog. The above was her contribution.)
On this day, we flew from Brussels to Catania, Sicily. Hello, heat! The weather was dramatically different from the mild temperatures and cool breezes we had in Belgium. We stood in the tiny rental car office and received an even tinier car—a smart car, almost hidden in the bushes on the rental car lot.
Our luggage looked pretty funny crammed in there. I'm sure WE looked funny crammed in there. Driving in Sicily is definitely an experience. Cliff can handle a stick shift, but I was thankful that we had a semi-automatic. Everyone pretty much just does whatever they feel like, and if you hesitate for a split second, you'll be taken advantage of. You just have to drive like you know what you're doing, even if you don't.
We made it safely to our first destination: Siracusa.
Our hotel was gorgeous, but the town itself wasn't too terribly exciting. We had lunch at a crappy cafe after wandering around the seemingly abandoned town.
We happened upon some Greek ruins near the town square, but unfortunately they are not well cared for, and there were no signs explaining the historical significance of this temple or even its name. According to Google, it's the Apollo Temple.
After much aimless wandering, we treated ourselves to granita—one of Sicily's many fine inventions. Granita varies in texture from city to city, but the stuff we had was almost like sorbet. But creamy. I had the pistacchio flavor (I'm spelling it the correct Italian way with two Cs, to be annoying), and it was very good—the perfect treat for a hot September evening! Add brioche, and we would've had a typical Sicilian summer breakfast.
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| Time to get out of the Sicilian sun for some icy granita! |
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| This pistacchio granita was so good that I ate most of it before I could get a photo |
The real draw of Siracusa is the Greek Theatre, but unfortunately we arrived JUST as they were closing it (and frankly, we didn't really want to pay to get in). We could tell from the outside that this was yet another neglected historical site. A google image search reveals that the theatre itself is quite impressive. Darn!
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| Sicilian sunset over the Teatro Greco |
I think there's hope for Siracusa. There's not much for tourists to do during the day—but at night, the town comes alive. Tiny, abandoned alleyways we'd walked just hours before were magically crowded with tourists and musicians after the sun went down. Restaurants overflowed into the street with folks enjoying an apperitivo after a hard day's work (it's got to be hard working under that Sicilian summer sun).
We almost didn't make it to our intended destination for dinner: Clandestina. The name of this place became increasingly appropriate as we walked back and forth on a dark street, sure that we'd gone too far and had missed it. We finally ducked into the modern little wine bar ready to eat and drink. I was excited to try another one of Sicily's finest offerings: Nero d'Avola red wine. Our waitress didn't speak English, so it took us about 10 minutes to order, with lots of hand motions, pathetic attempts at Italian, and even a little Google translating by the bartender. There is no food menu at this restaurant—they offer various seasonal hors d'oevres with your wine or beer—which is why we couldn't use the point-at-the-menu method. We weren't really sure what would come out, but it ended up being a delightful smorgasbord of new things to try.
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| Nero d'Avola! |
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| This photo was taken by a chatty doctor couple from Colorado |
One highlight for me was the fennel and orange salad. It sounds weird, but with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of pepper, it was an interesting savory experience. Oh, and the Nero d'Avola was marvelous.
Next up was an absolute essential when in Sicily or the Italian mainland or anywhere that sells it: GELATO! I don't know that I've ever had bad gelato in Europe, but BelBon's gelato seemed better than many. I got the Siciliana flavor, because, well, when in Sicily... And it was even more delicious than I expected. Pistacchio gelato with hazelnuts and possibly some other yummy stuff that I can't recall or couldn't pinpoint.
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| Only one word for this: Mmmm. |
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| This coppetta of gelato will visit me in my dreams |
We savored our gelato while watching a group of folksy street performers (seen in the earlier nighttime photo). Someone in an apartment above blew bubbles down on the crowd, making it even more magical. A perfect end to our first Sicilian day.
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