Last year when I was in Sicily I rented a car and drove around to towns and some of the historic sites, and posted a number of blogs here.       I invite you to go back to them if you are interested.

This year I elected to just stay a week in Catania and experience life in the city under the gigantic volcano Mount Etna.

Except for a day and a half of rain the weather has been perfect, around 70 degrees every day with loads of sun. The little elephant, the symbol of the city.

And my apartment turned out to be OK and in a good location, right on the main pedestrian street in the town center.

As you recall the town had to be rebuilt after the great Sicilian volcano eruption and earthquake around 1700, and has miles of these Mediterranean Baroque buildings. The entire downtown is a world heritage site.

This is a big city of a million people spreading between the sea and the volcano. But the compact city center makes it feel small. This was a Greek town, then Roman. And then various others held it. Even the Normans (like in 1066) for a hundred years or so. There are a few significant ruins available for the interested to visit.

It has been a good week. This is Italy. The food and wine are great. The coffee fantastic. The tomatoes will make you cry for all that America has lost.

Italy has an attitude.  A joy of life.  A rollicking vitality that always makes it fun to visit. When asked about travelling in Europe I often say: “It is hard not to just keep going back to Italy”.

The markets are well stocked with wonderful things.

Restaurants are everywhere and eating out even in the tourist areas is not too expensive.  But much more costly than how one can eat well out of the shops and markets.

Tip1:  Stay away from the fish restaurants right in and around the historic fish market.  They have morphed into high priced experiences for bus  groups and excursion groups off of the cruise ships.

Tip2: Do all that you can to avoid getting a pool of rotisserie chicken juice in the bottom of your back pack.  They are very hard to clean out.

Catania still has a very large daily open air market.

And there are still many small shops that sell just one thing: produce, fish, meat, bread, hardware, plumbing, tailoring, cosmetics, etc.

If you have a sweet tooth, or two, this is the place for you. Sicily is famous for their sweets. Sweet pastries, cookies, cakes, sweets I cannot name, and of course Gelato.

But Catania would not be the destination I would recommend for the first time visitor to Italy. I would send them to the North which is more prosperous, fashionably old and chic. Catania in comparison is unfortunately dirty and run down.  But for myself, I give them extra credit for being real.

During the hours before dinner it seems that the entire population, of every age, come out to walk the streets in the soft evening air.

The Bellini Park in the city center is good for a quiet walk. But if you are a serious walker you will have to walk the streets, preferably early in the morning when they are still quiet.

Outside of the city center walking is into increasingly ugly and pedestrian unfriendly areas.

So that’s it for Catania.   Thanks for coming along.

Tomorrow I move on to Greece to visit a few cities.