ITALY

Deciding to take time and learn Italian from the Italians in Italy I chose Sicily for the weather during the winter season. It is warmer here and I do not understand why there are no more people visiting this time of the year. Taking sun is perfect as not too hot and the water crystal clear and refreshing.  At night the temperature drops and we need a sweater but it isn’t bad at all. After two days in Catania, experiencing the life with a local family, my second part of the plan to learn and help was in development. With the need to stay longer and the fear of not imposing or taking advantage of people, the Workaway site was a great option. Offering my time and effort for someone’s business or house, or helping with their children, garden or other chores, I feel like I pay for my free bed (and possible breakfast) and I do not feel obligated or guilty. With a little research I found a few hostels looking for help and things worked out well through e-mails and Skype. After my departure from Catania I came to a hostel near Taormina to work for my bed and breakfast: An exciting project for me. Unfortunately already in low season, we do not have a lot to do. Yet, the brain storming for new ideas it is great as well. We plan on new projects such as Italian cooking classes, Italian cooking lessons, and different packages for guests, as well as new construction and improvement projects. The hostel is called Gianni House  and it is just 3km from Taormina. Close to a nice and quiet beach, right behind a tempting bakery at the bus station, the five level building with a terrace on the last floor, colorful and clean rooms and bathrooms, a kitchen and gathering area for guests, Gianni House is more of a hotel than a hostel. My favorite part is the amazing view upstairs. You can sit there and watch Mount Etna and it’s different moods (blowing smoke or at times even fire; or being quiet and peaceful). Or you can take sun, or watch the port with the cruise lines or sail boats arriving and departing. Or turn the other way and see my favorite view of them all, Taormina and Castelmola. At 5.5km away, just the perfect walk for me after eating too many sweets and pasta, is the fantastic Isola Bella. Amazing pictures in another post. Just enjoy the view from the terrazza now. 🙂    

Deciding to take time and learn Italian from the Italians in Italy I chose Sicily for the weather during the winter season. It is warmer here and I do not understand why there are not more people visiting during this time of year. Taking sun is perfect as it is not too hot and the water is crystal clear and refreshing.  At night the temperature drops and we need a sweater, but it is like that in California, too. Learning a new language will not happen in a week in my case, so I had to find a way to stay longer for less money while surrounded by locals. Sending long e-mails to a few chosen people on Couchsurfing, and more long e-mails with a CV and picture to hostels and B&B’s. In a few weeks I had a plan. From the responses I got I decided on two options to try. The first was a Sicilian family with three children and a cat, found trough Couchsurfing.  The lady of the house answered and accepted me as their guest and we e-mailed back and forth. She was really nice and offered to have me with them for a while. She spoke good English but said that her husband and children could benefit from speaking English to me while I learn Italian in the process. I liked this, as I do not want to stay for free and just take advantage of people’s hospitality, all just for my benefit. I was hoping they would get something out of this too. The other invitations I received on this site were from single men. I was not sure about that, even if they had good reviews. It could have worked out OK as well but some were further from Catania and some had demands showing that they are not comfortable with guests. Things like waking up at 7 am each day and leaving their house when they go to work, and not returning until just after they get back. Also staying on the streets with my bags after my long flight from the States waiting until they come home from work, etc. did not exactly appeal to me or make me feel welcomed. I understood it but I preferred someone that seemed to be more comfortable with guests and enjoy the experience, more than fear it. Although Couchsurfing could be good for a few days, taking over someone’s house is not easy for me, especially for a long stay. It could work great if traveling through, if lucky enough to find nice people on the way, but for short visits and short stays. The family that adopted me for the first two nights was wonderful and their children a delight. They were interested in healthy and organic foods and on Saturday we went to a local farmer’s market. It was small but the kids had a great time playing in the olive orchard while we went searching for eggs in the huge chicken coop. That was fun! We came back with lots of fresh products and I got some ficus-indica and other tomato like looking fruits that I had never tasted before. When we returned home we ate a healthy and tasty home made meal. The strange fruits were delicious, as well as the specific Sicilian pastry. Cannoli were my favorite, both cheese as well as chocolate filled. As the day of the dead is near we also had “bones of the dead cookies“, a small crunchy pastry that really sounded like chewing on bones. The 1st of November is a special day here, the day when Sicilians celebrate all the saints, and the 2nd of November is “All Souls Day”, devoted to the memory of the dead. Cemeteries are full with crying people with flowers, most of the stores are closed, and even buses are rare. The stay with my adoptive family was great and I am grateful to them all. I hope we will see each-other again while I am in Sicily and I hope they will also visit me someday.  

Many times I have come to Catania before, and always happy to be here.  I usually do a little walking around the town, but mostly tired after long flights, and with not enough time to explore a lot, I have to admit, much of that time is spent sleeping. This time is different.  Deciding to take time and learn Italian from Italians in Italy I chose Sicily for the weather during the winter season. It is warmer here and I do not understand why there are not more people visiting this time of the year. Taking sun is perfect, as it is not too hot, and the water is crystal clear and refreshing.  At night the temperature drops and we need a sweater but that is nice, too. At this time, with the need to stay longer so I can learn and practice the language, I searched a few ways to be around Italian speakers, interacting and helping at the same time, while not spending too much. I had some ideas and e-mailed a lot of people and businesses. Not thinking about the time of year the weather getting colder and colder, I wrote to businesses in Roma first. Realizing soon after that I do not like cold and that cold will come sooner to Rome than to the Southern Italy, I changed my strategy and started all over, concentrating on Sicily; mainly Catania and Taormina, and I am glad I did. My first two days with a local family in Catania were wonderful. The family was great and their three children a delight. I rested and just visited with them on the first day, but explored the town with a travel guide and a map on my second. The itinerary I followed took me to places I had just accidentally passed by before, while also discovering other places, totally hidden, on previous walks. Centuries of archaeology discovered lost treasures, hidden by time everywhere throughout Catania. Sicily has an amazing history and although Italian is the official language these days, this amazing island has a rich and tumultuous past and a few dialects spoken. Not strange at all, considering all of the dominations – dynasties and people that came through: Greeks, Romans, Barbarians, Goths, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese, Spaniards, House of Savoy, Austrians and Bourbons. I marveled at the sites as each street and piazza has it’s own personal charm. Churches are everywhere throughout the city but Via Crociferi in particular is an interesting site, with two churches next to each other (Church of San Benedetto and Church of San Francesco Borgia) and another just across from the other two (Church of San Giuliano). In Baroque style, most of these churches were commissioned by rival religious orders after the 1693 earthquake. The Terme della Rotonda and the other bath houses and spas were great meeting places during the Roman society, as much as they were used for therapeutic purposes. The Roman Amphitheatre was brought to light in 1904 but even if in the past it could seat up to 15,000 people, today just a part is visible, the rest still buried under the neighboring piazzas and streets. Built in 1239, Castello Ursino is a strong medieval building which was moved by the lava from the Etna eruption in 1669. Lava filled the moat, circled the castle and moved it away from the coast. Two rivers (River Amenano and Lognina) and a lake (Lake Nocito) were also buried by lava then. Today the castle holds the collection of the the Civic Museum. Piazza Duomo is an impressive display of Sicilian Baroque style. In the Cathedral here are the relics of Sant’Agata (the city’s patron saint). The Fontana dell’Elefante is an interesting mix of pagan and Christian cultures. The lava stone made elephant became the city’s symbol and the obelisk on top of it is from Aswan, Egypt. The eight sides of the obelisk are covered in hieroglyphs referring to the goddess Isis, while on top of it are mounted a sphere and a cross, the emblem of Sant’Agata. Fontana dell’Amenano is also in Piazza Duomo and right behind it is the loud, colorful and smelly fish market, the Pescheria. A few other important churches in Catania are the church of Sant’Agata al Carcere, where Agatha was tortured and killed, the church of San’Agata la Vetere and the little church of Sant’Euplio, which was destroyed by bombing in 1943, but were, on the surviving wall, now are the sculptures of the Apostoles. A necropolis, or burial area, from the Roman period was also discovered near the Central Post Office building during excavation. This city is built on layers of history and it is interesting thinking what could be under your feet while walking these streets. To see the pictures below enlarged you can click on them and when they open up, one more click will enlarge them full screen.  

Just a few pictures of the streets of Catania here. The history of this island is amazing and with so many influences the city is a pleasure to discover. To enlarge click on the picture and when it opens up, click it again.

The most wonderful discovery on the streets of Catania was for me The Roman Theatre and Odeon. I recall walking on Via Vittorio Emanuele II on previous trips here and never even dreamed this place was hiding behind the front street buildings. This time, following a tourist’s guide/brochure I could see on the map the place was here. At first I found the back streets and could see part of the structure. Looking for the entrance I was puzzled not to see it at first and I almost gave up, thinking what a pity that only people living in those buildings have a view of it while tourist can not enjoy it. But I was wrong. No such discovery would be kept hidden. The problem is just that the entrance is not obvious and the sign to direct you there is small.  Yet, what an amazing site and history! The most interesting fact was to me that this big old site was hiding under buildings people lived in for a while. “Built in the 1st century A.D. on the existing Greek theatre, it obtained its final structure in the 2nd century A.D. . . . . Its decline occurred between the 6th and the 7th century A.D. and even since the middle ages it was covered with houses that prevented the view for centuries. In the pictures of the city, taken before and after the earthquake  that in 1693 destroyed Catania, and in the photos of the first half of the last century, it is recognizable for the peculiar arc distribution of the houses placed upon it.” The first excavations  were done between 1770 and 1780 but only in the middle of the 20th century the expropriation and demolition of the buildings constructed on it begone. The Theatre’s original capacity was 7,000 people and it was the scene for drama performances. Water battles representations were possible as well, by flooding the orchestra area, during the last imperial period. The nearby Odeon could seat about 1,500 people and it was used for musical and poetry performances and contests as well as for the rehearsals for performances that would take place in the theatre. Built of brick and lava stone the Odeon has an impressive and colorful structure as well. It also went through a similar destiny as the neighboring theatre during it’s centuries of life. The text in the  quotes above is form the information on the wall at the entrance of the site and in a picture added here as well. By clicking the pictures you can enlarge them at will. Enjoy!    

Centuries of archaeological discovery have uncovered lost treasures, hidden by time in Catania. Sicily has an amazing history and although Italian is the official language these days, this amazing island has a rich and tumultuous past and a few dialects spoken. Not strange at all, considering all of the dominations – dynasties and people that came through: Greeks, Romans, Barbarians, Goths, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese, Spaniards, House of Savoy, Austrians and Bourbons. Catania has changed a lot during the centuries due to nine natural disasters, as well. Smoking and blowing ash near the city, Etna is an amazing site that might disrupt life and schedules at times, but the resilience of it’s people have revived the city from its  ashes over and over again. October is nice and warm here. Sun shining and colorful bougainvilleas all over, I can not even imagine a better time to visit. Walking the streets until my feet could not take it anymore, I discovered amazing sites around every corner. Flowers, buildings, balconies made with amazing iron work, and wall mounted lanterns were my favorites. I have been here many times before, but exploring more I always find something new. And this time I  uncovered a few new amazing sites that made my day in a big style.

Located in Catania’s Piazza Dante are the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò. The building of the Church of San Nicolò (San Nicola) began in 1687 but was interrupted by the earthquake in 1693, when a lot of Catania’s buildings were destroyed. The church was later finished with impressive dimensions: the aisle and two naves  are 105 meters long and the dome is 62 meters wide. The Benedictine Monastery, now the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy for the University of Catania, is the largest in Europe. The fact that it looks more like a palace than a monastery might be due to the close links with the nobility of the time and the Benedictine monks. During the eighteenth century it was one of the most important cultural centers in Sicily, attracting many visitors.