If It Was Today...

Let’s Go To The Catacombs Today

Posted on October 21, 2026 by If It Was Today

I wasn’t the one who said that. Believe it or not, it was Jan. So we headed off to the catacombs. Along the way, we passed a fabric store and Jan said “no way”. So many firsts today.

As usual, we were keeping our eyes open and just enjoying the city as we walked.

We had a recommendation for an excellent fish restaurant, and it was on the way, so we were tentatively planning an early lunch. But along the way, we passed through a very active street food market.

We had our heart set on a sit down restaurant, rather than street food, so we pressed on. Google had assured us the restaurant was open. They lied. Closed up tight. After some discussion, we decided the street food market was just too noisy, so we pressed on, planning to find a restaurant along the way. It didn’t work. By the time we arrived outside the catacombs, there was danger that people might be getting hangry (not mentioning any names – it could happen to anyone). Fortunately there was a vegetable market in the square (there are vegetable markets absolutely everywhere here) and they had a variety of Sicilian biscuits. And there was a stand making fresh fruit drinks. Not exactly what the food guide recommends for a balanced diet, but it did the trick and we headed into the catacombs with our energy restored.

I don’t have any pictures. Photography wasn’t allowed … and I’m not sure I would show the pictures even if I had been allowed. It was very different than the Paris Catacombs. Basically, there were hundreds of mummified, or partially mummified bodies lining the walls, wearing the clothing they had selected for their final resting place. It was … interesting. I’m glad we went. I’m not sure I’d go again.

Once we were back out in the sunlight, we decided that our little snack had given us some energy, but we needed something more. We’ve gained an appreciation for arancini when you need a little nourishment, but nothing too heavy. We found the perfect spot along the way.

A balanced diet absolutely must include gelato, so our plan was to stop at a highly recommended gelateria on our way home. Our route took us past the Palazzo Reale, one of the “must-see” sights in Palermo. Serendipity. The palace was the seat of the Norman rulers in Sicily. Yes, those Normans. I need to brush up on my history of Sicily, and history of the Normans. But we figured a good way to start would be to have a look.

The royal residence floor was closed today, but we were able to visit the Palatine chapel with its amazing mosaics, many of which are gold covered. At the entrance, there was a giant chalice, which I thought was very impressive … until I saw the chapel.

Words cannot do the chapel justice. Nor can a few pictures. But they are all I have, so you will have to make do with what I can share. Here is a sample of the mosaics on the walls.

The chapel is currently being restored in a multi-year project. In some ways, that makes it more interesting. The restorers were at work when we were there.

This next picture shows the detail in the floors.

We could closely examine some of the “simple” mosaics on the walls, and took this picture, including my hand to show the fine detail.

Now imagine that repeated thousands of times.

It is hard to imagine the effort that went into building this chapel.

We finished our tour by spending a few minutes walking through the gardens. They weren’t as impressive as the chapel, but they were cool and peaceful. And they had flowers.

This is the palace from outside. If you look closely, you can see the eagle motif on the roof.

We aren’t much for visiting churches, but we passed another cathedral on our way to the gelateria, and decided to have a look inside. These are for you, Scotty.

While walking around the city, we have been noticing large posters showing black and white photographs taken in Palermo in the 60’s. They are from a series of photographs taken by Enzo Sellerio, and to celebrate the centenary of his birth, twenty photographs are being displayed at the spot where they were originally taken. Here are a few to give you an idea.

And then, finally, it was time for gelato.

The shop is on a very nondescript street, but the gelato is very tasty. We will be back.

I’ll close with a picture taken 3 minutes from where we are staying. This sort of view happens all the time here. I love it.

Tomorrow, something different. Or maybe more of the same. We will have to wait and see.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Italy, Palermo, Photography, Sicily, Travel | Leave a comment

It’s Not The Destination – It’s The Journey

Posted on October 20, 2026 by If It Was Today

By some people’s standards, we’ve been taking things pretty easy since we arrived in Sicily. But by our standards, it’s been go-go-go, and today we wanted a slow(er) start. When we finally headed out for a late lunch, we didn’t have far to go. The Panineria San Basilio was literally right below our window and offered a very tasty street food experience at excellent prices. It was perfect for lunch.

We didn’t really have an agenda for the day, other than getting a feel for Palermo. So after lunch we headed down the Via Maqueda, a pedestrian street originally lined with palaces and churches, though now it is mostly lined with restaurants and filled with tourists.

Here is an example of a building on the street, that was almost certainly an aristocrat’s palace in the past.

Further down the street we found the Quattro Canti, an ancient square that divides the historic center of Palermo into four parts. Each corner of the square has a very impressive building with statues of the kings of Sicily and guardian saints. Here are three of the corners.

A little further down the street is the Fontana Pretoria, called the “Fountain of Shame” because all of the statues surrounding it are nude. Here is a small sample to give you an idea.

Around the square with the fountain, and in the immediate area, were a number of elaborate doors. Unfortunately, some were a little the worse for wear.

Everywhere you turn, there are ancient buildings, many of them being restored. This picture, taken in Piazza Bellini, brings together the many faces of Palermo – an old church, a restaurant in the square, and a construction crane behind it all.

Today was all about the journey, so we were just immersing ourselves in the city, while trying to stay away from the high tourist areas as much as possible. Here is a typical street we passed.

The interesting thing about this view is the waste collection bins. Inside this ancient city, the waste collection is high-tech, with separate bins and days for a half dozen categories – paper, plastic, metal, glass, organic, and way down at the bottom, things that can’t be recycled. And because we are in an apartment, we are subject to the local rules and restrictions. So a fair chunk of our “relaxing time” was spent working out how it all works. Ironically, that is actually one of the things we enjoy about travel – getting a feel for what it would be like to live there. It’s part of why we enjoy visiting grocery stores.

Our wandering took us to another grocery store to stock up on essentials (coffee, wine, cantuccini, … that sort of thing). I’m sure you are all dying to know if the shelves were still empty because of the truck driver strike. I’m pleased to report that it looked much better than yesterday. We will continue to monitor.

We arrived back at the apartment, freshened up, and before we knew it, it was wine-o’clock. Yesterday I showed a picture of someone on a balcony, looking over the street. Today it was Jan’s turn, looking over the Piazzetta San Basilio, and the Panineria where we started the day with lunch.

It was the perfect way to bracket an enjoyable day.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Italy, Palermo, Photography, Travel | Leave a comment

Travel Day

Posted on October 19, 2026 by If It Was Today

The car didn’t move from its parking spot for our entire time in Catania. We quickly realized that we didn’t need a car in Catania. In fact, it was more of a pain than useful. If we had used it for a day trip, we knew there was a very real chance we couldn’t be able to find a parking spot when we returned. Zero … none … nada. Alas, it is clear that the situation in this part of Palermo is even worse. So the car has been safely parked for the four days we will be in Palermo. Lesson learned. But I think (hope) the car will be important for the rest of Sicily.

As usual, Jan found a lovely place right in the heart of historic Palermo. Of course, that’s why driving is such a challenge, but it’s also the thing that will make the next few days so interesting. We love wandering the ancient streets.

We have cooking facilities here, so at a minimum we will be eating breakfast in our room. That means we need to take a trip to the grocery store. Walking, of course. Just outside the store, Jan took this picture of the street, with a woman leaning on her balcony watching the street below.

On our way into town, some of the streets were blocked off by unhappy looking people. Nothing like what is happening in Paris, but clearly something is going on. Inside the grocery store, we saw our first hint…

There is a trucker’s strike, protesting high fuel prices. It could be an interesting few days. Fortunately, the shelves weren’t completely empty, and we managed to get the important supplies … and some food too.

I’ll close with a picture of Jan enjoying a glass of rose wine (quelle suprise) in our spacious accommodation. She scored another home run with this place.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Italy, Palermo, Photography, Sicily, Travel | 2 Comments

Last Day in Catania (for now)

Posted on October 18, 2026 by If It Was Today

We started the day by walking over to the waterfront to visit a museum about the liberation of Sicily by the allies in 1943. It was worth a visit, and has us both thinking we need to re-watch the movie Operation Mincemeat. Unfortunately the walk took us through sections that weren’t as nice as the areas we have been seeing, so we took the Metro back. That was great, because now we’ve worked out how to use the Catania Metro for our next visit. Fun fact: Catania has the only Metro on Sicily, and this is also the most southerly Metro in Europe.

It was time for a late lunch so we headed to a little bistro we ate at earlier in the week. Interesting setting…

We started with what is fast becoming a favourite – caponata … with wine, of course.

Yesterday, on our drive back from Etna, the guides had recommended visiting a park with views over Catania. We had the rest of the afternoon, so Jan said “why not”?

Along the way, we were looking at the architecture. Jan particularly liked this shot because you can see details of the construction where the facade has peeled away. The light and shadow effect is interesting too.

We had a bit of an adventure crossing a major road in front of the park (Catania roads are not really designed for pedestrians), but once we made it, the view was exactly as promised.

And of course, there were flowers…

This next flower looked like a pair of eyes, watching us…

There were also a series of tiles that caught Jan’s interest.

Here are a few in more detail.

The park had lovely views because it overlooked the city. But that meant you had to walk uphill to get to it. This picture looking down Via Etna gives you an idea of the uphill walk. Fortunately, that means the walk back was all downhill.

The weather forecast said there was a risk of thunder storms, and the sky was dark, which caused us a little concern. But we decided to risk it, and fortunately didn’t get wet. But we were treated to this view.

Which brings us back to our room on our last night here. This is the door to the courtyard.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Catania, Italy, Photography, Travel | 2 Comments

Jim vs. the Volcano

Posted on October 17, 2026 by If It Was Today

Spoiler alert – no one had to be sacrificed. And I really should call this Jim and Jan see Mt Etna, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it, so …

The weather has been sunny and warm since we arrived in Catania, but today that changed.

It didn’t rain, but it was cloudy, cool, and breezy as we started our tour. We usually think of volcanoes as a perfect cone, like Mt Fuji, but Etna isn’t like that. Most activity is from “lateral eruptions” meaning that smaller craters can appear in a wide area around the central cone. We visited the site of one such eruption for our first stop.

The lava flowed down the mountain toward a large town as the government and the military tried to divert it. Nothing worked. Fortunately it stopped just short of the city. So of course, it was declared a miracle. This house narrowly avoided the lava.

On the other hand, this small hut was overrun by the lava.

We learned about the different types of rock that forms during an eruption. As the lava flows, the lighter rock floats to the top and cools first, creating small boulders with sharp edges. The black “sand” between the rocks is the ash that falls with every eruption, coating everything – houses, cars, streets. And deeper down, the lava cools slower and creates basalt. You can see the layers in this photo.

Basalt layer, with lighter rocks and sand above

The basalt is very hard and is used in everything in this area. Here it is used in a road.

Sometimes as the surface cools and hardens, the lava underneath keeps flowing and will eventually escape lower down the mountain, leaving behind hollow “lava tubes”. We toured one today. It was large enough that you could walk upright … most of the time. But some places were lower, so we had to wear helmets. Good thing too, because I whacked my head within the first minute.

The entrance did not inspire confidence.

But once we were inside, it was larger, and very interesting. It continued underground for over 200 meters. We made it all the way to the end.

One of the more fascinating aspect of the tour was seeing how nature works to reclaim the areas lost to the eruptions. We saw evidence of this in the lava tube, with tree roots pushing through the rock.

Tree roots pushing through the ceiling of the lava tube

We also saw lots of evidence of plants returning to the landscape above, later in our tour.

After lunch we went for a walk through the lava fields for an hour or so. We followed the path to the crater that was left after the eruption that almost claimed the nearby town.

And when we reached the crater, Luca, our guide, offered to take our picture to prove we had been there. He photobombed the picture to prove that he had been here as well.

The rock and the ash have a high iron content. To illustrate just how much iron it has, I placed my phone on the sand, and the magnetic charging ring picked up a thick ring of ash.

When it is clear on the mountain, you have excellent views of Catania. We didn’t have that today, but the cloud had its own mystique, creating an alien landscape, with hills and people coming into view, through the mist.

To give you an idea of how variable the cloud/mist was, here are two pictures taken within a minute of each other. In the first, you can clearly see people hiking up the path around another crater.

And seconds later…

Before heading back down to the bus, Luca treated us to Zibibbo (a local dessert wine) and biscotti. You dunk the biscotti in the wine. Yummy, and warming, perfect for the day.

Then it was back to the bus and the ride into Catania, where we were ready for a nap. I’d definitely recommend a visit to Etna.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Catania, Italy, Mt Etna, Photography, Travel | 1 Comment

Another Day in Catania

Posted on October 16, 2026 by If It Was Today

Yesterday we visited the ruins of the Roman theatre in Catania, but I knew there was another Roman ruin nearby – a Roman amphitheater with seating for 15,000.

When we found the amphitheatre, we realized that we had walked right past it yesterday when we were looking for a place to eat lunch. If you are on the wrong side of the street, you can easily miss it.

It has an interesting history. After the fall of the Roman Empire, it fell into disuse. Later, most of the tunnels were walled off because they provided a hidden entrance into the city – not a great idea when you have city walls for protection. Then, after the 1693 earthquake, the city rebuilt on top of the site. Locals still believed there had been a huge amphitheatre in the area, but scholars doubted its existence. And then, it was rediscovered during early excavations and over time more has been found, in spite of the fact that most of it lies under the modern city of Catania. Some of the sections are remarkably well preserved.

Bits of the site offer hints of the former glory. This picture shows one of the entrances to the arena, with the original stone lintel over the door. You can also see some of the marble slabs that lined the walls, along with portions of columns.

It was rather hot today (27 Celsius) so it was quite pleasant exploring underground.

When we finished, it was time to visit the botanical garden, one of our favourite travel pastimes. Also, another cool spot with lots of shade.

There was a large section of succulents, another favourite. I like this one with the plant in shade, but the sun highlighting the spines.

There were also lots of flowers, some old favourites, and some new ones

Here is one that I’ve never seen before.

And here are some more new one.

There were a variety of cactus fruits as well.

I’ll close with an old favourite.

Tomorrow we’re having a closer look at Etna.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Travel, Photography, Botanical Garden, Italy, Sicily | Leave a comment

Catania

Posted on October 15, 2026 by If It Was Today

Another warm sunny day in Sicily. We didn’t have any particular agenda, other than relaxing, enjoying ourselves, and exploring. We were walking down Etna street and we looked over, and what did we see…

We don’t usually shop when we travel, but the one exception is outdoor markets. It’s great fun to just browse the stalls in the market, and this one went on and on and on, branching to the right and left. It was huge, with many different sections. One area that we especially enjoyed focused on food, including fresh seafood.

And then there were the vegetables. Oh my! We would love to be coming down here every day to pick up fresh vegetables for the day’s meals.

The prices were amazing. These cauliflowers were the size of my head, and only 1 euro each. Mmmm.

The sky was clear blue once again.

The street we were walking along is called Etna, because … wait for it … you can see Mount Etna. Earlier this year Mt Etna was quite active – to the point where flights into Catania were cancelled for several days – but it is relatively quiet now.

When in Rome … I know, we aren’t in Rome, but this was still part of “Rome” … you must see Roman ruins. Okay, okay, I must see Roman ruins. So our next stop was the Teatro Greco-Romano di Catania. The ancient Roman theatre.

A lot of it has been restored, but this picture gives you a feel for what it once looked like, without being a complete restoration. This picture has some sections that are unrestored, some that have been partially restored, and sections that hint at what it originally must have looked like. Zoom in on the marble slabs around the stage to see what I mean.

The buildings around the edge incorporated the old theatre walls into the new structures, so it sits within the existing city.

I find it interesting that the buildings that essentially repurposed the old Roman theatre into their walls, in time, became significant historical buildings in their own right. Here is what an upper-class kitchen looked like in the 18th century. Notice the fancy stove. On your left you can see the kitchen sink. And see how large the space is…

Large sections of the ancient theatre were leveled after earthquakes. With Etna so close, this happened regularly. Later excavations exposed the old walls.

Now that these ruins are being preserved, all sorts of interesting “rubble” is coming to light.

I could look at this stuff for hours, and we did. But eventually we need food … and wine. Fortunately we found a quiet restaurant in an open-air courtyard.

We did a lot of walking today, but not as much as Google wanted us to do. What is it with Google and walking directions? This was absolutely NOT the shortest route. This isn’t the first time this has happened to us. Anyone have any insight to offer?

After lunch we stopped at the grocery store for a few essentials … aka rose wine. We spotted a wine that we enjoyed last year in Abruzzo. Those of you who have developed a taste for this wine will be jealous at the price here.

We were tempted, but decided to splurge for the more expensive local wine.

Everything is still green here, with lots of flowers. You even see them while walking down the street.

But there are a few signs of fall coming.

Tomorrow … who knows.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Catania, Italy, Photography, Sicily, Travel | 1 Comment

Sicily

Posted on October 14, 2026 by If It Was Today

We had a direct flight from Montreal to Catania, so we actually managed to get a few hours of sleep. Not exactly a full night’s worth, but pretty good, as these things go. Still, our plans for the day didn’t go beyond getting ourselves set up with the rental car, phones, and the lay of the land around the hotel. The car was the easy part … once we found the rental car parking lot, which was a lot harder than we expected. But the car is nice, and more to the point, small, which will be a plus for Italian roads.

Navigating the roads with jet lag was … fun. And then there was the parking. The hotel doesn’t have dedicated parking, so you need to find street parking. This was challenging. Even paid parking was impossible to find.

Amazingly, we stayed in good spirits and finally found one, very tight spot in time for lunch. Unfortunately it was over a kilometer from the hotel. But it was a spot, so we took it, and then tried to figure out how the paid parking works. Once that was sorted (again, much harder than expected) we had lunch, and then went to check into the hotel. We were prepared to double park while Jan lugged our luggage into the hotel, but fortune smiled and we found a spot literally across the street from the hotel. After getting settled, we went for a stroll to look around the local area and check out restaurants. The car stayed in that precious parking spot.

A church – but note the beautiful blue sky

It was lovely today, in the mid twenties Celsius and with the sun we were quite warm. We treated ourselves to flavoured ices and enjoyed a quiet moment in a small park.

We are very close to the Villa Bellini. We just walked past it today, but will likely explore further later this week.

We will also focus on the architecture later this week, but today I was mostly enjoying the warm weather and clear blue skies. And trying to stay awake, of course.

Our apartment has a small private terrace, so we enjoyed a glass of rose wine from the Etna vineyards with a light snack. We were fading.

I’ll close with the skyline after sunset.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Catania, Etna, Italy, Pandina, Photography, Sicily, Travel | 1 Comment

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch…

Posted on October 10, 2026 by If It Was Today

When Jan headed to Europe for a river cruise with her aunt, my plan was to relax and take it easy. Maybe catch up on my reading and do a little of the fall cleanup around the yard. But nothing too strenuous. Seems I misjudged. I was, in fact, busier than a one-armed paperhanger. Fun fact. Everyone my age knows this saying, but none of my children have ever heard it.

What exactly, you might ask, was I doing. It started with the basil. I had a bumper crop this year. Some people say that I always have a bumper crop, but this year was especially bumper-ish, if you know what I mean. Don’t believe me? Let me show you…

Typically, sometime in late August or early September, I’ll forget to water it, or water it too much, or there will be a touch of frost and it will be finished for the season. But this year, the basil just kept growing. And every time I harvested some for pesto, it just encouraged the basil to grow higher. So Jan suggested blending basil with “just enough” olive oil and then freezing it. I was dubious, but … see previous picture of the basil plants. I decided to give it a go.

I also wanted to clean out the fridge before our trip to Italy. I found a little fresh mozzarella that wasn’t going to keep, so I immediately thought of pizza. And then I had an idea. Why not add some of my frozen basil paste to the tomato sauce. And I had several Roma tomatoes that were close to spoiling, so I quarter them, roasted them with a little salt, and then brought it all together like this.

I mentioned earlier that I was dubious about blending the basil with olive oil and freezing it. After eating this pizza, I was sold. I immediately made another batch. I had a lot of basil. The picture I showed you earlier was take after I’d harvested the second batch.

What next? I’ve always liked butter tarts, but I’ve never figured out how to make the crust thin enough. Most butter tarts suffer from a fatal flaw. The crust is too thick, and it completely overpowers the filling. But last year I found a new recipe from our favourite brewmaster/bee keeper/butter tart maker. It is magical. It makes the most exquisite butter tarts, with thin, flaky pastry … with practice. So this fall I’ve been practicing, and some of our friends were interested in learning more. Which led to a cooking demonstration. This was hands on – students quickly took over making the butter tarts.

It was such a hit, that we had a second demonstration. The pastry even works for pies … or tourtière.

I didn’t spend all of my time indoors. I managed to get a fair bit of work done in the garden, including standing up our inukshuk, which keeps falling over.

And finally, I promised to re-caulk the shower. It took far longer than I thought it would, but I’m happy with the result.

I might have one more post from Jan’s trip to Europe, But either way, I’ll be posting more soon. Three days from now we will be on our way to Sicily, and I will be posting regularly. Should be fun.

Posted in Canada | Tagged basil, Butter tarts, Inukshuk, Pizza | 1 Comment

Three Countries in One Day

Posted on September 26, 2026 by If It Was Today

I am now humming “4 Seasons in 1 Day” by Crowded House and it just about sums up our travels this week. We began our day in Basel, Switzerland and in the afternoon met our the late comers in our tour group for the bus trip to Strasbourg, France.

Chateau on a hill en route to Strasbourg

We arrived at our hotel in Strasbourg with just enough time to freshen up before meeting our whole group for dinner and an overview of the next day. Luggage had to be out in the hall by 7 am, breakfast and checkout by 8:15 to get on the bus and meet our guides for our tour of “l’lIle” – the island that became the old city of Strasbourg. What a fascinating place it was. The history of the area, the houses, bridges and canals, the influences from the wars between the German and French – all of it made for a very interesting and colourful tour. I’m definitely interested in coming back here to explore further.

We ended at the cathedral of Notre Dame.

From there, we walked quickly through the ancient streets to meet our bus and begin our trip to Hasselt, Belgium where we were embarking on our cruise.

On our way, we made a short stop in Luxembourg where we learned a few facts about the Duchy, enjoyed the views from the Adolphe Bridge and had a quick lunch overlooking the main square. Our servers had a very leisurely approach that at any other time would have been just fine, but we found ourselves speed walking back to our bus in order to make our departure on time!

We cruised on through the countryside, enjoying views of rolling hills, windmills and shallow rivers, soon crossing into Belgium. After a long day of travel we arrived at Hasselt where our ship, the Verity awaited. After boarding, we were soon registered and shown to our stateroom. It was great to unpack and settle into our floating hotel. We were soon in the lounge and meeting our fellow travellers before our welcome dinner. It was a delicious ending to a long day of travel!

We had a walking tour of Hasselt on Thursday.

We saw some of the very old buildings …

… and enjoyed a quiet moment in the sun with some of the locals.

And best of all, we discovered a lovely little shop.

After a night on the boat, our next stop was Dordrecht on Friday. There seems to be a thing with sheep here.

And of course, many interesting buildings.

Today we arrived in Rotterdam about 7 this morning, and had a walking tour this morning. One of the very interesting items was the Cube House.

Sharon and I walked back in after lunch and walked through the outdoor market. It wasn’t as big as the one in Rome, but still lots of food and assorted stuff.