Last Day in Catania (for now)

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.