Catania & 3-year Anniversary

Uhhhhh

Thanks to Susan, girlfriend of Joe's brother Tom, for wishing us a Happy Anniversary on a Facebook post. We both completely forgot! There's something about that I just love.

After Susan's prompt, I followed up by posting this picture on Facebook, celebrating our third anniversary.


Having already planned to go to Catania, and discovering it's our anniversary, we made a day of it — once we got there. A lag in real-time GPS made it more like fake-time GPS; I was the navigator, so GPS failed me, and I failed Joe. He was pretty calm about it, but by the second loop to get back on track, I flew a couple of deletives toward my phone at high volume.

We saw a long plume of smoke on the drive to Catania.


That wasn't the end of the car drama. We parked in one spot, decided to move, and embraced the car behind us. We found another parking spot; I asked a gentleman in the street if we could park there, and he shrugged, saying everyone else has! I told him that was our consensus. Flash forward to leaving that spot, and the woman in the building next to it started yelling at me, wagging her finger. I looked on the windshield. A parking ticket. €60. F**k!!!!

Do NOT park in front of this place!

This was the identifier for determining what street we're parked on

Bad news


Backing up to the point in time before that discovery, we also hemorrhaged tons of money on shoes at Geox. Perfect, as the gift for a third anniversary is leather. If you've never had a pair, they are worth the investment. Well made, quality materials, air-breathe technology on the footbeds, stylish, and they'll last you forever. Their jackets are equally perfect, although the outerwear never reaches the thermal coverage we need in Minnesota. Guess we'll have to move. The associates were so charming and vivacious, we wanted to invite them to lunch. Instead, we forked over the money. They love us there. More common language about our illustrious arsehole in the White House. No one can believe what's happening in America. The female associate suggested strongly that we buy a house in Biancavilla and escape there. She lives in neighboring Licodia, but said Biancavilla is better.

The point where we brought our purchases to the car is when we discovered the above-mentioned "multa" — traffic fine. We grabbed the ticket and took it to a tabaccheria to pay it. I noticed they had Cuban cigars.

We've had great food at Borgo Federico, and as it was nearly lunch time and we were hungry, we decided to stick with what we know. Oddly — very oddly — the place was empty, and my calamari fritti was terrible. As in inedible. Joe's spaghetti e vongole was fine, however, and the house wine was good. Perhaps the owners are away on ferie, and the town knows the chef is missing? I don't need to go back there. We have so many other choices.

Catania was bustling but not packed, and it was a beautiful (but hot) sunny day to stroll around.


Who's the Sicilian in the blue shirt?

Catania has great graffiti and mural art


Sant'Agata in neon

Piazza del Duomo 

Caffè del Duomo. My sister and BIL may recognize this place. They had Blanton's.

Just a pretty Baroque city.



I was craving a granita. We stopped at the main piazza, at the beautiful Caffè del Duomo. This place is an oasis; oxblood and cream marble, elegant lighting, perfectly trained baristas, and gelato worth every single calorie. They serve granita at the caffè bar, but after I saw the black-as-sin chocolate gelato, I switched my idea. Joe ordered solely dark chocolate, but I got half with pistacchio... and it was fabulous. Pistacchio di Bronte, big chunks of nut every other bite. 

I wanted to hit the sottoterranea that is accessed through the back of the basilica, but we were running out of parking time on the meter, and maybe one of us wanted to do it more than the other. That actually ended up being ok, because today is one of the last days I have to pack up and clean the two levels. And I had some washing to do, since it got to 90⁰F today and I sweated through my jeans, bra, and top!

Throughout the day, I've been delighted by texts from our friends Tom and Stephen, who are on a cruise and let us know the were waving hello from the Straits of Messina. They've been sharing photos throughout their Italy stops, each one bringing joy to my day.

We'll have a simple supper at home, some wine, and get to sleep early-ish. Another wedding tomorrow, at 10 am!



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