Today we arrived in Catania/Sicily, Italy. Last year we docked in another area of Sicily which is the beautiful town of Taormina.
Catania is the commercial and industrial center of Sicily. Eorope’s largest volcano, Mt. Etna can be easily scene from this city. Mt. Etna is one of the largest active volcanoes of the world.
Catania has a long history starting in 8th century BC. Overtime this city came under the control over the Romans. In time the Saracens and the Normans controlled this city. The Borbons ruled this area from 1734 to 1860 and ten years later Sicily became part of Italy.
We woke early this morning and started our day with a workout in the Fitness Center. Keith was the first passenger to arrive at the Center and Anne Marie arrived about thirty minutes later. Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine, while Anne Marie worked out on the Treadmill. Other regulars such as Mary and John were working out.
After our workout we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast.
Keith had his last haircut of the World Cruise on the ship. The hairstylist who has cut his hair each time during the course of the World Cruise is from South Africa and Keith once again had a nice conversation with her about different places we have seen during this adventure.
Our ship docked at the Sporgente Centrale Pier in Catania a few minutes after 7:00 AM this morning. Crystal provided a complimentary shuttle, which ran between the pier to the downtown area of Catania. The shuttles ran every twenty minutes and the distance was around 1.25 miles.
Several different shore excursions were offered today. Since we had visited this city last year when we docked near the city center of Taormina we did not sign up for a shore excursion.
We took the first shuttle to the city center and enjoyed a very nice walk around the downtown area.
This is a fairly large city and there were lots of people walking the major streets. There are lots of Catholic Churches throughout this city and we went inside eight of them. Some were located in small residential neighborhoods that we visited while others were significantly larger in size. We also visited a University. The architecture of many of the buildings was very impressive, and the ages varied but some were quite old. There were many locations where stores were located on the street level while on the floor(s) above there were numerous apartments. One of the churches that we went into was, Benedictine Convent that was quite old.
We visited two markets. One was located fairly close to the location where the shuttle bus dropped us off. That market mainly sold fruit and vegetables, some cheeses, some meat and fish and also had lots of stands set up primarily of clothing items.
The other market was located several blocks from the shuttle stop. This market sold an extensive array of fish, cheese, fruits, and vegetables. The quality of the fruit and vegetables was superb. The colors of these items were just magnificent and each items looked impeccable.
The cheeses were equally impressive. Some of the cheese was larger than anything than we have seen before. And, the smell and aroma of the cheese was unbelievable.
Then there was the fish and other seafood. We have been to other large markets where the amount of seafood is extensive and where it is not only sold to individuals but to businesses. However, what we have seen in the past does not compare to this market. There were many stands selling all kinds of fish but all of a sudden we walked to one area of the market that had all kinds of seafood but also had a large open area where men were shouting back and forth and were bidding on seafood for their businesses; likely restaurants.
There was another area that featured meat and we saw entire animals as well as meat that was in small portions.
We also went into many stores that sold a variety of baked goods from breakfast goods, to pizza, to all sorts of delectable desserts from cookies to pastries to beautiful Italian cakes, to other sweets. The aroma made one ready to sit down and eat. In a age when many of these types of places have been replaced in the states by companies that mass produce these items or where they are primarily sold in grocery stores, it is wonderful to see the quality of these desserts which reminded each of us what desserts looked, smelled and tasted like when we were growing up.
We had a wonderful time walking around this city. The weather was picture perfect. We love the Mediterranean in the spring and in the fall. The weather is much more comfortable this time of year and there are fewer tourists compared to the summer when it is not only hot and humid but the towns are swarmed with tourists.
Once back on the ship, we each enjoyed salad entrees in the main dining room. We sat at our dinner table and chatted with our regular senior waiter, Pablo, and our waiter Layla (pronounced Leila)
The ship departed port at around 5:00 PM and a sail away party was held for all passengers. The party included complimentary Bellinis as we sailed from Sicily to our next port of call which is Naples, Italy.
This evening we dined in the Main Dining Room for dinner. We each had an item that we had pre-ordered earlier in the day with our headwaiter.
This evenings entertainment included a performance by the Italian Tenor who has been on-board the vessel, Corrado Amici. The Acappella Quartet also performed in the open area nearby the reception area.
We had a wonderful day in Italy and look forward to the next couple of days as we stop in other Italian Ports of Call.
Keith & Anne Marie
