Un bellissimo viaggio in Sicilia: Introduction & Chapter 1

Buongiorno di Sicilia!

We have now arrived in Sicily for our adventure tour!

The picture above is a screen shot of the travel package custom-designed for us by our friends at Savour Italy. We love using their services because they know Italy so well and work very hard to ensure that they deliver a truly Italian experience. All is covered - history, culture, food, wine and top notch accommodation. If you would like further information, we have included their coordinates at the end of this post.

Ok. Andiamo! Let's get going!

Introduction

A scene-setting of Sicily from its history

From what we've learned so far, there are at least 3 basic historical things to keep in mind to grasp an understanding of what has influenced Sicily over the millennia:

Domination

Because of its natural resources and strategic geographic position on major trading routes in the Mediterranean, Sicily became a desired possession for a long string of empires. Here's a list of some of the most influential that each left their imprint on Sicilian culture, architecture, cuisine and economy: Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Moors (Arabs), Normans, and the Spanish.

We also can't forget that Sicily became a very significant location for the Allies in World War II in their efforts to gain a foothold in Europe.

Natural disasters/catastrophes

Sicily's geographic position is also important because it sits on the boundary between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates. This makes it a highly seismically active region. Our guides explained that the African plate is slowly moving beneath the Eurasion plate and it is the process that is responsible for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, like those of Mount Etna.

Sicily was not a part of Italy until 1860

Sicily became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1860 following the revolution led by Giuseppe Garibaldi. While Sicily joined Italy in 1860, it gained regional autonomy later, in 1946, with its own constitution and elected officials.

So now we have a frame through which we can think about the places we will visit on this tour.

Chapter 1 - Catania

We flew from Napoli directly to Catania, which is on the east side of Sicily, facing the Ionian Sea. We were met by Savour Italy's chauffeur service and driven directly to our hotel, the Palazzo Marletta.

The Palazzo was built in 1694 as a residence for the family of Vincenzo Marletta. It is a good example of eighteenth-century architecture, and represents one of the first construction projects following the horrific earthquake of 1693 (more to follow on this story).

Note the shape of the balconies - they were designed this way to allow ladies wearing big hooped skirts to stand on the balcony, while taking a break from the grand parties taking place indoors.

Here are a few pictures of one of the guest rooms.

They are lovely, and very comfortable.

In the bar/breakfast room, we found 3 glasses of Prosecco as a very pleasant welcome gift from the hotel!

Following this, Jenn and Vince went for a walk before dinner.

This is what they found in Piazza Stesicoro, only a few blocks from the hotel!

Amazing!

When I saw these pictures, I HAD to look it up. I found terrific information about it on the Visit Sicily website. Here's a synopsis of its description:

It is a Roman Amphitheatre built in the 2nd half of the first century. It could hold over 15,000 spectators! It's made mostly of lava stone. Today, most of the structure is not excavated as it lies under the modern day streets adjoining the Piazza. Its ruins have been used as a foundation for the buildings that overlook the Piazza.

At the end of the Roman empire in the fourth century, the building fell into disuse and, after the earthquake of 1693, it was progressively covered, causing memories of it to disappear until excavations started in the early twentieth century.

The section brought to light is now open to the public and 3D reconstructions offer visitors the opportunity to observe the building as it probably originally looked.

I highly recommend that you take some time to view the 3D reconstruction video. It's about 2 minutes long and is highly informative!

Link to Catania's Roman Amphitheatre

If you want to view this on your computer, just place your cursor over the print in blue above and click - a drop-down menu will appear offering the direct link to YouTube. Click on this.

If you're using your phone or tablet, just tap the blue text and then tap the link from the drop-down menu.

After all of this excitement, it was time for dinner! We stepped outside the front door of the Palazzo and simply walked around the corner to the Ristorante Antica Siciliana!

Pasta fruiti di mare mista (mixed seafood). Pasta La Norma (a Sicilian specialty)

Grilled Tuna

A new discovery for us, Nero D'Avolo. It was great!

We had a private walking tour of the Centro Storico (historic centre) of Catania 2 mornings later. Our guide, Tita, picked us up at the hotel and took us for a walk of only about 2 minutes to get to Piazza Duomo - literally, it was just around the corner!

This is the Piazza Duomo, featuring Basilica Cattedrale di Sant'Agata. It is built in the Baroque style. Agata is the patron saint of Catania. The legend says that, as a young woman, she was martyred by the Romans because she would not give up her faith. As part of the punishment, Agata's breasts were cut off.

Altar inside Basilica Cathedral di Sant'Agata

This is the Elephant Fountain & Obelisk, symbol of Catania, in Piazza Duomo. The black elephant is made from lava stone.

From there, we sauntered over to an open market. Here are a number of pics we took en route:

Via Garibaldi

Street scene close to the Duomo

Fruitivendoli (fruit and vegetable vendors)

Canoli and other Dolci

As part of the tour, Tita took us to a place in the market for lunch. Here's what she picked out for us:

3 types of Sicilian cheeses, walnuts, sun dried tomatoes, prosciutto

Phew, were we full after this!

Following our market lunch, Tita insisted that we go to the Caffe del Duomo for caffe and dolci.

The dolci include Sicilian specialties: cannoli, orange slices dipped in chocolate and Cassatella di Sant'Agata breasts of Saint Agatha. Guess which ones they are!

And to drink...

Granita

Vaniglia+Pistachio+Limone = YUM!

At this point, our tour with Tita ended and we went on our own to discover a few more things.

This is the Castello Ursino, built in 1239 and 1259 by Emperor, King Frederick II of Sicily

This derelict building on the corner is a reminder of the WWII Bombings

Above is the ACI Castello near today's Port of Catania. It was built in 1076 by the Normans on the foundations of 7th century Byzantine fortifications. (More of the "lasagna" that we saw in Napoli!)

All the walking is fun, but tiring. We just had to stop and watch the world go by as we had some limonata and a few aperitivi!

By the way, the canned limonata is very refreshing - Jenn & I fell in love with it!

I should also mention that another Sicilian specialty is the tarocco orange. It makes the best oj we've ever had and its juice is red! So good!

We have a few last things to show you before we call it a wrap on this post. First, we want to feature the dinner that we had at Ristorante Canne e Pisci.

Etna wine

This is Antonio, our waiter, who showed us the menu of fresh fish for the evening. We picked the big one on the right at the back. Antonio told us it was a perfect size for the three of us!