Travel
Visited places
The list so far is not that impressive but I am working to increase it. The visited countries, island or cities are: Athens, Crete, Guadeloupe, Malta (no pictures), Djibouti (no pictures and not recommended), Lanzarote (no pictures), various spanish cities including Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona.
Select the trip you wish to read the report.
The landing was interesting as the pilot aborted the first approach at the last moment with the landing gear out. We did not take a taxi as we did not know the cost. It turned out that the cost is about €30. We took the bus for €1 each. However, although the bus reliable, due to the Santa Agatha fiesta (27 January to 6 February), some of the public transport routes are changed with no information from their website.
On Sunday, we decided to find our bearing in the city. We walked towards the cathedral in the Duomo plaza.
The cathedral being opened, we went inside. The inside is worth the trip even if you are not a baroque fan. The cathedral itself is like most of the Catania region that was rebuilt after the big earthquake of 1697. Although most of the buildings are of late baroque, they re-used when possible previous structures either Roman or Medieval. In the case of the cathedral they reused both.
After a lunch break, we visited the Roman theatre.
It was a nice tour with some interesting artefacts.
We walked towards the former Benedictine monastery that was closed. The building is now the place of the University of Arts and Philosophy for Catania.
We carried out walking towards the medieval castle that was closed due to cleaning after an exhibition.
By accident, we spotted the Catania’s Greek theatre. It should be noticed that there is no visit organized for this theatre.
The following day, Monday, was a chilling out day. We decided to use the tourist tour bus at the Duomo plaza.
It should be observed that the tour bus does not stop at the medieval castle or the botanic garden during the low season. It was not possible to stop and come back contrary to the advertisement. However, it was worth it.
On Tuesday, we decided to go around Mount Etna. We decided not to go to the top because of the winter temperature. From Catania, Mount Etna could be seen with a thick snow coat. Instead of going to the top, we took the train from Catania. We stopped at Randazzo. We had a lunch there and tour the town that is one of the prettiest of the area.
The plan was to go Giarre but we got confused with the train swapping. Therefore, we came back the same to Catania. The view from the train is impressive especially the lava flows.
Wednesday was also a chilling out day. We went back to the former Benedictine monastery. To our surprise, the basilica was opened.
It was also possible to visit the building. For about €6 per person, the guide will show most of the palace. The monastery was built for very rich family sons. There were about 60 monks with 400 servants and helpers. The cells were not as modest as it might have been expected. Although there are many doors, the majority of them are not cells entrance.
The building is in its majority from late baroque with some parts built on top of the lava flow of 1631.
The monastery church is slightly longer and wider than the cathedral. There was a battle between the Abbot and the Bishop. Although the Abbot won initially, the Bishop won at the end. The Basilica was never complete i.e. there are no statues inside and no permanent bell tower.
The monastery like many buildings in Catania is a mix of baroque, medieval and Roman architecture.
On Thursday, we took a coach to Syracuse. In Syracuse, after a walk, we arrived at the archaeological park. The Greek and Roman theatres are next to each other.
The size of those two cannot be easily described and it is not really shown on various brochures. It should be noticed visiting the Roman theatre is free but €6 is required for the Greek one. It is worth the money and it is impressive.
We walked back to the centre of Syracuse where we saw the remains of the Apollo temple.
On Friday, we walked through the main garden at the city centre. We also saw the start of the fiesta.
In summary, the trip was good with a mix of rest and long walk. To be more enjoyable, a stay in Syracuse might have added another dimension. However, we took the right decision not to drive in Catania. The motorway would have been ok but driving in the city centre is slightly more tricky with unwritten rules.
More pictures were taken. To see all of them click on the gallery link.
Introduction
Traveling has always been a joy for me. Most of my early trips were done without any cameras. The recent ones were done with some sorts of camera. This page is not intended to show all my pictures but just my thought on the various trips when I have pictures.Visited places
The list so far is not that impressive but I am working to increase it. The visited countries, island or cities are: Athens, Crete, Guadeloupe, Malta (no pictures), Djibouti (no pictures and not recommended), Lanzarote (no pictures), various spanish cities including Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona.
Select the trip you wish to read the report.
Trip reports
Catania 2012
From the 21st to the 28th January 2012, my wife and me went to Catania in Sicily (Italy) for one week of chilling out. We almost cancelled our trip due to fuel shortage and a potential general strike on the 27th. On the information of the Mediterraneo hotel (Best Western) staff, we went ahead as the public transport ran satisfactorily.The landing was interesting as the pilot aborted the first approach at the last moment with the landing gear out. We did not take a taxi as we did not know the cost. It turned out that the cost is about €30. We took the bus for €1 each. However, although the bus reliable, due to the Santa Agatha fiesta (27 January to 6 February), some of the public transport routes are changed with no information from their website.
On Sunday, we decided to find our bearing in the city. We walked towards the cathedral in the Duomo plaza.
The cathedral being opened, we went inside. The inside is worth the trip even if you are not a baroque fan. The cathedral itself is like most of the Catania region that was rebuilt after the big earthquake of 1697. Although most of the buildings are of late baroque, they re-used when possible previous structures either Roman or Medieval. In the case of the cathedral they reused both.
After a lunch break, we visited the Roman theatre.
It was a nice tour with some interesting artefacts.
We walked towards the former Benedictine monastery that was closed. The building is now the place of the University of Arts and Philosophy for Catania.
We carried out walking towards the medieval castle that was closed due to cleaning after an exhibition.
By accident, we spotted the Catania’s Greek theatre. It should be noticed that there is no visit organized for this theatre.
The following day, Monday, was a chilling out day. We decided to use the tourist tour bus at the Duomo plaza.
It should be observed that the tour bus does not stop at the medieval castle or the botanic garden during the low season. It was not possible to stop and come back contrary to the advertisement. However, it was worth it.
On Tuesday, we decided to go around Mount Etna. We decided not to go to the top because of the winter temperature. From Catania, Mount Etna could be seen with a thick snow coat. Instead of going to the top, we took the train from Catania. We stopped at Randazzo. We had a lunch there and tour the town that is one of the prettiest of the area.
The plan was to go Giarre but we got confused with the train swapping. Therefore, we came back the same to Catania. The view from the train is impressive especially the lava flows.
Wednesday was also a chilling out day. We went back to the former Benedictine monastery. To our surprise, the basilica was opened.
It was also possible to visit the building. For about €6 per person, the guide will show most of the palace. The monastery was built for very rich family sons. There were about 60 monks with 400 servants and helpers. The cells were not as modest as it might have been expected. Although there are many doors, the majority of them are not cells entrance.
The building is in its majority from late baroque with some parts built on top of the lava flow of 1631.
The monastery church is slightly longer and wider than the cathedral. There was a battle between the Abbot and the Bishop. Although the Abbot won initially, the Bishop won at the end. The Basilica was never complete i.e. there are no statues inside and no permanent bell tower.
The monastery like many buildings in Catania is a mix of baroque, medieval and Roman architecture.
On Thursday, we took a coach to Syracuse. In Syracuse, after a walk, we arrived at the archaeological park. The Greek and Roman theatres are next to each other.
The size of those two cannot be easily described and it is not really shown on various brochures. It should be noticed visiting the Roman theatre is free but €6 is required for the Greek one. It is worth the money and it is impressive.
We walked back to the centre of Syracuse where we saw the remains of the Apollo temple.
On Friday, we walked through the main garden at the city centre. We also saw the start of the fiesta.
In summary, the trip was good with a mix of rest and long walk. To be more enjoyable, a stay in Syracuse might have added another dimension. However, we took the right decision not to drive in Catania. The motorway would have been ok but driving in the city centre is slightly more tricky with unwritten rules.
More pictures were taken. To see all of them click on the gallery link.
Future destinations
The list is growing everyday. I am not keen to go on my own so if you want to join, drop me a line. The trips that I would like to do are: Hawaii, Florida (Miami and Orlando in particular), Las Vegas, Japan, China, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Venice, etc.