I spent this past week in four different cities: Catania, Palermo, Naples, and Capri. It would be impossible to write about all of these cities in one post, so I’m splitting this up into two parts, starting with Catania and Palermo, cities in Sicily!

Catania had, hands down, the best food out of all four cities. I have never tasted pizza, or pasta, like that in my life. Of course, all the food in Italy deserves a round of applause, but Catania’s was especially mind-blowing. The town itself is relatively small and cute; my friend and I stayed at the B&B Sveva and our room had a balcony overlooking a castle. The elderly gentleman who ran the place was very nice and showed us around, pointing at various objects, and saying the few English words that he knew.

My first night out in Catania also gave me my first glimpse into how Italian men talk to women. My friend and I were sitting outside a bar, enjoying a drink, when two guys approached us and began talking in exactly the way you’d imagine Italians talk. The amusing part about this interaction is that one of the men didn’t speak English, and so his friend kept translating for him. He would say something to me in Italian and then his English speaking buddy would turn to me and say “He likes you! He likes you! He wants to kiss you! He wants to marry you! Will you marry him??” My friend and I left as quickly as possible.

For our second day in Catania, we wanted to go to the beach. An easy enough task, right? Nope. Italy is not known for its public transportation. We waited for an hour at the bus station, and every time one of us would ask the man at the ticket counter when the bus was coming, we received a different answer. Finally, one of the men walked over to a bus in the parking lot and drove it over to us.

The beach we wanted to go to was called Le Capannine, and we had been told by several people that it was the last stop. As we drove along, more and more people began getting off the bus. Finally, there were just four of us left; I asked the bus driver “Is this Le Capannine?” He said “No, next one.” He dropped us off at the last stop, said, “Le Capannine”, and drove away.

It was not Le Capannine. It was the middle of bumfuck nowhere, a 40 minute walk away from the beach.

So, we began walking in the direction of the beach, in the 80 degree heat, surrounded on both sides of the road by trash. As we walked, cars and bikes honked their horns and came within inches of hitting us; a woman who was gardening laughed at us, the two dumb Americans; dogs chased and barked at us behind seedy looking fences; and we witnessed a man jump out of his car to scream at his girlfriend.

Fortunately, the beach had a bar, and the journey back was much less eventful.

We left for Palermo the next day, feeling hopeful that this city might offer us more in terms of easy-to-navigate transportation. We weren’t disappointed; Palermo is a much bigger and more touristy city than Catania, with a bus that comes regularly. Our host at the hostel we stayed at spoke English and was able to give us specific instructions on how to get to and from Mondello Beach, and we spent a full day relaxing in the sunshine and swimming in the beautifully blue Tyrrhenian Sea.

The hostel we stayed at had a common area, so we got to meet people from around the world, and enjoyed the nightlife with a guy from Argentina and another from Paris. Standing outside on the street, open drink in hand (because in Italy you can take your drink with you), I wondered how many of these people actually had jobs. It was a Tuesday night, the streets were full, and the bars were loud. Did they have work the next morning? Is this how they unwound? Not that I was complaining; I was on vacation!

That about sums up my adventures in Sicily; next, Naples and Capri!