At the arrival gate, we searched for our names on the signs being held up by drivers. I had spent some time communicating with the hotel about our arrival and they assured me that a driver would be there to pick us up. I didn't see our names or the hotel's name on any of the several signs. We looped 3 times with no luck. However, the hotel did send me detailed directions for taking the bus just in case I needed them. So, we hopped on the bus and arrived a bit later only to be told by the front desk, that our driver was looking for us at the airport. We laughed an exhausted laugh and checked into our room to figure out dinner for the evening.
Catania is located on the Southeastern portion of Sicily and is a port town where seafood is abundant. We were told to go to a certain restaurant near the center of town for "amazing seafood". I think all of us were too tired to try to translate the Italian menu, so we had the waiter pick for us and soon we had Prosecco, oysters and bread in front of us. The more I ate the heavier my eyelids became and it was apparent we were not going to last much longer. But we wanted to toast our first night in Sicily together and found a wine bar and ordered Campari spritzers to commemorate our journey. Soon after the clinks of the glasses and a short cab ride, we were all asleep.
The next morning, the clouds had found a comfortable spot right above Catania and we decided to venture into the city for some shopping and lunch. Shopping was limited but we did find an amazing place to eat lunch. The sun started peaking through and we found patio seating and ordered arancinis. Arancini is a large fried ball of various flavors of risotto. They are delicious. We ordered 3 different flavors--eggplant, pistachio and spinach. All wonderful and savory.
After lunch, we walked around the city and found that it is full of graffiti and litter. I was planning on taking pictures of history and found my camera roll full of graffiti instead. There were a few times when we felt like we needed to get out of an area quickly only to find ourselves in a likewise situation. It was adventurous and we were happy to hop on a bus back to the hotel.
That night, we decided to eat dinner near the ocean away from the city and hopefully redeem the day, especially since we were headed to work the next day. There was a lovely section near the ocean with a few restaurants and we found a table inside overlooking the water. Pizzas and wine were ordered as we watched the lights twinkle on the water. Our food was delicious and the wine paired perfectly. We laughed about our adventurous day and offered appreciation to each other for our ability to travel well together.
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