Rewind: Catania

I didn't take too many pictures in Catania, not sure why.  We didn't really do too much exploring.  At this point we were kinda getting burnt out, but I'll show you what I have.

Day 1

We took a long train to Catania, Sicily.  At one point, the train had to get on a ferry (so freakin cool!) because Sicily is an island.

We checked into our hostel and they told me that Sicily is known for the The Godfather because parts of it were filmed here:

We checked into our room, but man oh man was it hot in there:

The entire room shared this tiny fan.  Not cool!  We threw our stuff down and got outta there.  They have a bar/restaurant next door and we get a nice discount.

Sicily is known for couscous, so I had to try it.  I had the seafood couscous:

Yum!  Aaron had the chicken curry couscous:

Also yum!

I'm not gonna say the couscous was life-changing, I think it has more to do with the restaurant being good.

The bar inside has a weird cave, so we went to take a look:

There was even a little pond at the bottom.  Very cool bar cave!

We explored our surroundings:

Plazzo Degli Elefanti was only a couple minutes from our hostel:

They had a random coach museum:

We also stumbled upon a gelato festival:

For 7 Euro, you get 5 flavors.  Here are our flavors:

Flavor 1: fruit-just tasted like mango, VERY sweet

Flavor 2: raspberry almond-yummy!

Flavor 3: pistachio white chocolate-OMG best gelato I've ever had EVER!

Flavor 4: coffee caramel-the coffee is overpowering

Flavor 5: chocolate nutella-good, but kinda boring

Fun!  Fun!  Fun!  That pistachio one was insane!

Headed back to the hostel bar and hung out awhile:

Had mojitos:

and horse meatballs with tomatoes and mushrooms:

They were interesting, kinda gamy, kinda tough, but good flavor.  Off to bed!

Day 2

We decided to go to the beach today.  First we had a 5 Euro lunch special at the hostel restaurant:

salmon and rice, pretty good for 5 Euro!  We took a 10 minute bus ride to the beach.  

We found chairs and umbrellas and had a relaxing beach day.  The sand and the water were perfect.

Off in the distance, we could see Mt. Etna.  We had enough of climbing volcanoes for awhile, so this is as close a view as you're going to get.

Later that evening, we went out to dinner with our roommates, Sara from Sicily and Flo from France.

I had pizza and Aaron had pasta:

Both good.  Then back to the hostel bar for a dance party, complete with DJ and professional dancers.

Fun!

Day 3

Today I did a solo beach day because Aaron stayed up too late.  As I left the hostel, I noticed the streets transformed into a giant outdoor market:

Snails:

I got myself a crappy green bean salad and I was set for a day of fun in the sun:

That evening, I tried arancina, which is a traditional Sicilian food.

It's a breaded and fried rice ball filled with meat, cheese and peas (traditionally):

It was tasty, but very heavy.

We also had dinner at the hostel (where else?).  Apps of bruschetta, hummus and focaccia:

Grilled chicken and veggies:

Tiramisu:

All that for the low, low price of 11 Euros.  Not bad.

So, that's Catania.  I told you I didn't take too many pictures.  The city was beautiful though and the vibe was very beach-y and fun.