Catania (February 20)

About 7:30 p.m. we boarded the Trinacria, a “small” cruise liner that took us from Napoli to a place called Catania. I call it “small” because the liner was smaller than vacation cruise liner like Caribbean or Carnival but big enough to hold 18-wheelers and busses.  Our trip across the Strait of Messina took about 12 hours and it was very pleasant.  The rooms were clean, the beds comfortable (the sway of the ship rocked me to sleep), and the shower in the bathroom was amazing!  Immediate warm water and great pressure!  Ah, the little things…..

Our main purpose for being in Catania was to get our land legs again.  We had no academic agenda in Catania.  Thus, we had some free time wander around the center of town.  Other than a port for receiving tourists, Catania is not really a tourist attraction.  Usually people get off the ship and scurry elsewhere.  However, I found Catania to be quite pleasant and inviting.  After a 20-minute walk from the ship, we made it to Piazza di Duomo, a beautiful square that includes a fountain displaying its mascot, an elephant called Elotru, and the Duomo of Catania, called Sant’ Agata (St. Agatha), patron saint of breast cancer.

The interior of Sant’ Agata is set up pretty traditionally, with two sets of pews, a main aisle up the middle with aisles on either side.  The alter was completely hidden behind a construction tapestry but through the cracks you could tell there were some amazing stained glass windows that surround it.  Along the outside aisles were some beautiful paintings depicting certain bible scenes or Jesus Christ or Mother Mary (or of both as in the picture shown), with side altars or small chapels for which to be in silent prayer or adoration.

Just off the piazza we were witness to a daily occurrence in Catania: the live fish market!  I call it “live” because some of the merchants were selling fish that were literally jumping out of the buckets, in particular eels and anchovies.  But as you can see in the picture, all kinds of sea creatures were for sale, including bass, shrimp, swordfish, and squid….all fresh of course!