Catania and Noto
What a wonderful fall we've had. The colors in the trees are a mix of bright tones with various shades of yellow, orange, and reds. With it comes the cooler temperatures easing us into the cold winter months ahead. So you know what that means – Norm and Maritta's quest for sunnier places begins!
We headed straight to Italy's boot and landed in Catania, the second largest city in Italy, and our first night here was, well, a pizza pie of awesomeness! Yes I had pizza for supper.
We enjoy our first evening with Alastair and Wendy, strolling around the old city centre area. It's lovely here. We can even see Mount Etna, an active stratovolcano at the end of a long street.
The city was rebuilt in the Baroque style, popular durung the 1700s after the city was completely destroyed and rebuilt. We stayed near the beautiful Bellini opera house.
Next stop? Noto, just an hour away. This place was in a similar fixer-upper situation after an earthquake in 1693, only it was rebuilt about 10 miles away from the original site.
Nestled within a harmoniously designed Baroque center, the symmetrical layout offers vistas of quaint and interesting streets.
We spent the day navigating the cobblestone streets, and checking out some of the many churches. Come evening, it was all about the really good stuff. – pasta and Italian gelato!
After ordering our gelato, we did as the locals do: strolled the streets and parked ourselves on church steps for some top-notch people-watching, all while soaking in that warm Mediterranean night breeze.
Bellissimo!
