Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ – Ephesians 1:3 November 7th, 2011: I had an excellent night of sleep which was followed with a delicious breakfast similar to yesterday but was bested by a sampling of blood orange juice! Also, I realized this hotel had community internet usage, so I took advantage of that, as well. As you recall the train station was literally a matter of footsteps from my room, so I waited until the last minute to purchase my rail pass. As I inquired for a ticket I learned that the train is in fact delayed. And this time it meant delayed as in, not coming. So they piled the would-be passengers onto a bus and began the drive to Catania. Surprisingly enough it was only about an hour bus ride, even with a couple stops to drop off and pick up other passengers. Perhaps I passed out playing “hold your breath under the tunnel” but either way, a respectable time. Arriving in Catania a bit before noon, I imagined I would check the trains that would be running back to main land for tomorrow and then see about finding some lodging. At this point I needed to use the toilet pretty badly, but I was resilient to pay unless it was my room. So I checked a handful of hotels that were a tad over priced. Eventually I landed back near the station and found one for 50 Euros. Upon relieving myself and freshening up from the now 30 Celsius temperatures, it was time to get some grub. I would not say I was tired of Italian food, but neither pizza nor pasta sounded good right now. So the only other thing was this fried chicken curry type house. I got some chicken curry and rice. Nothing fantastic really, but it was food. So I continued to venture around the town to see what treasures it might hold. Viewing a map, there seemed to be a geology museum of some sort. I tried to track it down for a look see, but it did not exist according to the staff at a college nearby. A couple of other inquiries I made fell through, as well. So I picked up some cash at the ATM while I was in the area. I ate an aranchino for a snack then and made my way through various piazzas. Stopping at quite a scenic one, I got a little gelato and an espresso to just kick back for a little bit. I felt relaxed enough to go back to my room for a while, shower and watch some TV before dinner. When I started walking around to find grub it was after eight o’ clock. First, I walked by a mini-market and picked up some supplies for my long train trip tomorrow. I walked past another one and bought a mini pizza. I was starting to wonder if I would end up eating anything else for dinner until I walked past a window where an older couple was eating a simple meal and another lady watched television as she crocheted. Walking through the door, I asked if I might be able to get a meal. The man smiled and nodded. He then handed me a menu which was a piece of white paper with words written out in permanent marker. I ordered the minestrone and spaghetti Bolognese. It was some of the best and simplest food I had eaten yet while in Italy. I even was provided an array of antipasti before I ever started my soup. Thanking the couple, they helped remind me to take my groceries. We said buona sera (good evening) and I returned to my room. Making preparations for the morning, I had everything organized so I should not be hungry nor bored during my yet again lengthy day of travel yet to come. Buenna Note!
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 18:17:19 +0000
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