Buon giorno,
There was rain and thunderstorms over night, and today was very muggy, so I decided to treat myself to gelato on my last day here. I got Amarena, which is vanilla and cherry, and very refreshing it was.
I began my day with a computer check in for my flight. I am leaving very early tomorrow morning. I have my taxi booked. All airlines do online check in now, so I'm used to it but it was very frustrating as I scanned my passport for them over and over, and they said it was done successfully, but then they wanted me to do the procedure over. Sigh. Well, I finally did take care of it even though Lufthansa decided my phone number was Canadian (I corrected that) and my country of residence was the UK. Nope. I've ordered my dinner for the Munich-LAX leg, and they'll feed me breakfast Catania to Munich.
I went out for a last turn around the city. I've been living the life of a tourist in the historic center, so it's not been normal life in Catania even though I've gone to the grocery store and cooked my own pasta. So I made my way down the hill to the cathedral square. Above you can see the Pillar of the Elephant. Said elephant is made of lava and is the symbol of the city. Catanians are nearly as proud of it as St. Agatha.
Then I strolled around and came upon another small market in a side street.
But then it was time to resume shopping ,so I took myself down Via Etnea. My target was the pan Italian department store Rinascente. They have a posh food section in the basement, but I stopped to squirt myself with some expensive perfume before using the escalator. I got what I needed, and I got a discount because years ago in Torino I acquired their loyalty card. The friendly woman who helped me asked where I was from. I got the usual enthusiastic reaction, "Wow!" It was her dream to go to Los Angeles. She also mentioned New York City--well, OK.That, too.
I felt obliged to try out the Sicilian liqueurs on offer. I got some made with cinnamon--a small bottle. Let's have a sip. Hmm. That's pretty nice. The cinnamon is there, but not overpowering. It does have a bit of the strong booze burn though.
I've had a lovely visit to Catania, and most of all I appreciate the gracious welcome I have received from its inhabitants.
Ciao for Now
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