June 11, 2024
My morning walk was the beginning of my exploration of Catania. It is a vibrant city perched on the edge of the Ionian Sea filled with lots of churches and beautiful buildings. After being in Ragusa it is a bit of a culture shock as most building are covered in graffiti and other evidence of big city life. In my pictures I chose to show you the fun side of the city rather than more buildings. After almost two months of travel it is fun to notice the unique art that exists everywhere. The one with the woman flying above the alley is in honor of domestic violence.
Normandy has been in the news this week but most forget that the first Allied landing was actually the island of Sicily. The Allied Landings Museum documents this landing with an interactive show of the events that took place between the 10th of July and the 17th of August 1943, during the renowned “Operation Husky”. To help us to understand how it felt to be a citizen during the invasion we sat in a bomb shelter while we could hear the bombs dropping and the room even shook. A sobering experience!!! Outside the museum is the remains of a bombed out building.
The museum displays the following phase in its entryway “Nothing is lost with peace. Everything can be lost in war” made by the pope in 1942 and is so relevant to what’s going on in the world today!
Elephants are everywhere.in Catania. The elephant is the official symbol of the city of Catania, thanks to an old legend. During the Upper Paleolithic Times, a dwarfed elephant lived in Sicily. According to the legend, this elephant protected the first population of Catania from all fierce and dangerous animals. People from Catania erected a statue in honor of this elephant in the main square. They called it u Liotru.
In the late afternoon we visited a nearby lava grotto to meet with local volcanologist and learn about life in a volcanic region. He shared his insights about the inherent risks and advantages to living in the shadow of Mount Etna.
A group of us took the train to explore the city and then went for pizza, wine and of course gelato. A fun way to end the day.
