Catania - The City

Catania is city we will return to. It's lively, smart, and has lots to do. However we barely scratched the surface as we stayed near the train and bus station, about 15 minutes from city center, and spent each of our 3 full days on day trips: Ragusa, Taormina, and Mount Etna.

The Elephant Fountain marks city center for the visitor.


And across the piazza is the Duomo.




Sun-Ling studies our route. Those are the train tracks behind her.


St Francis of Assisi Church is near the Roman Theater which we did not visit.


Next to San Nicolo, one of the largest churches in Italy say our guide books, is it's former monastery, now part of the University of Cantania, the 29th oldest university in the world and with 60,000 students. No wonder the city is so lively. ;-) We wandered into the monastery building to check things out. Way cool. Islamic courtyards, long corridors with monk cells, and scenic study alcoves.








Did I mention that the Church of San Nicolo was never finished and sort of ugly?


A side street near the city center.


Nearby is the Roman Amphitheater.


And like any great city, Catania has an old art Deco Cinema, the Odeon.






And the more traditional Teatro Massimo Bellini.


Our favorite paninaro (food truck).