Catania

My last days in Palermo went by without a hitch, given that I didn't do much at all. Two days in a row I left the hostel in the morning with the intent to go to the beach at Mondello, and both days I changed my mind before I bought the bus ticket. The first day, I bought two pairs of underwear half-off at Intimissimi, because I love the underwear I bought there last year, but then I felt guilty about the €11, so I decided not to spend money on the beach. I sunbathed a bit down by the harbor of Palermo instead. By the second day, I'd come to the realization that Mondello was one of those resorty beaches that I disliked so much in Vernazza, Monterosso, and Capri, where there would be no space or peace, and I stayed again in Palermo. I went for a run for the first time here in Italy--it's just not practical or feasible to run in most places here--and read a bit. I bought two books, also half-off, at a used bookstore, and I'm officially buying NOTHING else to bring home from Italy except coffee. Packing my bag at the hostel, I finally realized that the evil underwear bastards from the first day took my yellow sweatshirt, and I hate them for it, but I left the negativity in Palermo and barely caught my bus to Catania.

Catania is beautiful. If I did Sicily again, I would have done two days in Palermo and six here. Everything (including the incredible duomo) is built of black lava stone, from Mt. Etna, and it's a very striking departure from the usual marbled palaces and cathedrals. It's less dirty than Palermo, prettier, and closer to more things I wanted to see.

I went with an American and two Brits from my hostel to Siracusa my first day here. We swam in the sea a bit, toured a bit, got gelato twice, and missed our bus home, so we waited an extra hour and a half at the bus stop with beer, pretzels, and cookies from a supermarket nearby. Exhausted and contented on the bus home, we passed the time mimicking each other's accents and laughing at the different words we use across the big old Atlantic. Hostel friends are cool. We all decided to go to Taormina yesterday, and we didn't have much time there, but we swam at the most beautiful beach I've ever been to. Both the Brits got stung by jellyfish, but we also jumped (and I dove) off of a rock some 25 feet above the sea into the clearest water I've ever seen, and it was such a rush that I don't mind that my time in the town was limited. I saw the Greek theatre, which was pretty, and I really liked a small church I passed with inexplicable skull-and-crossbones sculptures above the arch of the door. The other American left from Taormina for the next stop of his trip, so the Brits and I returned, got a drink, and I taught them how to play "Cheers to the Governor" until like 3:30 AM, and I got up at 9. There's evidently only one bus each day that goes to Mt. Etna, unless you do a 40-60 Euro guided tour, and I missed that bus (at 8:15), so I don't get to hike Etna. I was really looking forward to doing it, but I hung around Catania today and got my stuff in order instead. I ate a cannolo, a Sicilian pastry that is AMAZING, and a baba', a type of rum-pastry-thing. I'm going to learn to make cannoli at home. I decided in general that I'm going to become a more accomplished cook. I'm going to restart and relearn the basics, because I suspect my self-taught college culinary abilities are lacking in many aspects. I'm going to feed people all kinds of amazing pestos and pastries. I'm going to be amazing.

I failed to get into On the Road, and while I haven't given it up, I've turned my attention toward Harry Potter e l'ordine della fenice (the 5th book's Italian translation). I follow it pretty well in the overarching sense, and it's magically captivating even if it's slow and unsure comprehension of the details. I'm anxious to get to Rome. I want to go out, something I've done very little of so far, and dance to weird European house music. I leave Catania tomorrow, and I only have six nights left in Italy at all. I can hardly believe I've already been essentially homeless here for 26 days, and yet the remaining twenty-some days seem a lot like an eternity.
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