Rediscovering Catania

When you are born in Sicily, it is difficult to immediately grasp your luck.
As a child you do not care at all what surrounds you, as a teenager you hate the whole world, and if you lived on the moon you would hate her too.
Then you run into the most difficult part of the world of work and many times, as in my case, you decide to go away and leave this land.
[caption id="attachment_124452" align="center-block" width="750"] She, like a patient mother, lets you go but knows that you will return to her because she knows that she has created an unbreakable bond in you.[/caption]
And here we are, the same as every summer. First from the plane you look for her ... The soaring beauty of Etna.
She who seems to embrace the city and in that embrace there is you too. Then a tour of the city.
You know it will never change, its streets always full of aromas and foods that you will hardly find in other places. I give myself a ride through its streets.
First, the inevitable visit to Villa Bellini, with a new discovery: on the ground, set with pebbles, you can see the symbols of Catania, the Elephantino and the A of Sant'Agata.
[caption id="attachment_124455" align="center-block" width="750"] Leaving there is a tour of the shop windows of via Etnea, a look at the ancient Post Office building that has just been renovated, which gives new light and splendour to this gem of the first half of the 20th century.[/caption]
A lunch dedicated to tradition: meatballs, parmigiana and strictly pistachio dessert.
I resume the tour to rediscover my city, my home ... the imposing Piazza Duomo. The Cathedral and the "Liotru" is the Catania name of the Elephant, symbol of the city of Catania, sacred and profane that have always and forever been intertwined.
A tour along the street that has become the most ‘instagrammed’ point in Catania, a small alley dotted with umbrellas. An initiative to give a new face to the city. I really like that touch of colour in contrast with the lava stone that runs along the road.

I pass into a bar for a quick dinner and indecision makes its way ... What could I choose among all those goodies? Our hot meal, heritage of all palates.
And now we go home, from tomorrow the sea. And what a sea, I would add!
See you next visit, my city.