Sicily - Road Trip from Palermo to Catania

The scenic route between Palermo and Catania this past April, gave us a chance to enjoy more of Sicily’s rural scenery. Although taking the SS120 was not wholly our choice but due to a landslide that damaged the A19 expressway linking the two cities, it nonetheless worked out fine for us. We savored the area’s famous fungi over lunch at Ristorante Veneziano in Randazzo near Mt. Etna. And once in Catania, we took a morning walk to its main fish market.

So it was much longer ride of almost six hours given the diversion to the smaller SS120 road but it also gave us a chance to enjoy some nice scenery en route to a vineyard visit on Mt. Etna (see my prior post on our Cusumano winery visit).

View of the hills along the drive to Catania — Looking down on the closed A19 motorway

Before we dropped in on winemaker Cusumano’s Mt. Etna vineyards, we stopped for lunch at a rustic restaurant, Veneziano, in Randazzo with a jolly waiter and some very good simple pasta and grilled meats.

A nice, simple rustic lunch — We had a good lunch here, helped by our jolly waiter

Various pasta for lunch at Ristorante Veneziano in Randazzo — One of the standouts was the pasta with Italian wild asparagus

Fresh produce at Ristorante Veneziano in Randazzo — A crate of the wild asparagus we had with our pasta

Fresh artichokes and peppers — Artichokes and peppers at the back of the restaurant

A platter of grilled meats — We had a platter of grilled meat, lamb and sausages. The best was the lamb.

The drive to Cusumano’s Mt. Etna vineyards yielded more great scenery including some nice views of the peak of the famous volcano.

View of Mt. Etna from the vineyards on its slopes

Mt. Etna's vineyards — Looking down on the vineyards

Mt. Etna's trees and rocks — Black & white photo of trees and rocks on Mt. Etna

Twilight view of Catania town — View of the street outside our hotel with Mt. Etna in the distance

By the time we reached Catania after our visit to Cusumano’s vineyards, it was dusk and a bit late to do much exploration of the city. But we had a nice drink and relaxing night in our hotel – I highly recommend the UNA Hotel Palace in Catania. I had a nice view of the street outside my room with Mt. Etna in the distance.

Unfortunately our stay in Catania would be short as we flew off to Milan mid-morning for the next leg of our wine tour of Italy. But before we left for the airport, we had a chance to take a walk to the city’s main market, which is just a short 10-15 minute walk from the hotel. Along the way, we passed by some of Catania’s main landmarks including its elephant symbol.

Sunrise over the Catania town center — The view from our hotel rooftop – sunrise in Catania

Catania’s Piazza Universita near the Palazzo degli Elefanti in the quiet of the early morning

Early news in Catania's Anfiteatro Romano — Newsstand near the Anfiteatro Romano

We were a bit early when we got to the market so they were still setting up some of the stalls but it was still interesting to see what they had on offer. We still managed to buy some really amazing fresh nuts and hot pepperoncino.

Catania's fish market being set up — It was still early so the stalls were still being set up in the market

Catania's fish market — Some of the fish available

In Catania's market, snails are sold — He sells snails in this tub but is lining the ladle with lemon to prevent the snails from climbing out

Catania market's meat section — The meat section of the market

Observing the activities at the Catania market — Love his sweater! This man sits and watches the goings on at the Catania market.

En route back to our hotel, we dropped in on a local cafe for a good cup of coffee. The burly owner of this simple cafe serves some really good toasted pastries including a really good ham and cheese one.

This simple cafe near the market had really good coffee — His coffee was one of the best we had and his ham & cheese toasted sandwich-like pastry was yummy

Alas, our stay in Catania, and in Sicily, was too short. I definitely plan to return to check out the rest of the province that I’ve been told is really beautiful. If nothing else, the food here is very good and extremely reasonable given access to high quality produce and fresh fish.

UNA Hotel Palace Catania website: http://www.unahotels.it/it/una_hotel_palace/hotel_palace_catania_landing.htm

Ristorante Veneziano website: http://www.ristoranteveneziano.it

Gazing and Grazing

Sicily – Road Trip from Palermo to Catania