A castle and Catania

As a general admirer of castles, I was eager to explore the giant castle I saw atop a hill from Taormina and Teo was kind enough to accompany me.

We packed up our camping gear-- this time we camped in an official campground with hot showers and such, which was excellent-- and followed the signs for the Arab-Norman castle of Calatabiano. It's speculated that the castle and surrounding area was founded by Arabs primarily because the name Calatabiano comes from the Arabic Qalat-Bian, or castle of Bian. The castle was later altered by the Normans who took it over in 1072. Today it is a wonderfully well-restored castle whose restaurant and large assembly room can be reserved for special events if you have a lot of money.

There is a cable car that takes you up up the hill to get to the castle and the ride offers fine views of the countryside and the church which stands near the castle.

The panoramic views from the top are even more stunning.

The castle is still in the process of being restored. There's a whole other level underground that is still being excavated and prepared for future tourists. The castle is already stunning so I can only imagine what it will look like after it has been completely restored.

Ok, I've resigned myself to the fact that I will never be a rich woman since I have prioritized my life differently, but man, when I see things like this I can't help imagining how amazing it would be to rent this castle for a night, fly all my friends and family over on my jet, and throw a stellar party.

As reality would have it, I must content myself with an espresso, a fabulous view of Mt. Etna, and a dream.

 On to Catania we go, leaving our dreams of partying in a castle behind us.
Catania, founded in the 8th century B.C., has suffered several catastrophic earthquakes owing to its location so close to the active volcano, Mt. Etna. Much of Catania was destroyed in 1169, and again in 1693. As an unfortunate consequence pretty much everything was rebuilt in the Baroque style. Previous blog posts have expressed my opinion on Baroque.

 The Duomo of Catania, built originally in 1078-1093 on the site of Roman Achillean baths, was rebuilt in the Baroque style following the 1693 earthquake.

There is much more to see in Catania, but we were tired and ready to have a picnic on the beach where we were staying in a bungalow for 20 Euros a night.

The sunset over the sleepy little beach town of Brucoli as we head back to our campground bungalow. Tonight was lesson one on how to fish! I caught a lot of rock fish from the cliff, but no luck with real fish.

Tomorrow Siracusa (Syracuse) is in our future!