Day 6: The City

Wow. All I can say for today is wow. Today was an incredible day. Despite waking up at 6am (coughcough thanks friends for sending so many group messages that my phone dinged every time I got one), I had a fantastic time.

We started breakfast off with pudding before transitioning into the car to take Sofia into the actual city of Catania for recital practice. Mattia had to stay home because his last school exam was today. The drive into the city was fun; I'm going to miss the winding streets and small cars when I go back to America. One thing I noticed about these roads is that their is a lack of traffic lights.



(The only one in Pedara)

Another thing is that when you get into the city, immigrants wind in between the cars trying to sell you things and wash your car.



The motorcyclists here are INSANE. The weave in and out of the cars, come out of nowhere, and are EVERYWHERE. I amused myself by taking pictures of them as we drove. It was too Italian to resist.
























I can start a collage with just scooter pictures.

The first thing we did upon arrival was drop Sofia off for all day dance practice. Next we drove a little more through the city until we got to the coast. We visited Giancarlo's work before walking the coast a bit while the adults went to sign Mattia up for high school. These are the sights:


















The black stones are lava rock from the volcano.

































Giancarlo and Mariella picked us up when they were done and we drove a bit further to Acicastello to walk around and explore the castle. Words can not explain the beauty so I'll just show you in pictures.




























(Faces to ward off evil spirits- I particularly enjoy the mustaches)





















































These vases are artifacts from before Christ









Ancient catapult

























Original artwork by Catania artists





















Federico welcomes us to his crib















Up some final steps and....






























The view was spectacular.

Climbing down we celebrated with some much earned gelato (anything is an excuse to eat gelato). I got pistachio and coconut.









View from our seats:









We then piled in the car and drove to see Mariella's parents for a while before picking up lunch (chicken, bread, and French fries) and driving home. Apparently while we were gone a small earthquake shook Pedara but nothing happened. When Mattia got home from his exam we drove back to Catania at about 6pm. This time we visited the town center.

Some musicians serenaded us as we walked around:






The middle of the square houses a giant elephant statue- a symbol of the city.






To one side of the square is a GIANT cathedral. It was so Italian I didn't know what to do but gape and take pictures.



























I'm really digging the Corinthian columns.


















Mummified pope










































City Hall













Since the performance didn't start until 8:30pm, we walked a bit and got a bite to eat.









When it was time for the performance, we went into what Federico tells me is one of the most beautiful theatre's in Sicily. It was absolutely stunning.






The inside was plush and way more elegant than anything we have back home. Federico and Mattia were unimpressed because they said that they see this stuff everyday.















We kids had our own box in the balcony. We put it to good use by dancing ad acting insane during the breaks and to talk loudly and laugh during the performances.





The dance recital had an around the world theme. It was long and in Italian but that was okay because we entertained ourselves by dancing and singing and basically not acting elegant. We all watched attentively when Sofia was on though.



The performance ended at midnight and we walked a bit to get a snack/dinner. Mine was a Nutella croissant.



On the ride home everyone but Mattia, Giamcarlo, and I fell asleep so naturally we had a party. That and Mattia taught me the parts of the body in Italian while I taught him Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. We didn't get to sleep until 2am but it was so worth it.

Location:Pedara,Italy