This is our first trip to Sicily and given we had just a few full days to explore we certainly crammed in a fair amount although we only saw parts of the south/eastern part of this island.

Wednesday 28th December 2016

The journey by train from Rome to Catania took just under ten hours, our reservation in Coach 2 said it was a through service although all station display signs and announcements said the train was heading to Palermo!

Once south of Naples the railway skirted the Italian coast for much of the journey to Villa San Giovanni where the train was shunted onto a ferry to cross to Messina on Sicily. There are not many places where trains are loaded onto ferry services, so it was an interesting experience. Once off the ferry more shunting took place in Messina station and indeed our portion of the train was heading to Catania and not Palermo - although any announcement of this seemed to be lacking. The physical distance between Villa San Giovanni and Messina is about three miles, but this part of the journey took two hours to complete.

Our accommodation in Catania, the Centro Storico B&B, seemed to only offer the first B, but was a massive room which was reached through a rather eiry courtyard and rickety lift but was clean and comfortable once inside. The area did not seem touristy at all, but was very handy for car part and door accessories vendors with their little shops filling every available entrance on the nearby streets. It was all very much 'old' Italy and generally, as we found when exploring Catania, the whole place seemed a bit threadbare and well worn.

Our first night in Catania saw us visit Il Santi for pizza which was an easy two minutes walk from our B[&B]. Lots of topping choices were to be offered although the tomato sauce could however have been a bit more tasty. Strangely for Italy the place didn't serve coffee which was really bizarre but the wine was good value!

Thursday 29th December 2016

We had plumped for a guided tour to help us see Mount Etna as having done some research this seemed far easier than any public transport options. As the minibus climbed up to a height of around 2,000m to visit the Silvester Craters it was obvious that the weather was closing in. Blizzard conditions, including total 'white outs', treacherous roads and freezing temperatures were the order of the day - what a shame our driver had no snow chains as after we had slid into a wall it became clear he had lost his confidence. We were on the road for sometime waiting to be rescued and eventually, after a good hour and a half, another chap arrived and got us moving! We did still get to see the Silvester Crater from the 1869 eruption and we were able to climb into the lava tubes/caves, but maybe another visit with better weather is needed to enjoy Mount Etna.

After safely getting to lower levels we had a few hours in Taormina, a very touristy hilltop town. We were able to see the wonderful ancient Greek theatre - well, at least what remains of it, before wandering the streets, grabbing a bite to eat (Arancini filled with Ragu is the way to go for a snack) and enjoying a drink before we were collected and taken back to Catania. It was an eventful and memorable day.

Friday 30th December 2016

Having grabbed a breakfast croissant at the Bar Terminal opposite the railway station we headed north to Giarre-Riposto in order to catch the narrow guage Circum-Etna Railway, or FCE (Ferrovia Circumetnea) that would take use around the base of the volcano. The FCE station was in desperate need of either a wrecking ball or some serious tender loving care and did not inspire you to travel and when the train did arrive it was clear that some investment is needed - although with only four passengers (including us) boarding at Giarre clearly this is a lightly used railway.

The first part of the trip to Randazzo, taking about an hour, had us travelling through some great scenery with Mount Etna being visible almost constantly. With an hour to kill between trains at Randazzo we found a nearby bar that served up Arancini before continuing our journey around the base of Mount Etna back to Catania. This second part of the trip was not quite as impressive as the first but still had us crossing many lava flows before arriving, via the city suburbs, into Catania Borgo station two hours later. With us back into Catania by 15.30 there was enough time to see the remains of the Roman amphitheatre (not that impressive), the impressive cathedral and some other parts of the city in daylight/dusk.

Many of Catania's roads and buildings are made from basalt, which is derived from lava, given the city a dark feel. There is plenty of graffiti on most surfaces and as a result parts of the city feel very much unloved and rather down at heel. It does feel a rather gritty place once away from the major shopping areas. Given both of us are not huge fans of hamburgers, our evening meal at BIF (a burger joint), may seem a bit of a strange choice. We saw the place as we walked to our accommodation on our first evening and thought it looked good, and it certainly was. Good food, decent wine and at a reasonable price too - although ordering food and drink via an I-pad (in Italian too) straight to the kitchen was a first for us.

Saturday 31st December 2016

Another early start and again a croissant and coffee at the Bar Terminal saw us boarding the 08.42 train from Catania Centrale to Siracusa a journey of about 70 minutes. We had been recommended to leave early if possible by a couple we met the previous day and it was a good job we heeded their advice as Siracusa had plenty to see. Our first stop was the Temple of Apollo, followed by Archimedes Piazza (with an impressive fountain) before taking a brief drinks stop in the rather pleasant Piazza Duomo. The cathedral (duomo) was built on the site of an old Greek temple (Temple of Athena) and it was clear from the construction that the pillars had been used to support part of the new building. The €4.00 combination ticket also gave us entry to the Ionic Temple of Artemis that had been discovered under the 'modern city' although it was hard to really identify this even with the information provided.

We then made our way to the end of the Isola di Ortigia to visit the Castello Maniace which protected the harbour entrance in years gone by. It was soon time to find a lunch stop but this was not before we spent a good amount of time just wandering the back streets, almost getting lost, and enjoying Siracusa. Compared to Catania it seemed cleaner, fresher and just far more pleasant and we probably would have enjoyed staying here rather than Catania for a couple of nights - although visiting Mount Etna is far easier from Catania.

After lunch we headed out of the city and walked to the Archaeological Park Neapolis (€10.00 entry fee) and visited the remains of the Greek amphitheatre, the Roman amphitheatre (or colloseum) and the Orecchio di Dionisio. We probably could have spent more time here but the sights seemed to be closing by around 16.00 (and the light was fading) so there was just enough time to visit the modern cathedral of Santuario Madonna delle Lacrime before catching the 17.14 train back to Catania. Given all of the fabulous old churches that Italy has it seems strange that people would choose to come here to worship as it felt a rather stark and cold place.

Back in Catania we did struggle to find somewhere decent for dinner as restaurants were serving a special meat/fish menu to celebrate New Year and were either fully booked and if honest we really didn't fancy a three/four course meal with all the trimmings. Chipstar Amsterdam came to the rescue after much walking around the city streets followed by a visit to C&G (Chocolate and Gelato) for desert. It may not have quite been what we planned/originally wanted but it certainly was a cheaper evening than we had budgeted for! Given all of the walking we had done during the day in Siracusa and again when back in Catania - which totalled 14 miles according to the pedometer - we returned to our accommodation and saw the New Year in watching Rai1 (Italian TV) and their NYE musical show and enjoyed some Prosecco and Pandoro cake that the B&B owner had left for us.

Sunday 1st January 2017

Happy New Year! With a few hours to fill before our early afternoon flight back to the UK it was nice to have something off the Tavola Calda list (little hot dishes costing around €2.00 each) at a café in the city centre of Catania. After this late breakfast we had one last look around the central area on a bright and sunny January morning.

The Alibus 'express' bus to the airport was driven by a Ferrari F1 driver wannabe so there was enough time for one last Arancini Ragu and a beer before we caught our easyJet flight, EZY2438, that was due to depart Catania at 14.10 for London Luton. With a slightly earlier than advertised push back we were back into Luton around 25 minutes earlier that booked. Hopefully all flights in 2017 with be the same!