Palermo to Cefalu, Messina, and Catania

Alarm at 7.30. Went for breakfast and had an argument with the woman at the desk about not being able to choose which breakfasts I paid for (i.e. they had to be consecutive, which means I’d missed one the previous day). I packed up everything I’d need in Catania into my small pack and a plastic bag, dreading going out in the pouring rain, and left my email address for Melinda. As I asked to leave my bag at reception, the woman apologised for being narky – it was apparently because she hadn’t had her coffee yet. I understood her point, but she’d been very patronising.

I headed out, got cash from across the road, bought some gorgeous earrings that I’d spotted on the way to the cathedral, and set off walking up Via Maqueda, looking for a cheap bag. I found some at a market stall right near the station. The man offered me the one I wanted for €15, then €13, then €10. I took it, getting change for my €50 note in the process, and shoved the plastic bag I’d been carrying inside. I went looking for the post office to the left of the station that the woman had told me about, with no luck. A man I asked didn’t speak English. So I went inside the station and bought postcards for Nik and Ange, then went to the toilet, finding the post office nearby, with a huge queue attached. I bought stamps from the Tabacchi to send the postcards, wrote on them, sent them, and changed some cash at the Tabacchi. I bought my ticket to Cefalu (€4.70) and waited 45 minutes for the train. The journey was through Termini Imeresa and was very quick.

I got off at about 12.50 and set off down the hill in a guess at the right direction for a quick tour of the town. Before long, I saw a sign for the Temple of Diana, and headed up through increasingly steep streets to ‘La Rocca’. After quite a few steps, I got to some sort of fortification and decided to go no further because the path was tricky and I had limited time. It was also grey and windy. I looked around, then headed back down and continued walking downhill through the beautiful town, looking for a supermarket to buy lunch. The beach was great, with real surf, but really windy. I didn’t find a supermarket despite seeing a sign for one, and decided to get the 2pm train for Messina, so headed back to the station. The ticket to Messina was €8.45 and the station was full of noisy teenagers. I bought some water.

The train was very old but the trip was OK, though the sea view lost its novelty after an hour (or what I could see of it through the damaged window). I sat opposite a woman and her mother, who were very nice. Nearly everyone who walked down the aisle next to me lurched in my direction as the train moved. The man opposite thought it was quite funny. On the way, I ate the apple I’d bought in Palermo, and some cake. I texted Mark, when I read his Facebook status as ‘no longer a student’, to ask him whether he’d submitted. He said no, but that he was to start work on Monday and was excited about it.

Arrived at Messina at about 4.30, and abandoned any idea of stopping in Taormina as well. The next train to Catania was at 5.27, so I bought a ticket for €6.45, an arancino and some more water, and got on board. I had quite a while to wait, so I texted Bob and Laura. The view of Messina across the ferry harbour was amazing – white and mighty on the side of the hill – and the sea seemed much calmer on this side. For a while, it was fine weather on the coast side of the train, and foul grey clouds and rain on the hill side. Bizarre. Both Bob and Laura replied fairly quickly, making me feel less lonely. The train went through a lot of towns where the houses had been built right up to the train line, and so it went painfully slow for quite some time. The lights in our carriage weren’t working, which hadn’t been a problem until we came to tunnels, in which it was pitch black, which was a fairly disturbing feeling. The weather improved, and the train sped up.

After a while, I could see a big disturbance in the clouds high in the sky, which I was sure was Etna. A man asked us to move to a lit carriage, as it was getting dark. We got to Catania a little after it was scheduled, and there was no one who could tell me how to get to Piazza Duomo as the tourist office was closed. I went to look at the buses and saw the Duomo listed as a stop, so I bought a €1 bus ticket from the Tabacchi. The man there said to take the 927. I rang the hostel, and they couldn’t give me much more advice than to find a way to get myself to Piazza Duomo. I’d also seen Duomo on the circolaire 931 bus. I didn’t see a 927 hiding behind another bus until it was leaving. A ‘taxi’ driver with no signs on his car kept asking me if I needed a taxi. I kept saying no. I asked the driver of the 931 whether it went to Pizza Duomo and he said to take the 927. So I waited for the next 927, but he said to take the 931. I gave up and asked the taxi man how much it would cost. He said €10. I got him down to €7. He even guessed which hostel I was going to.

He took me there with a minimum of fuss, but went over the odd kerb with a thump, and deposited me directly in front of the hostel. I went to the door and pressed what I thought was the bell. Someone let me in eventually. I signed the necessary forms and paid the nice man (Alessandro) and he gave me the necessary info. I saw brochures for 4WD Etna tours and asked about them. There was a full-day trip that did the forests, a lava cave and a crater, along with Alcantara Gorge, which I wanted to go to, but had given up on as too difficult, but the next day was full. There was also a half-day available without the gorge. So I thought about doing the full day tour on the Monday, but I would never have got back to Palermo in time so would forfeit a night’s accommodation as well as having to pay for another in Catania. I asked Alessandro whether there was a supermarket nearby. He said there was one around the corner.

 I went upstairs to think about the Etna thing, and met Deborah, a Malaysian-born Chinese girl from Sydney. As I unpacked and made my bed, I decided to do the half-day tour on the Monday and sadly do without Alcantara Gorge, so I went back downstairs and out to the supermarket. It was very disappointing, and I bought some horrible tinned spam stuff to put on my bread. I then booked the tour and used the internet for an hour (€2), talking to Andrew, and finding an email from Lisa. I went up for a shower, but realised I had no towel. I went back downstairs to get one, but didn’t have €2 change. Alessandro gave it to me anyway, and said that I owed him. Back upstairs, I chatted to Deborah, and we decided to go to Taormina together the next day. I put in my ear plugs and eye mask against the noise and light (loud music outside and horrible creaky bunks) and slept fairly well. One girl came in late and started talking on the phone, but was told to shut up. I became aware of a very loud noise through the night, which I found out was from trains passing alarmingly close to the building.