What Coronavirus?

Had to get up early this morning to catch the ferry to Sicily but we awoke to an overnight email from Andrew Collins, a friend and fellow Albany Shantyman, who is a broadcaster with ABC radio. He asked how things were going with the Coronavirus (Covid19). Covid19 was on the radar when we left but only as an unusual virus in China. We had seen a couple of Italian news items about Carnival in Venice being halted but there were only 150 cases in Italy and all in the north so we hadn't thought much about it till Andrew's email. Nobody seemed to be reacting in Malta so I replied with that information.

Our ferry to Sicily left at 6.30am but boarding was an hour earlier so we had booked a 5am eCab down to the ferry landing. Malta doesn't have Uber ride share but they do have eCab which is a cross between ride share and ordinary taxis, in that you can book online or phone, nominate to pay cash or credit, and they calculate your fare on booking. Probably what Australian taxi companies should have done when Uber started to raise it's disruptive head.

The taxi went smoothly with a phone call to tell us they were 5 minutes behind. The ferry was a spacious modern fast catamaran that traveled smoothly at 60kmph. Signs proudly boasted that it was built in Tasmania (as all good medium size boats are these days). Our crossing only took 2 hours because the ferry lands at Pozzallo on the southern most tip of Sicily whereas Edward's ferry went to Messina. I'd googled Pozzallo and the top 10 things to do included beaches as 3 of the top 4, suggesting that in summer it might be a beach resort but otherwise not much else. The ferry offered a bus connection to Catania for another 15euro so we opted for that. I imagine that in Edward's time Pozzallo was just a little fishing village, with Messina a significant port, hence the ferry landing there, despite the extra distance. Edward sailed over a sea of glassy smoothness for about 18 hours. Our sea had a slight chop but the trip was uneventful. Our entry into Italy was easy with no customs or immigration checks, presumably as both Malta and Italy are EU nations, and we went straight onto the bus for another 2hours to Catania.

Southern Sicily was noticeably greener, more cultivated and with larger fields that Malta. They seem to grow primarily olives, oranges and artichokes and this was the case for large swathes of Italy. Arriving at Catania bus station we were immediately struck by how dirtier and rundown Sicily is than Malta. Attempting to get brunch at a cafe in the station we also discovered that the English speaking had run out too. And the service. The waitress gave the distinct impression that she would rather we were not there and reluctantly served us with the items we pointed out on the counter.

Thus refreshed we made out way on foot to Il Gattopardo House at Via Minoriti10. Edward stayed at the Albergo della Corona, of which I could fine no trace so we had chosen Il Gattopardo, a guesthouse in a centrally located 19th Century palace that would hopefully give some feel of Edwards's visit.

Part of the ceiling in the reception area of Il Gattopardo House

Once unpacked and settled, like Edward we visited the excavated ruins of the ancient theatre, Greek and Roman baths, and a large ampitheatre, all more or less buried beneath the successive streams of lava that have poured down from Aetna. Interestingly these are located in the middle of town. Walking down the street you come to an 18th Century building, You walk into that and then out into the remains which sort of take you by surprise. All of the museums in Malta had excellent interpretive signs in both English and Maltese and generally included free multi lingual audio guides in the entry price, a country that is taking it's tourist industry seriously. Sicilian museums are reminiscent of Egypt. The signs are often only in Italian and where translated, it was frequently into Manglish (mangled English) and audio guides, if available, came extra. (I know Australian signs are almost always in English-other than some places with significant Asian tourism, using Asian languages-but English is the world language now and most travelers use it.)

Catania's Greco Roman Ampitheatre

From this ampitheatre we strolled up to Catania's second Roman ampitheatre but on the way decided to stop off at at a "biological cafe" whose signage appeared to suggest they were specialising in vegetarian wholefoods. There were a number of juices on the menu but when we ordered a couple the poor young waitress, who spoke no English, looked like a rabbit caught in headlights. She had a quick conversation with the boss which I assume was in the spirit of "they think that because we're advertising as a juice bar, we might have some juice-aren't foreigners weird?" Then she headed off up the street and came back about 5 minutes later with some fruit. The boss meanwhile had been fetching a juicer from the storeroom and about 15 minutes later we got quite passable glasses of juice. Hipsterising the joint was paying off at last.

The second ampitheatre which is half buried under later buildings wouldn't have been seen by Edward because until the late 19th Century it had been completely buried under later buildings. Later we went to the local tourist office to find out how to get a bus to Aderno, which since 1929 has been known as Adrano, the next town on Edward's itinerary but when we asked, half the staff of the office recoiled in horror. "Why do you want to go there?" they chorused and Trish swore later she heard one of them mutter something about Mafia. When we explained our reason they accepted it was valid but explained it won't be possible to get local buses from village to village as I had hoped, as all buses now radiate out from the major centres. However, they suggested that a train that entirely circumnavigates Mt Etna and is popular with tourists, passes through Adrano so that would be our best bet.

St Agatha's Cathedral Catania

While Malta does observe the afternoon siesta to some degree, with some places closing between about 1.30-4pm, it is scrupulously followed by much of Italy. Thus we had to wait to 4pm to visit St Agatha's Cathedral in the centre of town. Like Valletta's Cathedral it is decorated with many religious paintings but is nowhere near as ornate.