This was our first visit to Catania, a place we picked to exit Sicily after exploring Agrigento and Lipari. We'd stay a couple of days and fly back home via Rome.
We never dreamed that Catania could be so cosmopolitan, historic, quaint and incredibly beautiful. Aurelio has a civic pride in his city and a knowledge of the area that infected us - we want to return, and stay much longer.
Aurelio picked us up at the train station, waiting as our train was delayed and maintaining good communications throughout our journey from Milazzo. He pointed out some of the many sights along the way to the apartment - which we loved. It's up high, 65 steps, but that didn't bother us at all, even when we forgot something and had to go back up. The view from the terrace is amazing - this morning we saw a plume rising from a snow capped Etna, and looking in the opposite direction, the Mediterranean.
I made good use of the kitchen, shopping for fresh veggies at the open air market, cooking them and eating on the terrace while enjoying the views. It was relaxing just to make espresso and sip it while reading and enjoying the views.
It's nice to wash clothes and hang them to dry four stories high - just don't drop anything! The bathroom is small but functional, don't do laundry while using the shower and keep it short...as we would anywhere in Italy.
The wireless worked fine, there's a little space heater, which functioned well for us in early April. Of course there's no end of places to eat and explore. I asked Aurelio to arrange a taxi for us to the airport and that worked out perfectly.
Overall our stay was exceptional. We can't wait to return!