This will be my final post on my five day trip to Catania. The tour had four excursions and I've posted previously about Ragusa and Acireale. The tour to Giarre was on Wednesday and it was a strange afternoon.
Giarre is a seaside town - the photo is of the beach area next to the new marina. Perhaps the EU money that has gone into the new marina will revitalise the town, but the yacht area lay empty when we were there. The bus dropped us off first down at the marina and we were given half an hour to look around. The front has a general air of depression - it looks run-down and sad. Maybe the winter weather didn't help but Giarre added to my impression that Catania is a bit tired.
The bus driver picked us up after we had all rather forlornly wandered down the front and the more adventurous had tried the pebbly beach. He then dropped us off at the top end of town and we were pointed to the main shopping street which seems to be the major other attraction of Giarre. I wandered off down the back streets as usual and became intrigued by the construction methods used here. Everything is slightly crumbling and so I could see how many house walls seemed to be made of rubble that included everything from lava rocks to pieces of tiles and pottery. I started happily clicking away with my camera and it was a rude awakening when I got the message that my memory card was full!
This gave me a project to pursue when I returned to the main shopping street. I called in to a cafe for hot chocolate and started my quest to find another memory stick. It was less difficult than I thought and I found myself in a camera shop where the proprietor rummaged around and found me a suitable (and much larger) stick. I was back in business but it was time to get back on the bus, so Giarre is not down as one of my must return places.
It may have been Giarre where I found some rather nice desert boots to buy. Shopping seemed to be one of the major motivations for our excursions. Visits to two large cut-price retail outlets were included as part of our bus tours. I hate shopping at the best of times so found it hard to discover interest in wandering round shopping malls. Apart from the desert boots, I also bought a bright yellow suitcase that won't get lost on airport carousels but all of my purchases were about trying to find enjoyment in an otherwise meaningless expedition.
Our last excursion was on the way to the airport on Friday. By this time, I had acquired the gastric flu that I brought back to Malta and I had no energy anyway. Spending two hours in a department store drained me of any enthusiasm for Catania! I did manage to rouse myself enough to buy two white Italian towels that I had got to appreciate when we were in Catania last year.
My next post will be about our field trip to Ghar Lapsi with the University's Maltese Natural Heritage course that I am participating in on Wednesday evenings.
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