HAAS

20 settembre

I can’t really explain why, but I preferred Catania over Palermo. Catania was founded in the 8th century BC by Chalcidian Greeks and has endured so many natural disasters that it’s a miracle the city still exists. It shares the same late Baroque architecture as Noto, having also been heavily damaged in the 1693 earthquake. Later, during the Second World War, it was bombed in eighty-seven air raids by the Allied forces. Its proximity to the active volcano Etna doesn’t help either.

I had to drop off my rental car at the rental office, which was located in the ancient city center. Quite an inconvenient spot for a rental company—but also fun, because you get to drive with the windows down so you can gesture easily when things go wrong. Of course, my navigation lagged once again, and I ended up driving uncomfortably close to terraces packed with chairs and tables.

Pentolaccia Trattoria

Via Coppola, 30, 95131 Catania

This trattoria was a gem. The antipasto piccolo—with grilled and stewed vegetables, fresh cheese, and olives—was the best thing I tasted on my journey. I don’t know how they did it. The green leaves were local wild chicory.

The Fritto Misto was also perfect.

I’d planned to get a haircut on this trip, but a Negroni got in the way.

The culprit: “l’Americano alla maniera del conte Negroni”.

The Negroni was invented in Florence around 1919 or 1920 at Caffè Casoni by Count Camillo Negroni. He used to drink an Americano—made with Campari, sweet vermouth, and soda water—but one day he asked the bartender to make it stronger by replacing the soda with gin.

In Catania, I had even less time than in Palermo or Naples. My room near the airport wasn’t available before 2 p.m., and my gate closed at 6:15 a.m. the next morning, so I had to wake up very early to catch my KLM flight to Milan and then on to Amsterdam. Between the Negroni and a G&T, I wandered around, eating gelato and exploring as many streets as I could.

After the Negroni, I hadn’t planned on ordering a second drink, so there was still hope for a haircut. But when I sat down for a simple glass of white wine, I noticed the drink of an English lady nearby. She convinced me it was a very special local gin and that I had to try it. So I told the waitress, “I’ll have what she’s having.”

The red military jet trainer, an Aermacchi MB-326, stands near Catania Airport—close to my room for the night. In the background was Caffè Parisi. I couldn’t believe it when I walked to the airport in the very early hours: the bar was already open, serving coffee and bread. According to Google, they’re open seven days a week, from 3:45 a.m. to 11:15 p.m.