"Facing the Boot" Catania by mikey_e

Catania was another one of those places that I visited that turned out to be far more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Curses on the Moon brand of travel guides!!! They suggested that tourists in Catania be aware of the high level of minor crime. Obviously, there is minor crime in every city, but Catania seemed exceptionally safe and friendly to me and it was a pleasure to visit (except for the extreme heat, I could do without that). If anything, Catania exemplifies the oddity of Sicilian tourism. By being the city with an airport closest to Taormina and the more famous tourist attractions on the island, Catania was busier and had more foreign tourists than Palermo, the capital of Sicily. Of course, Catania is still not Florence, and the relatively larger number of tourists hardly impedes complete enjoyment of all of Catania's treasures.

Duomo in Catania

My memories of Catania are probably even brighter than was warranted by the sights because of the helpful clerks at a shoe store in the old city. I had stupidly bought a pair of loafers to wear while backpacking and the insoles of the shoes disintegrated in a matter of days. While wandering about the city in increasing pain because of the crappy shoes, I walked into a shoe store and told them in Italian that I was looking for "what you put inside your shoes". "Ah! vuoi dire suolette?" asked the clerk. He walked me from the store to a shoe repair place, and it was thus that I learned how to say insole in Italian and just how warm and friendly the people of Catania really are.