Overstuffed myself at breakfast again. Too good, too many choices! Leftover macedonia was available, but nobody touched it! Must have been the guilt. We all went to the bus stop for Catania. On the bus, Jill noticed a Palermo direct bus. Maryam and Sheree ran off to take that one, instead. Jill and I went to Catania (her to the airport and me to transfer for Agrigento).
Grabbed a slice of pizza and a cheese and ham bun. I need to start cutting back and detox - too much good food recently! At the bus station a guy was begging for gas money to drive to another town. I gave him 30 cents because he was dodgy looking. He had a look of disgust on his face. I should've taken it back - beggars shouldn't be choosers. It was like he felt that he was entitled to something!
Cool - a double-decker bus! Even had a few tables to sit at, but I was too slow to get one. I decided to skip Catania - there's not much here. That means that Mt. Etna is also out - it wasn't convenient to day trip from Taormina and you have to leave Catania early in the morning to get to Etna. Doing so would require a 2 night stay in Catania - not a time commitment I was prepared to make.
Leaving Catania, I noticed some vendors roasting artichokes - I have never seen that before. On the bus to Agrigento, I saw an old parade float decaying on a hill in the sizzling Sicilian sun (not really sizzling - I just wanted to use a little bit of alliteration!). The imagery was like something out of a Stephen King novel.
Got to the B&B/hostel. Nobody was answering. Luckily, I had a phone card and gave them a buzz. It's a bad system because the owners don't actually live in the B&B - and there's no sign indicating that you should buzz a different apartment to get in.
Dropped off my bag and I was off to town. The Let's Go guide was wrong again - the internet cafe is NOT open daily. The town is dead, but it is a Sunday. Still, I don't think it would be any good any other day. Took the bus going to the temples. A nice lady tried to give me her used ticket but the bus driver would not have any part of it.
There was some confusion with the drivers - two different bus drivers told me to go and take the other bus. Get it together, guys! I ended up missing the stop for the temples. Instead of a 15 minute ride, it ended up being a 1 hour ride. The temples were disappointing - most were being restored. The other ones were just nothing special to look at. Looking at some postcards after, I think I missed some of the better stuff. I can't say that I really care, however.
I am feeling like a bit of a side-show freak here. Everyone seems to be fascinated with the fact that I am Chinese. A little annoying. Actually, a little aggravating too. The reactions are so over the top sometimes. Back to town ... looking for a cheap dinner but almost everything was closed. Was looking at a Tavola Calda that was closed ... a nice lady walked by and told me that there was a pizzeria down the street that was open. People are great here - it's a highlight of Sicily.
I settled on a touristy restaurant as there were few options. Either everything is closed on Sundays or I was eating too early. I had an antipasti platter and a Fanta. Some tart pickled sardines (OK), plain mussels (very fresh, but under seasoned), assorted marinated fish (cured), and octopus (the best part).
It was a unique assortment of antipasti but was lacking in flavour, despite copious amounts of fresh basil. It could've been a special meal with the proper seasoning but sadly, it was lacking. The waiters were disappointed that I only ordered so little.
Back to the hostel/B&B. Read and wrote in my journal. It was nice as I was the only person in the room.
