Yet more curlicues

(or spirograph balconies, as SpotsOfTime calls them)

I managed to catch a local Syracuse bus to the bus station!

At the bus stop for Catania I got chatting to a young Brazilian and we spent the whole journey talking art, places, culture(s), solitary travel, fear, religion... A lovely and unexpected encounter which distracted us both from our impatient driver and a couple of close shaves.

I dumped my bags and found I'd booked a lovely spacious room in an elegant Palazzo, despite it being in the edgy area near the bus station. I went walking to places I didn't visit last week and had the best time. I climbed to the cupola of Chiesa della Badia (abbey) di Sant'Agata for its view of Mount Etna over the roofs of Catania. The volcano was so much nearer and larger than I expected and for ages I sat in the sun on top of the world, watching it steaming, utterly contented.

Then I visited the Teatro Romano and Odeon, bemused by how residential buildings had been built over them, and sat in the sun a bit further down from the top of the world, utterly contented.

I would never have had the patience to be an archaeologist, but I am so loving all the layers of history they have gently dug out for me.
 
I treated myself to a meal out, since my next stop will be too expensive for such things (actually this one turned out to be, too) and discovered that my walk back to my room was along Prostitution Row. A few Gentlemen of the Night, too, which, in my sheltered life, was a first. Once again, I was glad to be invisible.

Extras
- another balcony
- roof of an entrance to the Teatro Romano
- how the Teatro Romano was built on
- Mount Etna from the cupola of Chiesa della Badia di Sant'Agata