capodanno en Catania

Happy new year! I had great plans of joining the celebration downtown at midnight until the freezing rain started....Serves me right for not going to the Southern Hemisphere.

Turnt out I've spent the past 5 Christmases on 5 different continents. Which means next year, I'm either going to Africa or Antarctica. Who wants to come?

Agathe is the patron saint of Catania, having been born, tortured, and martyred here in the 3rd century, all by the age of 20.

Content warning: It's not a pretty story. Skip the next paragraph if you'd rather avoid the gory details.

Agata was a Christian teenager and a virgin and this guy Quintianus wanted to marry her. She said no, so he tortured her. She still said no. He sent her to a brothel where she was raped. She still said no. This time, he cut off her breasts...but St Paul magically healed her. Eventually she died. 

They have a big parade for her in early February and carry her likeness around. Among other things, she's the patron saint of...breast cancer.

Forgive me for wondering what kind of god would demand a young woman be raped and tortured to show her devotion. 

Near the gate is this elephant fountain, made of lava.

 The city is full of elegant statues.

I liked these works from the Diocesan museum. And of course the gems.

And the vestments

Afterward, I stumbled by accident into the fish market. It was small but suitably smelly, with inches of standing water and more circling pigeons than AT&T Park in the 10th inning.

I grabbed a cone of fried shrimp, fish, and anchovies (yum!) and dug in.

On the way back, I ran into the remains of another Roman amphitheater, now mostly below ground. 

This one seated 15,000! The scale of brutality of the Roman empire is hard to fathom.

I even found my own alley.

Hardly anything was open for dinner. Hungry and cranky, at first I thought I was locked in the garden outside my room, but it was just a sticky door. Then I was afraid I would have to eat out of the 24-hour vending machine.

Eventually I found a cozy pizzeria and got a mezzaluna (half moon), stuffed with cheese and ham and mushrooms and topped with arugula and cheese and more ham, and because we're in Sicily, ground pistachios.

The fireworks have started! Wishing you a peaceful, prosperous 2019. With cookies for breakfast and someone to bring you sweet oranges from Sicily.

Remember, it's a fresh start. Anything can happen.