# Campari & Soda: 0, # Gelati: 1
I choose to consider today to be a good day. Not much went to plan but everything turned out OK in the end. And it didn't rain.
I had booked a taxi to take me to the bus station yesterday but when I checked out this morning there was no record of any such booking. I was promised a taxi would be along in 3 minutes. I assumed this would be an Italian 3 minutes and settled in to wait but it really was only 3 minutes. Also, the man who sold me a ticket for the bus to Catania had said something about the bus leaving from somewhere else, but I didn't understand what he was saying. Fortunately, the taxi driver knew where to the magic spot was - around the corner from all the other long-distance bus stops.
I had reached the bus station with plenty of time to spare so I went to find somewhere to sit and read while I waited. When I headed back to the bus stop the bus was there. I heaved my suitcase inside the luggage storage area. This was above one of the wheels so I was pleased I hadn't bought too many souvenirs yet as this was about chest high on me. I was then told the bus driver didn't want people to stow their own bags as he had a system, so I heaved it out again. I waited around but there was no sign of the bus driver. After about 20 minutes the door to the bus opened. The bus driver had been inside in the warm bus the whole time! The bus driver didn't make any attempt to get out of the bus and everyone was getting on, so I heaved my suitcase back into the luggage compartment and got on too. The bus was a double-decker so I sat upstairs. The very front row of seats had a clear view forward but all the messing about with my suitcase meant I missed out on one of those. I slept a lot of the way to Catania in any case so no great loss.
Sicily is very hilly but the highway the bus took was all on one level. This meant it alternated between long tunnels through hills with long stretches of elevated road. At times I could see that there was a duplicate of the elevated road just alongside, but not in use and not under construction or being repaired. I couldn't help wondering why they had a duplicate section of road they seemed to have no plans on using. Also, why the extra road was in such poor repair. And finally, what was the state of the road we were driving on. Would it be better to have my seatbelt on so I would be trapped in the bus if the whole road collapsed or who it be better to be thrown from the bus in the event of a crash?
We made it to Catania safely. I had an hour before I needed to catch my connecting bus to Ragusa, which was fortunate. I had naively assumed when they said the bus station was in front of the railway station, that there would be a single area where all the various buses left from. Silly me. There were at least two that I could see but neither had signs for the company my second trip was using. I ended up asking 4 different people in different locations about where to catch my bus. They all said that the right place wasn't here but over there and waved their arms around. The fourth person was finally a bit more precise and I discovered there was actually a 3rd area where buses left from. It was across the road and behind a high wall. I had assumed it was a bus parking area.
On the plus side, all the faffing about meant I used up most of my hour and didn't have long to wait. I also now know where my buses from Ragusa and to Syracuse will be arriving and leaving from. I didn't get a chance to buy any lunch in Catania but I have plenty of extra calories stored so no great loss.
There was a couple on the bus to Ragusa that I'd seen in Agrigento. A lot of people on the bus from Agrigento were doing a 2 bus shuffle to get to their destinations. As well as those of us going to Ragusa, there was a couple going to Modica and one man going to Syracuse. He wasn't aware he had to switch buses in Catania. I hope he made it in the end.
The old town of Ragusa (Ragusa Ibla) is built clinging to a cliff side. I'm staying in a B&B here, as are most tourists. The new town (Ragusa Superiore) is on the plane above and is quite some distance from the historic parts. This is where the bus station is of course. When we arrived, there was a single taxi waiting. I was quickest off the mark and snaffled it before any other tourist could grab it. Unfortunately, I had written down the address of my B&B as Via Roccia. The taxi driver couldn't drive me to the door but could only drop me at the end of the street. When I got to the right number I found I had the wrong street. The B&B is at Vico Roccia which was 1km away. At least I got my step count up and I found a taxi can drive to the door of the my B&B.
My room here at the B&B is on the 3rd floor. Depending on which entrance you use it is either up 3 flights of stairs (no lift) or at street level. The joys of building on a cliff side. This is the view from my window.
I went for a wander around town and had a gelati at the 2nd best gelateria in town (according to the hotel receptionist Luca). The didn't have pistachio but tried to convince me that toasted almond was just as good. It isn't.
I went for an early dinner at Trattoria La Bettola but I wasn't the only one with this bright idea. When I turned up at 7:15pm it was already half full. For antipasto I had a huge slice of very tasty porchetta wrapped around a chunk of mozzarella and caramelised onions. I don't know if it is a traditional dish but it is very good. For primi I had cavatelli alla Norma which again was good. For dessert I had something called buonmangiano which was a slightly rubbery panna cotta with a layer of biscuit through the middle. The only disappointment. The service was entertaining. The waiters were always frantic but the actual speed of service alternated between leisurely and speedy with nothing in between.
There was another restaurant right next door which wasn't as busy but has good reviews that I'm considering for dinner tomorrow. However, it is called That's A Moro and I'm not sure if I can eat somewhere that indulges in dreadful puns.
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