“Sicilia antica dellu mi cori, quanti ricchezzi ch 'a'tteni tu!” – "Ancient Sicily, of my heart, how many riches you possess."
The organization
Even before Christmas, my colleague Dani and I decided to jump to Italy. Both of us felt like it, I speak the language, we decided to travel without an agency. We bought tickets for the flight Sofia - Catania - Sofia, because there are no flights from Varna to Italy. WIzzair company, booking in December for the period 21-25 February 2024, price: BGN 40 round trip per person. A real scam. We noted free hand luggage.
The funny thing is that the bus tickets cost BGN 58 round trip per person. We decided not to use a train, even though it is more convenient, because according to the latest statistics, the trains from Varna, Burgas to Sofia are regularly late, catch fire, derail... and we are chasing a plane.
We made a reservation for overnight stays through Booking, a private accommodation in the center of Catania, with breakfast, kitchen and laundry included. Price: BGN 150 per person for 4 nights. We waited for the day.
Day 1 – February 21, Wednesday – travel
At 9 a.m. on February 21, grinning like cabbages, we boarded Biomet's Varna bus station and set off. I was transported to the Creator's world and didn't feel the journey, but Dany spent six hours listening to the chatter of a child behind her. At 3 pm we arrived in Sofia. We had a few hours before our flight and decided to go for a walk. Hop on the subway, "NDK" stop - let's get our feet wet after hours of sitting. It occurred to me to buy martenichki for the landlady and tell her about the holiday. Slowly we reached the Serdika stop and took the metro to the airport. Last stop Terminal 2… yes, but we fly from Terminal 1. And time was already advancing. We found out from other passengers that the bus that runs between the two terminals runs every half hour and we were a little worried. Luckily we were able to catch him at the last minute. Our plane was leaving at 19:50. I was a little worried because my backpack was 50 cm instead of the required 40 cm for free baggage, but it was narrower and collected under the seat. We passed the inspection, as always I was undressed, undressed and groped... We waited. I dived into the Creator again.
They started calling us. I passed without a problem, no one makes me measure my luggage in those pink… grids. And years ago, I had a problem with a bag, which, however, was just the right size... but apparently the employee was at fault then. I went with a rucksack for hand luggage and a small shoulder bag that holds money, passport and cigarettes; they didn't make me put it in my backpack like I used to.
The flight was easy and quick, an hour and a half. At 20:30 we landed in Catania. I had a problem with my ears on landing for the second time. The pain was tolerable this time, maybe because I bought some chewing gum as a precaution and drank water in small sips. But it hurt, it was unpleasant, and it got better after about three hours.
We left the airport. While we looked around for a bus, we chatted with several Bulgarian women, and they, like us, were out for a walk. We went up together. Ali bus and 524 go to the airport, at least we used those. Ticket – 4 euros. It can be bought from machines or from the driver and validated on the bus, it is valid for a 90 minute journey. We asked the driver where we should get off to get to Pozzo canale street...he would tell us. We traveled for 30-40 minutes and got off somewhere along "Vittorio Emanuele II" boulevard. According to the navigation, we had to go long and only straight, then a little to the right... We talked to the landlady several times to wait for us. We arrived at half past nine local time (1 hour back from Bulgaria).
The landlady - a young, nice girl showed us the room. From the street we entered through a high and narrow gate into a courtyard, and from there into a ground-floor room. Kitchen and bedroom in one, on the left a bathroom with a shower cabin, toilet and bidet, plus a washing machine. The kitchen was nice, not very equipped but enough. There was also a coffee machine and loaded coffee capsules, an electric kettle for water. Under a sort of stairs next to the bathroom door was a table with two chairs, on it were left tourist brochures, pasties, sweets, crackers (this turned out to be breakfast), tea bags. Opposite the door, one bed - a bedroom, instead of the expected two singles, tucked into a kind of alcove, above the bed and next to it two shelves, against the wall a TV (we didn't need it). In the kitchen there was a washing machine with bucket, shovel and broom, vero and floor cleaner prepared. So far so good. But – there was no wardrobe anywhere. Under the TV there was a… I'll call it a pole with some hangers and some… like fabric racks attached to the pole where we were supposed to store our luggage. They sell them at Ikea, I don't know exactly what this contraption is called. Later it became clear that they are just starting to offer such services and clearly still have room for improvement. There was room for a cupboard, I was also missing one more shelf, let's say. There was also another minus - you can wash, but there is no place to dry. Somewhere in the area there was a public laundromat, we looked for it, then we didn't find it... we dried on hangers, on chairs, and the room was still damp anyway. But - for BGN 37 per night in the historical center of Catania, it was good.
At that time, only the "supermarket" type shops were open on the road - small shops where there are drinks (alcohol, beer, juices, etc.), packaged foods, cigarettes, some household goods and products for personal and sanitary hygiene . These shops are kept mainly by Arabs and Negroes. Apparently they have found their niche, the locals don't like working late. The establishments were naturally open. We bought chips, beer and I don't remember what else and after settling in we sat down to eat happily tired. Then a shower, a Google search on how to get to Syracuse, and a good night.
© 2024 Iliana Dechkova