Kissed by the sun, caressed by the sea, loved for the variety of the coast that allows you to choose between sand and cliffs, observed by the volcano in the distance, made austere by the black lava stone of its buildings and streets, adorned with artistic masterpieces and monuments of the greatest Mediterranean civilizations, protected by the beloved patron Saint Agatha, fruitful of men of genius to whom it has given birth over the centuries, favored by its strategic position in Eastern Sicily.
 Someone knows it as the "Milan of the South", both for its incredible commercial vitality and for its nightlife, someone else boasts it as the gateway to the Etna Valley for the incredible progress of its citizens in the field of  computer and digital professions, while rock and electronic enthusiasts know that, from the 90s onwards, the city has earned the name of Seattle of Italy for its musical ferment.

 In short, Catania has many beauties, many excellences and as many records. If food and wine in all its nuances, is one of the mertis of the Etnean capital, a well- known paradise for every palate, few know instead that the love of the people of Catania for food makes them also hold a record; in Catania you can order drinks and food for 24 hours a day.

 Even at the most inconvenient times - whether it is dawn, late afternoon or the middle of the night - in Catania you can always enjoy a delicious dish or sip a typical drink. There will always be someone ready to serve you because, for the people of Catania, street food is an ancient profession: they invented street food in Catania even before Anglophilia baptized it as such.

Try it to believe ! Do you want proof? For our test based on popular places and street food made in Sicily , you just need to go through the door of the B& B Palazzo Speciale. If today you have the whole day available to “season” with visits to places of historical and artistic interest and attractions , a lot of appetite, as well as a large stomach, you are ready to start this adventure, to be completed snack after snack.

Departure: after breakfast at Palazzo Speciale
The tour can only start from the relaxation room of Palazzo Speciale where breakfast based on local and seasonal gastronomic products awaits you. After having drunk the last coffee and set the navigator, leave Palazzo Speciale and head towards the Pescheria, the historic fish market.

Intermezzo: the itinerant ice cream maker.
 If at the beginning or at any point of your walk, you come across a Piaggio bee, colored like a Sicilian cart, nod the driver and invite him to stop. That Piaggio bee, be sure, is an ice cream vendor.
Usually the itinerant ice cream makers do not have a wide menu to offer, but it is an experience that cannot be missing in your memory album. You can choose to taste ice cream or granita, in the cup or in the cone, but we recommend that you ask for it in the brioche ; the ice cream man, having learned your wishes, will cut the typical brioche in two and fill it with an exaggerated amount of tasty ice cream. This format will allow you to eat granita and brioche without interrupting the walk; on the other hand it takes a certain skill to bite into the dessert without experiencing that terrible sensation of teeth freezing, but don't worry, be happy; the more ice cream makers you meet,the more brioches and ice cream you will order along this route, and the more experienced you will become in enjoying it without inconvenience.

Stage 1: lunch at MM! At the fish market
Once you reach the fish market with your brioche and granita still in your hand, you will be fascinated by the spectacle of the fish on display as well as by the picturesque place. After a few hours, you will surely have walked around the whole market and you will surely have the desire to taste a dish whose ingredients are those delicious fish wonders.
 And here we are at the first gourmet stop: MM! Of the Marino brothers in Piazza Pardo. Once a historic butcher's shop, it has now become a trattoria specializing in shellfish and local fish, to be accompanied with typical appetizers, caponata or parmigiana, and homemade desserts .Excellent portions to be washed down with local wine and artisanal beers, traditional recipes that will tickle your palate: pasta with sea urchins or with meat sauce, octopus salad, swordfish parmigiana, prawns and every good thing offered that day by the sea. The dishes , in fact, vary according to what has been caught; the MM trattoria! Always guarantees fresh ingredients. If you are lucky enough to have arrived at the right time, at the Fratelli Marino trattoria you will be entertained by a DJ-set or by a local band that performs for the guests of the restaurant, thus ending up animating the whole piazza Pardo.

Step 2: quench your thirst at a kiosk
Did you overdo and stuffed yourself until bursting? Are you unable to quench your thirst in the great  heat of Catania? Well, here we are at the second stage: stop at the first kiosk you come accross a few steps from the square, and order a typical drink: lemon seltzer and salt to quench your thirst, or a mandarinetto to find relief from the scorching rays of the sun, or a delicious tamarind for helping digestion. The kiosks are a typical feature of the place dating back to the 19th century. The shape of these small shops is that of a sort of gazebo and, in the oldest ones, it assumes arabesque architectural forms. The counterman will prepare your drink , exquisitely handcrafted, among glass containers containing syrups, piles of fresh citrus friuts, using brass tools, consumed by wear and by the acidic juices of the fruits, which clink between cups and glasses on the marble tops. The recipe of the syrups and the quantity of the ingredients varies from kiosk to kiosk, because result of secret personalization , handed down in the families of the owners from generation to generation.

Stage 3: sweets and coffee
Once the alchemical potion of the chioscaro has taken effect, you can continue the walk. After admiring the Amenano fountain and admiring the waters of the river of the same name that flows under Catania, go to Piazza Duomo, the heart of the city. Waiting for you here is the symbol of Catania, the obelisk with the Liotru, the stone elephant with which you will surely want to be photographed. Before starting, however, the visit to the Cathedral of the Duomo and the Diocesan Museum, you certainly need a good full of energy. That is why, before starting your tour, you will enter in one of the two bars on the square, Prestipino or Caffè del Duomo, to order a delicious espresso to be enjoyed accompanied by one of the many pastries displayed in the counters. For the pastries you are spoiled for choice: pastries mignon, minnette and olivette di S. Agata, cassatine, marzipan fruit, tea biscuits, ricotta cannoli, chocolate or cream. Now you are ready to enjoy the wonderful show of sacred art that Catania gives you in Piazza Duomo.

Stop4: Savia
As you know, cultural visits always bring a bit of appetite. After the tour, walk along Via Etnea, perhaps enjoying a stop in Piazza Stesicoro to admire the Roman amphitheater, and arrive at Villa Bellini. However, Before entering the municipal villa, to make the visit even more pleasant, stop at the historic and renowned bar Savia. The reason for the stop? Enjoy the typical diner: the crunchy arancino, the cipollina with its light pastry, the cartocciate with a thousand flavors, the mighty Bolognese.

 Stage 5: Wine bar
After the visit to Villa Bellini, the time for an aperitif has surely come; just nearby, in via Montesano, there is the Wine Bar which offers a wide selection of good wines. Once at the bar, order a glass of wine to sip, strictly accompanied by a rich platter of typical cold cuts and cheeses.

Stage 6: via plebiscito
 Once the aperitif is over, you better start thinking about dinner. Do not worry about the time, because the people of Catania always dine after 21.00. From via Montesano, head again towards Piazza Stesicoro and, skirting the fence from which you can admire the remains of the Roman Amphitheater, walk along the slope that leads to Via Plebiscito. This is the former street of horse meat butchers that people of Catania are fond of, former butchers that have now become trattorias specializing in grilled meats. Among these, all of which are excellent, the most famous is certainly “Achille”. At Achille's you can choose, according to your appetite, whether to have the meat served on the plate or to have a sandwich filled with meat prepared for you; tell the cook what you want him to cook for you on the barbecue - slices and meatballs of horse meat, the typical cipollata - and wait to be served.

 Stage 7: via Santa Filomena and surroundings
After dinner, in Catania begins the movida; reach the clubs of Via Santa Filomena and the nearby Via Gemellaro. In this last one you find the pub Vermut where you will taste excellent cocktails, in Via Santa Filomena beyond admiring the opened stores and the indipendent library until late hour, you will find FUD Bottega Sicula ready to make you taste extraordinary traditional dishes revisited with ingredients that represent the excellence of the Sicilian agri-food chain. At FUD you can also stock up on everything that Sicily has to offer the best: preserves, creams and products.

Step 8: milkshake kiosk
If suddenly between one cocktail and the other you feel a desire for dessert, no problem. In Catania it is tradition to end the after dinner with a milkshake. Move to Piazza Roma, where there are kiosks specializing in excellent Nutella milkshakes, a drink that, among its ingredients, also includes a particular locally produced brioche, the brioscina Tomarchio.

Step 9: paninari or Sicilian truck food
Are you already full? Viale Africa is the realm of truck food that serve the typical "Panini", a real dinner enclosed between two slices of bread. The typical sandwiches are very different from the classic hot dogs, because in Sicily you can fill them and season them with anything you want: porchetta and cheese, meat, chips, sauces and various condiments.

Stage 10: a nightcap while admiring the river
Returning to Palazzo Speciale, if you want to treat yourself to a nightcap, we recommend a place near the B&B, the former Hostel in Piazza Currò. Here, in one of the rooms, you can observe the flow of the Amenano river, the same underground river that you have already admired in the fountain located between the Pescheria and Piazza Duomo.

Stage 11: it's time for dessert in via Napoli
It is now almost dawn and you can't wait to rest in your beautiful and comfortable rooms in Palazzo Speciale. But know that if you hadn’t given up just now, there would still be one last stop: via Napoli. Infact it is the custom of the people of Catania, after a night of dancing, to go to the laboratory in via Napoli where, from late night until dawn , master pastry chefs bake hot croissants, brioches, chocolate iris , ricotta raviole, cipolline, cartocciate, pizzette. Kissed by the sun, caressed by the sea, loved for the variety of the coast that allows you to choose between sand and cliffs, observed from the volcano in the distance, made austere by the black lava stone of its buildings and its streets, adorned with artistic masterpieces and historical monuments of the greatest Mediterranean civilizations, protected by the beloved patron Saint Agatha, fertile with men of genius to whom it has given birth over the centuries, favored by its strategic position in Eastern Sicily.