HAPPY BIRTHDAY IGERS CATANIA!

Close with her, Fabrizio Vecchio and Sara Stella operate a network which counts 11 thousand followers and growing. “Two incredible years,” explains Simonetta “and it’s exciting to remember when the president of Igers Italy Ilaria Barbotti asked me to be part of the team. Or when we went around Catania with an orange scarf, to launch a message against racism: it was a success, even though we were just born. ” With Igers Catania, Citymap Sicilia has collaborated on projects related to the Eastern Sicily and involving influencers, Igers and citizens, leading them to discover the city, the “Catania Pass Tour” to “Catania si mette in mostra“.  On the occasion of the ten years of the portal, we had a chat with the local managers to make us bear “recommendations made by locals”.

Simonetta, where would you take a tourist visiting eastern Sicily?

“First stop: the Playa of Catania. Observe the Etna with his feet immersed in seawater is a wonderful feeling! Then, it would lead to the pier of Levante in the port of Catania, to admire “a muntagna” overlooking the sea. Afterwards, stop in Piazza Europa: from there there is a wonderful view of San Giovanni Li Cuti beach, a corner of paradise in the middle of town. Then I would take the seafront in Catania, Ognina and finally, to Acicastello. “

Your Sicilian thing of the heart?

“I’m tied to my grandmothers. One was born and raised in Agira (a small town near Enna) and there I would take ideally a tourist: cassatelle are delicious, you have to try it. “

Describe your “Sicilia five senses.”

“It’s the flavor of my grandmother’s caponata (a typical sicilian dish of aubergines, olives, and onions seasoned with herbs), the sound of the “lapa” (a sort of ape-car) that sells granite and brioche, the scent of freshly baked croissants from the bakery laboratory in Catania in Via Napoli.”

A little-known place of Catania to discover?

“The Società Storica Catanese. It is an apartment chock full of Sicilian history and wonderful objects: houses a 800 kitchen in perfect condition and the bronze Bourbon busts, rare to find in Italy. “

The first word in Sicilian that you teach to a tourist?

“Futtatinni, because depicts the desire to take life lightly typical of the Sicilian: does not mean that you do not care about what happens. Simply invites you to discern between important things and those futile, of which just do not care.”