Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 095 711 66 38;
www.museocasadelnespolo.inf
o
; Via Arciprete De Maria 15; admission €1.55; 9.30am-1pm &
5-9pm Jul-Aug, reduced hr Sep-Jun)
A typical 19th-century house, La Casa del Nespolo is a small
museum celebrating Giovanni Verga's great novel
I Malavoglia
and Luchino Visconti's
1948 film adaptation of it,
La Terra Trema
. The collection includes a selection of 19th-
century household objects and work tools but the most interesting exhibits are the photos
that Verga himself took of Aci Trezza.
Eating
TRATTORIA
Trattoria Verga Da Gaetano
( 095 27 63 42; Via Provinciale 119; meals €30-35)
One of many restaurants in the port area, this
trattoria has an excellent local reputation. It's situated right in the heart of town - over-
looking a terrace above ranks of moored fishing boats - and decorated with hundreds of
framed pictures, photos and posters. The menu is typical, proposing, among other fish
dishes, marinated anchovies, linguine with scampi and delicious prawn kebabs.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Aci Castello
POP 18,195
Marking the beginning, or end, of the Riviera dei Ciclopi, Aci Castello is only 9km from
Catania's city centre, making it an easy day trip from the city, even by public transport
(take bus 534 from Piazza Borsellino). There's swimming and sunbathing off the volcanic
rocks, otherwise the main attraction is the
castello
set atop a vast black rock. La Rocca di
Acicastello, as the rock is known, is apparently something of a vulcanological rarity, hav-
ing emerged from an underwater fissure. Grafted onto its top is a dark, brooding
Norman
castle
(adult/reduced €1.50/free-0.50; 9am-1pm & 3-8pm May-Sep, 9am-1pm & 3-5pm Oct-Apr)
, built in the
13th century on top of an earlier Arab fortification. It's in surprisingly good shape consid-
ering its age, and hosts a small
museum
with a collection of geological rock samples and
bizarre prehistoric skulls.
