Brucoli

 We spent a great day in the small town of Brucoli. It is a located south of Catania on the east coast of Sicily, about 45 minutes from Sigonella. The small fishing town has only one main street and the highlight is it's castle that sits on the Gulf of Catania. 

Here is a photo (that I didn't take!) of the castle and small town on the gulf.

We had a great time walking around the artsy town. There were murals and mosaics on every block.

Here was a neat gate leading to a garden and small villa. It features the trinacria, the three legged symbol of Sicily. The legs represent the three points of the triangle shaped island and in the middle is Medusa, which ancient Sicilians chose to deter invaders from coming ashore. 

We explored the waterfront. 

The boys found some abandoned houses right on the water. 

Ivy tried to make a friend.

We had a nice lunch in town. We didn't really know what to order, so they brought us a few small bits of everything. I ordered scallopini when she mentioned it, in a seafood state of mind I was anticipating scallops. Apparently, scallopini is any chicken with sauce on it. It was very tasty. Also on this plate is a tasty melanzana, eggplant, dish on the upper left and some pickled veggies on the upper right. 

I liked everything and of course had some vino bianco to go with it.

The boys chose lasagna. It was very tasty and much like lasagna in the states, except they added ham to this one.

Nathan got some breaded ham and cheese rolls and a horse meatball. We have seen horse, cavallo, on the menu before and someone told us that they eat it regularly and consider it a healthy, lean meat. They raise the horses like we would raise cows to be eaten and there is a certain kind of horse that they raise to eat. We tried it and liked it.

Unfortunately, this restaurant didn't have anything senza glutine, gluten free, for Leo. He ate his packed lunch and we ordered him a coke, which he thought was pretty special.

After lunch, we went to explore the castle. It wasn't open for tours, so we'll be back to go inside, but we had fun walking the perimeter.

The castle, Castello di Brucoli, was built by King Giovanni II of Aragon at the height of Aragonese power in the 15th century. It was a gift to the queen and a defensive castle to help protect the port from barbarian raids. The castle was originally just the watch tower in the center and the outside walls and towers were added in the 16th century.

A lighthouse, Faro di Brucoli, was built in 1911. It has been remodeled to a very modern apartment that you can rent. It includes 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a roof top terrace, and a hot tub overlooking the gulf. I looked it up and you can stay there for the low price of $1,300 per night! We peaked inside, but I found some interior pictures online here. https://www.objekt-international.com/the-brucoli-lighthouse-syracuse/

Overall, we thought Brucoli was a great little town. It was our first real adventure off base and it was fun to see great history and beauty so close.