[Jetset]

(11-03-2018 11:06 PM)atlant Wrote:  

I've written about it elsewhere. Was in Catania and passed through a couple smaller towns. Filthy, piss- and graffiti-stained streets and buildings, migrants everywhere, people are incredibly unfriendly, and a strong general feeling of decay and desperation wherever you go.

Such a difference in Andalusia, which is another poor Southern European region yet people are awesome, streets and buildings are immaculately maintained, and it actually feels like Europe and not like a third world country with European architecture.

For the record, I was all over Sicily some years ago, and Catania was uniquely bad. From the moment I arrived, I had the overwhelming sense I was going to get mugged by a transvestite plumber. I had a much more interesting time in the villages around Mt. Etna, some of those towns come alive with ski action in the winter and are like portals to 1920, and not in a touristy way at all. Outdoor church parties were the local social hubs and the locals had a genuine interest in new people.

Siracusa and Palermo were much more interesting cities, and the quality of the women on the upscale side of Palermo, shopping around Via della Liberta, was impressive. I don't know much about the nightlife but Palermo had many sights to see and lots of good cheap food. Just choose a safe neighborhood and try not to step in feral dog shit.

As for other places that have been mentioned:

Tourist-Crete is dead in the winter, but Chania might still be interesting. I was told that most of the waterfront closes for the season but the working city is pretty charming, too. A lot of the locals I spoke with were former Athenians who considered themselves fortunate to have left. Heraklion is rougher and grittier but is "the big city".

Consider Granada, as well. It's beautiful, has beautiful women, and it must be off the hook when the students are in. The university supposedly has a non-traditional September-February semester, there might be a lot of action in January.