Carnival time in Italy is filled with endless fried desserts, parades, tricks and masquerade. The masks can be beautiful like the ones at Venice’s world famous Carnevale or terribly ugly like these. When you see one do not be afraid, they are harmless they only want to be offered a glass of wine or mime…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian Impressions: Maschere
Sicily is filled with delicate pieces of art always where you least expect them. You will find intricate statues in dusty churches, decaying statuettes in the nooks of decrepit Palazzi. Fine art is always a surprise even if it is so terribly neglected by a country which is overburdened by an aesthetic abundance, sadly without…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian Impressions: Art
Stopping at a 'belvedere' or lookout on the side of a Sicilian mountain road will give you a spectacular surprise and a sense of the expansive nature of Sicily. On a clear day you will feel like you are in the heavens looking out onto a new world. The closest belvedere to me looks out…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian Impressions: Belvedere
Naso, is one of those feisty Sicilian towns, perched high up on a seemingly precarious peak, it looks down the valley at Sinagra and hauntingly peers down at the cars driving down the mountains towards the coast. Literally Naso is 'nose' in Italian and it would be more aptly named 'head,' but it is surely…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian Impressions: Naso
Sicilians are at one with their landscape, their towns and houses peek out from behind the vegetation like large boulders which seem to have always been there.
I cannot reiterate enough the joys of exploring Sicily by car, it is easy to zig zag the island through mountains and valleys, weaving your way through endless small towns. Sicily by road means effortlessly experiencing the ins and outs of the islands landscape and stopping at a local roadside Trattoria or family run restaurant…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian Impressions: By road
I used to think visiting Sicily in the winter is a sad and cold way of experiencing the island but I have changed my mind. I love the feeling of having the place to myself. The lava filled countryside near Etna is infernal in the summer and so the wintry months offer the perfect time…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian Impressions: Winter
Mount Etna is the most active volcano in Europe and is my current fascination. Sicilian writers have the burning heart of Mongibello deep within their hearts, so much so they barely acknowledge it in their words. For someone new to the island like this once Unwilling Expat, the mountain offers endless images over the ever…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian Impressions: Etna
One of the most fascinating historical sites I have discovered in Sicily is the Castello di Maniace (also known as the Castello Nelson) outside the small agricultural town of Maniace in the extensive plain between Bronte and Randazzo a city literally at the feet of Mount Etna. Admiral Horatio Nelson was given the estate of…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian Impressions: Castello Nelson
Sicilian villages are amazingly steadfast and stoic. I am constantly impressed by the way they have been constructed a top the mountains in the most unlikely places as if they have always been a part of the landscape. This is Ficarra in the province of Messina which casually lounges on the Nebrodi mountains looking out to…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian Impressions: Ficarra
Flamboyant Italian art critic, politician and intellectual Vittorio Sgarbi has criticized the use of wind turbines in some of the most picturesque mountains in southern Italy. Sgarbi says they have ruined the natural beauty and wasted millions of Euro without producing much energy, going as far as to suggest links with organized crime. I tend…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian Impressions: Wind turbines
Sicily is close to Africa in a geographical and historical sense. The island’s cuisine is dappled by Arab influences, open air markets in most major cities are reminiscent of Moroccan bazaars and the scirocco wind often whips up dry air from the Sahara. Another African element of the island are the strange insects you discover,…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian Impressions: Insects
As a stranger to the mountains I have been challenged by Sicily’s predominate rocky landscape over the years. It is fascinating to observe the Sicilian peaks, their changing faces which recall stark Irish hills or Scottish highlands. In his now historical travelogue 'Sea and Sardinia,' D.H Lawrence complained of Sicily’s ‘peaky confinement’ preferring the wider…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian Impressions: Mountains
Sicilian desserts are world famous but the most decadent has to be deep fried cannoli tubes which are filled with ricotta or fresh custard cream. They are a special treat and are often given as gifts for Christmas and Easter. The empty golden shells are tiny works of art ready to be filled with sweetness.
My little Paese or Italian town is suffering through a dull time, thanks to the economic crisis. The piazza seems empty and for now there is not much movement. But when the sun comes out and the light of the people illuminates the gloom it is outstanding. Here's to shining through the darkness ...
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