One of the most sumptuous fruits of the Sicilian summer has to be the Tabacchere, a strange little squashed furry peach packed with enormous flavour. I first saw these seemingly insignificant mini fruit at the fruit and vegetable stalls at the open air markets and took them as an inferior version of regular peaches. I…
Continue reading ➞ Words from Sicily: Tabacchere
Driving through the countryside outside Catania, under the shadow of Mount Etna between the lava rocks and the dark soil dotted with olives and pistachio trees. There is an introduced plant that thrives and has been claimed by Sicily the fico d’india literally the Indian fig. The prickly pear is a natural survivor of everything…
Continue reading ➞ Words from Sicily: Fichi d’India
I've been spending my Easter break here in Sicily with friends and family trying to find a spark of energy to keep me going after a particularly devastating start to the year. I'm slowly getting back into things, trying to find a new routine. Easter for me was about day trips to the Nebrodi Mountains…
Continue reading ➞ Springtime postcards from Sicily
I live in Sicily because I fell in love with a Sicilian, but in reality, the love affair existed long before … I’ve been enamoured since birth, Italy is imprinted on my DNA, my family and heritage has always been here connected to this place of endless human history my love of stories keeps…
Continue reading ➞ Poetry inspired by Sicily: Sicilian DNA
In the summer Sicilian’s become like frugivorous animals living off the fruits produced by their gardens. So my husband, son and I are obliged to take a walk to the fig tree to gather up its bounty. The only problem is the tree is hidden deep below a steep precipice behind overgrown bushes and prickly…
Continue reading ➞ A walk to the fig tree
I think I may have inadvertently led people to believe I had a wonderful summer lazing around the beach and traveling around Sicily. In reality I had a terrible summer, every time I tried to go to the beach it was friggin freezing and in August my mother in law spent the month in hospital…
Continue reading ➞ Hope you had a good summer …
Even if I dislike shopping around touristy type shops I am often surprised to find stunningly original items in amongst the tacky kitsch. Working my through I heart Sicily post cards, every possibly shaped lava sculpture, bamboo flutes and knickknacks I saw these little babies. A series of handcrafted tools used to pick those…
Continue reading ➞ Postcards from Sicily: Discovery
The scirocco is an infernal African air current from the desert who whips up the heat in the Mediterranean to unbearable levels during the summer . If this hot wind is still the day is pleasant but if it is on the prowl it makes the air too hot to breathe. Someone who…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian word of the day: Scirocco
I'm developing a passion for the Italian and Sicilian flare for giving out bomboniere for every possible occasion. Over the last couple of year's we've received a few from weddings and now the birth one's have started up. This little ball of pink is for the latest little girl on the block. For the record…
Continue reading ➞ Postcards from Sicily: Bomboniere Passion
I've always loved Sicilian churches prolific use of mosaics. Last summer I got to the church of the Madonna of Tindari (ME) and managed to sneak a shot of this beautiful image of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. These mosaics are like living breathing operatic scenes filled with life and drama. I think I'll…
Continue reading ➞ Postcards from Sicily: Gethsemane
Lately, I’ve noticed a new development with my language skills. I think I’m going native. Many missionaries from past centuries wrote of how after years of living with a foreign culture and language they have felt like a constant outsider until the day when they realise their tongue has somehow assimilated elements of the local…
Continue reading ➞ Picking up a Sicilian vocabulary
The weather in Sicily and all over Italy has been terrible lately. Usually at this time of year we are already into the swing of spring. Here's hoping the spring will unexpectedly poke its head out like this cute little church at Martini a suburb of my little town Sinagra, Messina. Here's hoping for some…
Continue reading ➞ Postcards from Sicily: Spring trying to poke its head out
1. Ask for a discount, cos you can! Its normal to ask for a discount on expensive items particularly jewelry, designer items and white goods. Ask for it, demand it and you will get it! 2. Be careful with technology GPS off the main roads and the autostrada has a tendency to take you off…
Continue reading ➞ 5 things you probably didn’t know about Italy
This year I was fortunate enough to get to San Leone’s ‘festa’ at Longi (20th Feb) which I find is generally more traditional and particular then the one celebrated at Sinagra (even if I love them both!) I liked the solemn religiosity and playfulness of Longi’s interpretation of this Saint’s celebration. Not only does the…
Continue reading ➞ E viva San Leone … E musica
Ok, so I'm running a little late with the Friday photo. But it is spectacular nonetheless!! Etna has been acting out once again, this time with an avalanche thrown in. We saw this amazing cloud formation, from her which seemed like a giant UFO.
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