I'm raising my child to speak English in Italy, not just anywhere in Italy but precisely in a small town in Sicily. Unlike the major cities on the peninsula like Rome, Milan, or even Palermo, with large ex-pat communities and English international schools, I'm the only English speaker in my local community. This is great…
Continue reading ➞ The trials of raising a bilingual child in small-town Italy
I love taking photos of walls and signage; they have the same quality as an old postcard, like a memory of an ancient time. I took a photo of a fragment from a poem on a wall at Monreale. I liked the dirty paint, the lettering seemed like something from the Fascist period, and I…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian details: signs
Last week I announced the launch of my first self published Zine dedicated to photography, titled A Sicilian Mosaic. The idea to make a zine came about last summer after watching a tutorial on Youtube, where a talented photographer showed me and everyone else on the internet how easy it is to compile his photos…
Continue reading ➞ The stories behind A Sicilian Mosaic
Gesualdo Bufalino wrote about Sicily’s many different faces. He was fascinated by the multifacited nature of the island, filled with many paradoxes and contrasting elements that often exist side by side. The complexity and instability of the island’s cultural history has created an engimantic place which is difficult to define. Bufalino says how there are…
Continue reading ➞ Words from Sicily: 100 Sicilies
Taormina has long since been Sicily’s most favourite resort town, perched on a coastal bluff that looks out to the Tyrrhenian Sea between Messina and Catania in the north east of the island. Its ancient narrow streets are full of little specialist shops, cafes and restaurants, which are an invitation to step into the spell…
Continue reading ➞ Words from Sicily: Taormina
Every Sicilian has one of these in the winter. Either neatly arranged, stored in front of their door or covered up in a secret nook. I'm loving the wood stove right now. Brrrrrr!! Thank god for the wood pile!
This winter has been disappointing for me, no snow for Christmas or New Years. Less money thanks to the Economic crisis and new taxes to pay in 2014. Cloudy times in wintry Sicily.
It's that time of year again. Getting into the Christmas spirit with a ceramic nativity from Santo Stefano di Camastra.
One funky winter fruit common here in Sicily are these gorgeous fruit called Corbezzoli in Italian or Mbriaculi in Sicilian. They are fuzzy little slightly spiky balls of sweet goodness. Apparently when animals eat too many of them they ferment in their stomachs making them slightly drunk. According to Google translator these are Arbutus fruit,…
Continue reading ➞ Postcards from Sicily: Funky winter fruit
This curious itsy-bitsy place attracted my attention when I first saw it from a train heading from Palermo to Messina. I blinked my eyes in amazement to witness a town literally camped up on the top of a mountain. San Marco d’Alunzio seems tightly compacted up there on Monte Castro some five hundred and forty…
Continue reading ➞ Secluded Sicily: San Marco d’Alunzio
It looks like Friday Photo's have become weekend Pics in the Italian style of letting things slide. Today I'm thinking about Rome which has become an inhospitable place, filled with violent protests. I was shocked to see police pushing protesters along this very road near the Colosseum. Dangerous times in Italy.
I’ve been wanting to post about my visits to Etna and how the volcano has always been a rich source of inspiration for me. Her latest eruptions have given me the motivation to get to writing about her. Yes to the Sicilian’s Etna, is very much a ‘she,’ a strong female symbol of…
Continue reading ➞ The inspiration of Etna
This is the Palazzo Drago a quasi abandoned house near my in laws in the countryside out of Sinagra, ME. Such a typical Sicilian country house.
Today's friday photos are dedicated to quirky Italian homes which look like doll houses: and Italian's flare for street names. Enjoy your weekend!
Isn't it funny how the beach and the sea gets better in the Autumn/Fall. This canoeist had the right idea, jump in and make the most of it, on the seaside near Capo d'orlando, Messina.
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