Seeing this sculpture in person earlier this month was very moving. At the site of Gibellina Vecchia, a town in southwestern Sicily that was flattened by the January/February 1968 earthquakes, a stunning exhibition of 8,000 square meters of concrete has transformed the ruins of what were once homes, businesses, and public spaces. Grande Cretto or…
Gliding Above Ragusa Ibla
Panorama of Ragusa Ibla, Sicily Grazie to my cousin Giulia for putting up with my unwavering desire to find the exact place to capture this shot!
Happy Solstice
Happy Summer! Buon estate!
Curating Memorable Moments
Excerpts from feedback from one of our May tours: Memorable Moment — “The singing lunch with the big family with [our guide] Pierfilippo (of Val di Kam) and endless courses of fresh food.” … “When we went to a restaurant with a long table of Italians at a family dinner, and we sang Frank Sinatra,…
Join Me On June 30 For The New York Cannoli Crawl
Join me, Allison Scola, owner of Experience Sicily, for a walking, shopping, and tasting tour in Greenwich Village, New York City: the New York Cannoli Crawl! On this unique tour, you’ll savor some of the City’s finest cannoli, become a true cannoli connoisseur (sharpen your pencils!), devour savory Sicilian-inspired bites, and learn fun facts about…
Monreale Offers A Moment Of Peace
Whenever I visit the cloisters (chiostro) of Monreale Cathedral, I enjoy taking a moment at the fountain that anchors one of the corners of the garden. Its elegance and ancient beauty transport me to another era, somewhere far away. Somewhere peaceful. The cloisters were built by Sicilian and Venetian artisans in the early 13th century…
Manifest12 Launches in Palermo
The energy in Palermo right now is thrilling. As Italy’s Capital of Culture for 2018, the multicultural city is electric. Starting this weekend through Nov. 4, it is host to Manifesta12, the European Nomadic Biennial of Contemporary Art. The stimulating festival hosts everything from art exhibitions to concerts to garden tours and interactive events, all…
Me And The Guys In The Piazza
When I started learning Italian in 1996 while backpacking solo through Europe, it was a dream of mine to be able to talk to the locals and (attempt) to understand their cultures. I wanted to hear what someone from another country thought and felt. Since gaining a command of Italian, it’s been a great joy…
Is That A Cannoli In Your Ear
My new cannoli earrings bought in Palermo … I’ll debut them on June 30 in New York City, during the next Cannoli Crawl. Wanna join me? You have to be willing to be filmed for a documentary. Sign up at ExperienceSicily.com.
Remote and Breathtaking
Sicily’s interior landscape is absolutely breathtaking, as proven by this panorama from our inn window in Licodia Eubea. Raffaele Tramontana and Carmelo Cafici invited me for a visit, and it was a revelation! Join Experience Sicily in July 2019 to see this for yourself and so much more, during our Life in a Remote Sicilian…
She Took Me By The Tail
This morning, I prepare for departure from Palermo, where this photo of me was taken by Dominic Vine at Teatro Massimo. As always, leaving Sicily is not easy. I’ve criss-crossed the island about three times this month, touching each province and experiencing even more than I ever could have imagined. I’ve attempted to “take Sicily…
At Selinunte, I Feel Ghosts
Yesterday, Tony, Dominic, and I visited the magnificent ancient city of Selinunte with our guide Gianluca. I’m always taken aback by this site because it’s expansive. It’s strewn with ruins of massive temples and abandoned homes. To me it possesses ghosts everywhere, who continue to protect it. Selinunte was a Greek city built on the…
