Category: 52 Reasons
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52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #7. Etna Shows Her Power
Reaching 11,000 feet above sea level into the sky, its four active craters also give us spectacular lava shows (from a distance) that illustrate Mamma Etna’s potency. Etna’s expansive majesty is awe-inspiring for its beauty and its power. Don’t be afraid. She is a somewhat predictable volcano, and walking on her extinct craters and exploring…
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52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #6. Royal Fairytales Are Real
Housed in the treasury of Palermo’s Cathedral, this work of art was created between 1220 and 1222. It was designed in Palermo in a Byzantine-Arab style and composed of gold, precious gems, semi-precious stones, pearls, filigree, glazes, and silver. According to scholar Jacqueline Alio, the Holy Roman Empress was interred wearing the crown. “It has…
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52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #5. Be Surprised By Jewish History
During the last 25 years, locals and scholars have begun to uncover what was lost (expelled, really) more than 500 years ago. One of the most extraordinary discoveries was a mikveh, a Jewish ritual bathhouse, excavated one bucket of mud at a time by Amalia Daniele di Bagni and the association Siracusa III Millennio. Pictured…
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52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #4. Sicilians
Riccardo, her son, had just showed me around the bed and breakfast that they operate upstairs from the kitchen where we are in the photo. Paolo, a good friend, brought with him to share his pecorino (sheep) cheeses with pistachio and saffron, but not only. Knowing about my passion for cannoli (Thanks to Pierfilippo and…
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52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #3. Palermo Goes To 11
Then there are ancient sites next to psychodelic baroque (Chiesa di Santa Caterina and Casa Professa, to name just two mind-blowing experiences!) next to Arab-Norman style architecture, next to Liberty Style… Oh, and royal palaces! Check out these mosaic-tiled lions (pictured) in the chambers of Roger II from the 12th century. And don’t forget Castello…
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52 Reasons To Love Sicily | #2. Take The Train
(Pictured: The duomo of Cefalù, one of the UNESCO sites of the Arab-Norman Patrimony of Sicily.) Cefalù, Palermo Province
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52 Reasons To Love Sicily | #1. Green Hillsides
From January to early May, Sicily’s hillsides and mountainsides are emerald green with waves of growing grain, fuschia with sweet Mediterranean clover (ask the sheep!), and golden with sinapis alba (white mustard) flowers. Palma di Montechiaro, Agrigento Province