Prince Don Fabrizio Salina faced a new world in 1860 during the “unification” of Italy. He is the protagonist of “Il Gattopardo (The Leopard),” the posthumously published 1958 novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. Burt Lancaster (pictured) starred in the epic movie by Luchino Visconti in 1963. If you haven’t seen it (or read the…
Category: Fashion, Traditional Dress
Dancing In Piazza Armerina
Waving a red scarf, this woman depicted in the Room of the Dance at the Villa Romana del Casale in Piazza Armerina wears a decorative dress, elegant jewelry (note her bangles), and red shoes. She’s even sporting a cat eye makeup style! I like this woman! Archeologists think this 3rd/4th century C.E. mosaic was inspired…
Bring Heat To Your 2020 With A Trip To Sicily
Bring heat to your 2020 with a trip to Sicily! I’m thrilled to announce our Experience Sicily 2020 small-group, multisensory tours. May, June, July, and September… all of the details are at https://experiencesicily.com/2020-tours-of-sicily/. The joy we’ll create together will warm your soul for years to come. Amuni’! Let’s experience Sicily together! (Photo Credit: Chiara Musumeci…
Live from Sicily! Remote Town, Days 5 & 6 | We are having such a great time!
Live from Sicily! Days 5 & 6 of Life In A Remote Sicilian Town. We made pasta with the local ladies and learned how to make a very special dessert, unique to Licodia Eubea… based on their local grape cultivation. Then, a special birthday celebration with music, which included Rose learning how to play the…
What To Pack For Your Spring Trip to Sicily
Packing for any trip is a chore, but packing for Sicily in springtime is a mystery! Our Experience Sicily clients receive a comprehensive packing list in their tour preparation packets, yet I don’t get into specifics about clothes because there is such a difference depending on the time of year. Just like anywhere during this…
Sicily’s International Folk Music Festival
Now until March 10 is the annual Sagra del Mandorlo in Fiore (Almond Blossom Festival) in Agrigento. The festival is a 10-day extravaganza of events, the heart of which focus on folk music from around the world. I’ve yet to attend the festival that attracts everything from Mexican Mariachi bands to Japanese drummers. During this…
Ancient Sicilian Devotion
As we prepare for our annual Feast of Santa Lucia on Sunday, Dec. 9 in NYC at Cacio e Vino (Details and register at https://experiencesicily.com/events/festa-di-santa-lucia/), we must first start long before Lucia’s time, in the 7th century B.C.E. During this ancient Greek era, women devotees prayed to the goddesses Persephone and Demeter for healthful fertility…
Day 1: Stirring Sicily East Live
LIVE Day 1: Experience Sicily’s Stirring Sicily East 2018 with Zest! (Lititz, Penn.) and Chef Nino Elia … Those who took Air Italy to arrive at Catania, Sicily arrived on time and happy. Those who took a German airline with missed connections needed to go shopping due to lost luggage! But in that, there is…
Bring Your Dancing Shoes
Being a musician myself, I am always seeking out other musicians while in Sicily, especially those versed in local folk music, like Ettore, Alfredo, and Totò, pictured here. I heard them first as part of a larger community ensemble in Porticello, my grandfather’s birthplace, in 2011. A couple of years later, I sought them out,…
Listen for The Chants During Il Festino
“Il festivo,” which takes place in Palermo on the evening of July 14 in honor of Santa Rosalia, is a big street party that unifies the city’s citizens through a procession that symbolically purifies the metropolis from the evils that have long afflicted it. The events of the party are a mix of folklore, religion,…