The countryside of Sant’Angelo Muxaro in Agrigento Province offers breathtaking panoramas that will sweep you away. Better still are the interactions with the villagers that will warm your heart. (Where we would have been today #stunningsicily)
Category: Nature
The Abundance Of Mount Etna In Sicily
When you walk among the vines at a vineyard like Benanti Viticoltori with our friends at Etna Wine School on the slopes of Mount Etna, you see for yourself what those volcanic soils I mentioned yesterday produce. In this case, outstanding grapes for wine-making. But not only! The Etna region is known for its pistachios,…
Mount Etna’s First Flora
When you walk on Etna’s craters you can imagine how rich the mineral-filled lavic soil will one day become. It takes 100 to 700 years for lava soil to support new vegetation growth. One of the first natural plants to return (and pictured here) is Sicilian astragalus. Others include camomile flowers, Etna rennet, and tansy…
Vendicari Nature Reserve’s Fields Of Gold
Vendicari Nature Reserve was founded in 1984 to encourage birds and plant species to thrive on its approximately 3300 acres. The sanctuary, which is on the coast of southeastern Sicily, has had a constant presence of around 241 different species of birds and hundreds of different species of plants that are found throughout its saltwater…
Meet Miss Modican Cow
I met this lady last year while walking through the countryside of Ragusa province with Sicilia in Cammino. Dark red Modican cows may be seen throughout the countryside of southeastern Sicily and beyond. They are primarily bred for milk production in order to make Sicilian Ragusano and caciocavallo cheeses. Modican cows graze freely at pasture…
The Most Sacred Panorama In The Center Of Sicily
Demeter’s view. Back in ancient times on this spot at the top of the mountain on which perches the city of Enna was a temple dedicated to the mother goddess Demeter. As a most significant deity to ancient Greeks and Romans (The Romans called her Ceres.), this protector of fertility, the harvest, and grains was…
A Picnic In The Forest In Sicily
Today if we were in Sicily for our Stirring Sicily small-group food and wine tour, you would have delighted in a picnic in the forest. And this year, we would have remembered the wine opener so Bill wouldn’t have to use a tree to pop the cork! Your wine would taste wonderful paired with the…
The Tyrrhenian Sea from Bagheria, Sicily
The Tyrrhenian Sea at Mongerbino, a neighborhood of Bagheria, Sicily
Home Can Be Multiple Places
My heart is complete whenever I see this tower on my cousins’ property in Bagheria. It signals my other home–filled with the life and vibrance of my Sicilian family who I miss dearly. Spero a presto. #seeyousoonsicily
Drink This Landscape Next Saturday: Order By Midnight
Drink this landscape with us next Saturday! Order by midnight tonight! Join me, Allison Scola of Experience Sicily, with author and wine expert Benjamin North Spencer of Etna Wine School for an online, synchronous wine tasting on Saturday, August 22. Benjamin will be hosting from Sicily, and I’ll be your stateside emcee. Order your Experience…