Category: Nature

  • A Moment In Sicily

    Breathe (Rifugio Scirocco, Cava D’Ispica in Ragusa Province)

  • The Center Of Sicily

    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)

  • 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