Carmen Consoli, one of Italy’s most outstanding and successful performing songwriters, who is from the slopes of Mount Etna, performed in New York City this past evening. She brought her Eco di Sirene (Echo of Sirens) world tour to an adoring audience on the Lower East Side. Needless to say, I geeked out. I have…
Category: Observations about Culture
Licodia Eubea: Your Sicilian Living Room
The essence of the village of Licodia Eubea in central eastern Sicily stems from the 3000 people who live and work there and, who each evening during summer, make the cafés and bars their living room… Which, when you are staying there during Life In A Remote Sicilian Town our July 2020 tour, will be…
Appreciation For The Connection Of Life And Death
Novembre 2 is the Day of the Dead (Giorno dei Morti or in Sicilian, Un juornu re muorti), also known as All Souls Day. Sicilians, who have a profound appreciation for the connection of life and death, spend this holiday recognizing their dead loved ones by visiting their graves, often enjoying a picnic while at…
Surrounded By Saints On All Saints Day
The central apse of Monreale Cathedral features the benevolent Christ Almighty surrounded by saints. All Saints Day (Ognissanti… November 1) is a day to remember saints known and unknown. Pictured around Jesus are San Biagio, San Martino, Santo Stefano, San Pietro, San Clemente, San Giacomo, San Matteo, San Damiano, and many more that are featured…
The Catacombs of Palermo
Happy Halloween! The Catacombe dei Cappuccini in Palermo offers visitors with a taste for the macabre something remarkable. Actually a semi-underground cemetery, it publicly displays the remains of about 8000 people who were embalmed by the Cappuccini monks using a preservation process that was practiced by many monasteries. The process entailed, after removing the internal…
He Reminded Me Of My Sicilian Grandfather
“I loved meeting Aldo at this farm. He reminded me of my Sicilian grandfather who always had his hands in the dirt, as his home and backyard was planted with herbs and vegetables and figs galore. I also loved Aldo’s art studio. I love art and all creative endeavors, and the mixing of this with…
Siracusa’s Myth of Aretusa
In May, during our tour Myths & Mysteries of Sicily: As Above/So Below, we’ll be staying right near this stunning Fontana di Diana in Ortigia, Siracusa that tells the story of the Nereid-water nymph Aretusa and her protector, the goddess Artemis/Diana. One day while hunting in the forest in Greece, Aretusa decided to take a…
Cheers To Our Italian American Heritage
“Ecco la vita Americana, ” is written on this family photo. What fun they were having on this day! I am proud of my Italian American Heritage. Today, we Italian Americans celebrate it. Look at the pride and joy of my grandfather and friends (my grandmother took the photo) enjoying a day at the beach…
The Power Of The Pomegranate
Pomegranates (melograni in Italian) are in season. Scholars believe that the fruit was brought to Sicily by both the Phoenicians and the Greeks, not only for food, but also for religious reasons. Pomegranate seeds represent fertility, prosperity, abundance, and generosity. And because of the Persephone myth–when the maiden daughter of the goddess Demeter eats the…
Ancestry Research In Sicily
Today in Nicosia, Sicily our clients, the D’Alfonso family, met relatives they never knew they had. We at Experience Sicily did the documents research in advance, identified a local insider to help make introductions, and the rest is tears, smiles, and personal connection so deep, it’s like the roots of a 75-foot-tall tree! Distant cousins…