Category: Observations about Culture

  • People Watch In Sicily

    People watch, find a sanctuary, and take a stroll in the Giardino Ibleo, Ragusa Ibla’s picturesque public garden. Walk to the other end from the garden’s entrance for magnificent panoramas of the Hyblean countryside. It’s one of many beautiful public gardens in Sicily and my favorite. Other major ones are the Villa Comunale in Taormina,…

  • Behold Princess Sicilia, A Legend

    Behold Princess Sicilia! A legend thought to have originated in post Byzantine times (c. 535 CE to c 827 CE).  Long ago, along the sun kissed eastern coast of the Mediterranean, perhaps on the shores of modern-day Lebanon, a baby girl was born to a noble family. Her proud parents named her Sicilia. The couple’s…

  • Giovanni Falcone’s Ideas Remain In Sicily

    Men pass, but ideas remain. Remain as moral strength that lives on in the strides of future generations. “Gli uomini passano, ma le idee restano. Restano le tensioni morali che continueranno a camminare sulle gambe di altri uomini,” said Giovanni Falcone (pictured left). On May 23, 1992, in Capaci, along Sicily’s autostrada between the Punta…

  • Palermo Has Two Patron Saints

    In addition to Santa Rosalia, the patron saint of Palermo, there is a co-patron saint. Do you know who that is? (Hint: He’s featured with her on this barrier at Quattro Canti.) Show us how much you know about Siciy this Tuesday at 7PM EDT (New York) for Experience Sicily Trivia Happy Hour with Carla…

  • Add Some Sicilian Spice To Your Day

    One thing is for sure, when Annalisa and I get together, it’s spicy! Today, Thursday, 14 May at 2PM EDT/8PM in Italia I’ll be talking with Annalisa Pompeo of GoSicily Sicilian Cooking Experiences for “Sicilian Stories with Annalisa,” LIVE on Instagram. Join us from the header of your IG account! Click on @gosicily_cook_eat_explore or @experiencesicily…

  • A Symbolic Sunset In Agrigento, Sicily

    May 8th and 9th mark the anniversary of two important moments in Sicilian anti-mafia history. In 1978, Giuseppe “Peppino” Impastato, a political activist who vociferously exposed and confronted the mafia, was murdered by the unscrupulous cell in his hometown of Cinisi. And in 1993, just down the street from this temple, pictured (said to be…

  • A Sicilian Marionette

    The marionette, or pupo, Orlando from the UNESCO recognized marionette theater, l’Opera dei pupi…a cultural treasure of Sicily

  • Yes, Chandeliers Made With Pasta, Dates, and Corn

    Do you see the pasta? The chandeliers or “ninphe” of the Arches of Easter or Archi di Pasqua in San Biagio Platini are made of natural elements. Learn more about this extraordinarily creative feast in Sicily from the latest episode On Sicily, when I talk with local insider Pierfilippo Spoto. More at https://experiencesicily.com/2020/04/16/conversations-on-sicily-vol-2020-2/

  • Conversations On Sicily, Vol. 2020.2

    Join Allison Scola, owner of Experience Sicily, along with Pierfilippo Spoto, owner of Val di Kam, for a conversation about one of Sicily’s most artistic annual feasts produced by the citizens of San Biagio Platani in Agrigento Province.