Experience Sicily

Category: Seasons

  • Green, Green Grass of Springtime in Sicily

    Orange trees mingle with the olive trees in the orchard at Case di Latomie, Castelvetrano.

  • Orange Is In Season 

    An orange in my cousin’s garden. Eat up, it’s citrus season!

  • Not A Big, Ugly Lemon

    In Sicily between Christmas and the end of April, the landscape is in bloom with fragrant, juicy citrus fruits such as this one. No, this is not a big, crazy looking lemon; it’s a citron. Still a citrus fruit, it has a character all its own. It is cultivated for its thick, white, fragrant inner…

  • In Sicily, A Rare Event

    The castle in Caccamo is covered with snow today, as is much of Sicily, a rare event!  Thank you to Massimiliano Macaluso for your beautiful photo!

  • Sicily’s Winter Weather

    Prospective clients often call me, hoping to plan their “winter escape” vacation in Sicily. It’s true, Sicily is warmer than the northeastern United States at this time of year, but it’s not as warm as you might think. Sicilians like to say you can ski on Etna (the surface of which is pictured) in the…

  • Old Woman Winter 

    At the busy intersection of Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Via Maqueda, in Palermo’s historic center, sits Quattro Canti–four corners. The crossroads is flanked by four 18th century Baroque facades, each with a series of statues: At the top, the city’s patron saints prior to Santa Rosalia; in the middle, the Spanish kings of Sicily; and…

  • Pomegranates and the Cycle of Life and Death

    Autumn marks the time of year when Persephone bids her mother Demeter goodbye, and she returns to the Underworld to join her husband Hades–an ancient myth that explains why we have seasons. Annually when Persephone descends into the depths of the Earth and winter comes upon us, she brings with her the seeds of the…

  • All Souls and Sugar Dolls

    In Sicily, the beginning of November marks the end of good weather, when few crops and plants are growing. As a result, we have Il Giorno dei Morti, or in Sicilian, Un juornu re muorti–The Day of the Dead. Marking the end of the agricultural year, the holiday is a celebration of the dead by…

  • The Whimsical Day of Hallow– Carnevale 

    Halloween as we know it in the US is not traditionally celebrated in Sicily. Today for children it is getting more popular, but really, Carnivale (or Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras, as we know it better) is the holiday when Italians dress in costume to conceal their identities and create lots of mischief. Carnivale is also when,…