Thank you, Veterans! In July and August 1943, during World War II, Sicily was a significant theater in the fight against fascism. German and Italian Axis forces occupied the island, and the Allied forces of the United States, Canada, and Britain aligned for Operation “Husky,” and amphibious and land assault to take Italy and eventually…
Tag: agrigento
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)
Tonight: Online Sicily Trivia
Sicilian-Style Trivia Challenge & Happy Hour Today! Friday, October 9 at 7pm (Eastern) Register Now: https://wiccny.webinarninja.com/live-webinars/512255/register. Join me with my friend Carla Gambescia for a fun evening that was created specially by La Dolce Vita University to celebrate La Bella Sicilia! Presented by the Westchester Italian Cultural Center. Here’s a warm-up: What is the architectural…
Learn From An Expert With Prickly Pears
You would have laughed with along with your new “Sicilian family” while having your hands in the dough today as you made fresh cavatelli pasta with tomato sauce and learned the art of cutting prickly pears with our local mamma Annalisa (who is an expert with Fichi d’India cactus!). You would have felt right at…
Persephone, The Goddess Of The Underworld, And Sicily
Persephone is the daughter of the great goddess Demeter and the Goddess of the Underworld. Here she is as interpreted during the 2019 Arches of Easter in San Biagio Platani (Agrigento). (Yes, this art is made with beans and other natural elements!) During these last weeks of summer, she is preparing for her annual return…
My Visits With Hugo At Valley Of The Temples
This is Hugo. I miss him. Normally, during every visit to Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, I get a chance to say hello to him. Last year, that was six times. Of course the temples are always impressive… but on some days (for me), Hugo steals the show. I miss our flirtations. Hugo is…
Yes, Brioche Con Gelato for Breakfast
In the summer, this is breakfast in Sicily: brioche con gelato … or gelato in a brioche. The brioche, when it’s done right, is sweet and formed like a breast. It represents your mother’s milk (no kidding). Pistacchio gelato is my favorite. Pictured here, when the pistachios are organic and the gelato all natural, this…
Inspired By Siculiana Marina’s Beach In Sicily
How does one describe one of the most beautiful beaches in Sicily? Words aren’t always sufficient. If it’s any indication of just how magnificent Siculiana Marina is, Sicilian guitarist Francesco Buzzurro composed an entire album of songs inspired by it called Il Quinto Elemento (The Fifth Element). When I heard him perform pieces from it…
Summer Breeze Above the Sea at Scala dei Turchi
Scala dei Turchi (aka the Stairs of the Turks) was named after a local legend that recounts when Turkish, AKA Saracen, pirates scaled the white cliffs that pour like stairs into the Africa-facing sea.
Icarus, Daedalus And Sicily
Icarus got carried away with the ability to fly. His father Daedalus, an inventor, craftsman, and artist, created two sets of wings for Icarus and himself to escape imprisonment in Crete. Daedalus instructed Icarus not to fly too high and not to fly too low: The heat of the sun would melt the wax holding…