During our Experience Sicily Stirring Sicily tour from Sept. 19 to 26, co-hosted with Zest! and chef Antonino Elia, we’ll be learning recipes from three different regions of Sicily. One will be local dishes of Agrigento Province with Annalisa of GoSicily cooking experiences. Join us! Contact me for details about a registration special offer! The…
Tag: ancient greek
Ancient Restaurant Discovered At Himera, Where We’ll Be Cooking
In yesterday’s La Repubblica Palermo newspaper, an article explained that at the site of the ancient Greek city of Himera, they have discovered the 6th Century B.C.E. remains of a caffetteria-style restaurant. Ovens, stoves, pots, pans, and plates have been excavated. I visited Himera and met the director of the site back in June with…
Helen By Euripides In Sicily
The Siracusa classic theater season is underway! Elena, or Helen, by Euripides opened this past weekend. When we were at the theater in April, they were building the set, which features a pool of water that the actors stand in during the action. How cool!
Sicily And The Myth of Demeter and Kore
The leaf-less trees along my morning walks in the New York City area are a painful reminder that winter’s arrival is imminent. And so, I think of earth’s seasonal cycles, which for centuries were explained by the myth of Demeter and Kore: Hades, the God of the Underworld, abducted the maiden Kore while she was…
Ancient Sicilian Devotion
As we prepare for our annual Feast of Santa Lucia on Sunday, Dec. 9 in NYC at Cacio e Vino (Details and register at https://experiencesicily.com/events/festa-di-santa-lucia/), we must first start long before Lucia’s time, in the 7th century B.C.E. During this ancient Greek era, women devotees prayed to the goddesses Persephone and Demeter for healthful fertility…
Google (and We) Know What’s Awe-Inspiring
In just a few days, the exclusive summit for Google Camp will take place in Sicily. Their annual milestone dinner will be held at the foot of this temple, Temple E (archeologists believe it was for the ancient Greek goddess Hera), at the Archeological Park of Selinunte. This Doric-style temple was completed between 490 and…
Goldery Star
The nymph Arethusa (or Aretusa) and her myth are central to the ancient history and culture of Siracusa, Sicily. So much so, that her image, surrounded by dolphins, is featured on the ancient coins of the city–from 415-400 BCE! This coin, which I photographed through a magnifying glass, may be seen in the newly opened…
At Selinunte, I Feel Ghosts
Yesterday, Tony, Dominic, and I visited the magnificent ancient city of Selinunte with our guide Gianluca. I’m always taken aback by this site because it’s expansive. It’s strewn with ruins of massive temples and abandoned homes. To me it possesses ghosts everywhere, who continue to protect it. Selinunte was a Greek city built on the…
Oedipus at Siracusa
The 54th Festival of Greek Theater in Siracusa is underway. I just love when I am able to attend a performance like this one of Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus that I saw earlier this week in Siracusa in the ancient Greek theater. As one of my clients pointed out–the entire experience is magnificent: Walking through…
Sant’Angelo Muxaro’s Golden Bowl
This golden bowl is a patera (libation bowl) from the 6th century BC. This particular one is a copy of the original (now in the British Museum) that was found in a cave-tomb on the hillside of the mountain village of Sant’Angelo Muxaro, north of Agrigento. Discovered in the late 18th century, the bowl sports…