Experience Sicily

Tag: catania

  • Where The Pistachio Grows

    This weekend is the Pistachio Festival in Bronte, a town world renowned for its pistachio cultivation. The mineral-rich lava stone-soil on Mount Etna’s Western slopes, photographed from a pistachio farm I visited with a private, custom tour I led in May, offers fertile environs for the trees to grow.

  • Day 1: Stirring Sicily East Live

    LIVE Day 1: Experience Sicily’s Stirring Sicily East 2018 with Zest! (Lititz, Penn.) and Chef Nino Elia … Those who took Air Italy to arrive at Catania, Sicily arrived on time and happy. Those who took a German airline with missed connections needed to go shopping due to lost luggage! But in that, there is…

  • Sleep Like A Princess

    I arrived in Sicily today, and it’s super late here (Ah, jet lag … but really, what’s been keeping me awake is that I’ve been working most of the night!). I’m about to go to sleep, and yes, I’m sleeping in *this* castle! This is a magnificent castle hotel-resort that I’m investigating for your future…

  • Experience Life in Licodia Eubea, Sicily

    When we ascended the mountain to arrive here, at Licodia Eubea, my cousin Giulia asked me, “Where are we going?!” What we found was a charming town with a strong heritage and warm-hearted people. I can’t wait to go back! Next July, you can come with me, for a unique experience in Sicily: Life in…

  • The Great Debate of Sicilian Rice Balls

    When you cross over from western to eastern Sicily, you’ll see some clear differences. One of the most significant is in the rice balls. Note these pictured. Some are round and the one on the top left is a cone shape, almost like a vulcano (hint, hint). Can you guess which might be from eastern…

  • Crater to Me

    Sicily hosts the largest, most active volcano in Europe, Etna, aka, Mount Etna. The Silvestri Craters, one of which is pictured, were formed on Etna’s south slope during the eruption of 1892. Accessable from Rifugio Sapienza in Nicolosi, they are 6233 feet above sea level. You can walk along the rims of the two craters…

  • Etna from the South

    Mount Etna from the south, photographed when it was erupting in March 2017, Carlentini, Sicily

  • Grand Grammichele

    Inspired by the enthroned goddess from Grammichele in Siracusa’s Museo Orsi, and after having seen photos of the town’s hexagonal piazza online, I hoped to visit in order to see the grand plaza for myself. Well, in May, our host Carmelo Cafici from nearby Licodia Eubea, guided my cousin Giulia (pictured) and me there. Built…

  • Remote and Breathtaking

    Sicily’s interior landscape is absolutely breathtaking, as proven by this panorama from our inn window in Licodia Eubea. Raffaele Tramontana and Carmelo Cafici invited me for a visit, and it was a revelation! Join Experience Sicily in July 2019 to see this for yourself and so much more, during our Life in a Remote Sicilian…