Experience Sicily

Tag: messina

  • The Actual Setting of Scenes from The Godfather in Sicily

    If you have seen The Godfather, you know this place pictured. No, it’s not Corleone (That’s on the other side of Sicily, in Palermo province.). It is Savoca, Province of Messina, a beautiful small town that acted as the “set” (i.e., playing the part of Corleone) for the introduction and wedding of Michael Corleone and…

  • Etna Speaks

    Yes, Etna, Europe’s largest, most active volcano is erupting! I’m so thrilled to be here to see the peak glowing at night. It’s very cool, but sadly, impossible to photograph. However, here’s my daytime view from Taormina. Note the smoke flowing left.  The volcano has multiple vents, so look at from where it is spewing!…

  • A Room with a Balcony 

    Balcony, the village of Castelmola, above Taormina 

  • I am black but beautiful

    Nigra sum, sed formosa = I am black but beautiful… From the Song of Songs, 1:5. The Black Madonna of Tindari is celebrated today, September 8. Black Madonnas, which are found throughout the Mediterranean basin, are venerated in localities where ancient goddesses such as Artemis, Isis, Venus, Persephone, Cybele, and Mater Dea were worshiped for centuries.…

  • Friscalettu: Sicily’s Reed Flute

    Sicilian music is punctuated with the sounds of the friscalettu or reed flute, pictured. Traditional tarantellas (folk dances) are colored with motives from this instrument, often hand carved by the player using the wood from fig or olive trees or the oleander shrub. Like the harmonica, a friscalettu (friscaletto, in Italian language versus Sicilian) player…

  • Stroll through Taormina

    A view of Taormina’s main shopping street, Corso Umberto, from the Church of San Giuseppe on Piazza IX Aprile We’ll wake up here on Day 9 of this September’s Savoring Sicily tour. Contact me at AllisonScola@ExperienceSicily.com to learn about the special offer I have going on right now.

  • Salina’s Sea Arch

    It’s like a dream… I photographed the Pollara natural sea arch on Salina of the Aeolian Islands in 2003.

  • Roasting on an Open Fire

    Chestnut season is in full swing. Sicilians who live in the Nebrodi Mountains in Messina Province enjoy this king of nuts in pasta dishes, sweets, or simply roasted on an open fire. They make chestnut flour from them in their mills, and of course, many towns celebrate its harvest with gastronomic festivals that include music,…

  • A Bit Graphic

    Ceramic Designs from Santo Stefano di Camastra.