The mountains of Sicily are majestic. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some are made of tufa, some are made of limestone, some are made of marble, some have hearts of salt. The sea is alluring, but the mountains of Sicily are wise. In July 2019, we are hosting Life in a Remote Sicilian…
Tag: montagna
Sicily’s Climate Changes
Today, Sicily is a semi-tropical climate, but in the Middle Ages, the island’s weather was much cooler, with more rain. Certainly, global climate change has contributed, but relality is, scholars attribute the change to extensive deforestation, and as a result, over time, the decline of precipitation and rise in temperatures. At one time, Sicily’s rivers…
Our May 2016 Sicily Tour, Day 6: Yes, this is Sicily too!
Yes, this is Sicily too! Etna is the largest, most active volcano in Europe. Its peak, pictured on the left, behind the plume of smoke, is about 11,000 feet above sea level (a height that changes according to volcanic activity). During winter months, you can ski on it. On Day 6 of our May Experience…
Our May 2016 Sicily Tour, Day 6: Etna Rosso or Etna Bianco?
Put on your comfortable walking shoes and bundle up, because on Day 6 of our May 2016 Experience Sicily with Chef Melissa Muller tour, we’re going up the volcano! Not only will we have a nature-powered adventure with local experts who grew up on Etna, but we’ll also enjoy a lunch of typical cuisine from…
Orange You Glad
This weekend in Scillato (Province of Palermo), a medieval village at the foot of the Madonie Mountains, they are celebrating the Sagra dell’Arancia or Orange Festival. It’s the end of *their* orange season–their’s because their altitude makes their citrus season fall later than their neighbors’ down in the “Conca d’oro” of Palermo. The village’s altitude…
A Crater, the Wind, and I
This week we’ve traversed Sicily, and we’ll do it again tomorrow! These last few days, we’ve gone from beautiful rock stacks at Lo Scopello to today’s below-freezing winds and falling snow at the top of the volcano Etna! At one point on the trek, the wind was so strong, I thought I was going to…
Mount Pellegrino, 1950
Mount Pellegrino from Mondello, 1950. Photo by my Uncle Stefano.